CRE

Industrial Insights Office Space Retail

Lease Length Isn’t the Only Conversation Anymore

For decades, commercial real estate leases followed a fairly predictable formula. Landlords sought long-term commitments that provided stable income, while tenants prioritized securing the space they needed to support future growth. Those priorities have not disappeared, but the leasing conversation has become more nuanced.

Today, many occupiers are looking beyond rent and square footage and placing greater emphasis on flexibility. In some cases, that means shorter lease terms. In others, it means negotiating options that provide room to adapt as business needs change.

Demand for smaller and more flexible spaces is growing across office, retail, and industrial properties as occupiers prioritize adaptability in an increasingly dynamic business environment.

Insights

CBC’s 2026 Midyear Outlook Report

The overall U.S. commercial real estate recovery that began in 2025 accelerated early in 2026, with stronger capital flows, improved lending conditions and more active market participants. Transaction volume rose 19% year-over-year to $117 billion in 1Q26. Despite this momentum, the market remains highly bifurcated, with performance driven more by property fundamentals and local market conditions than broad macro trends. While activity has been resilient – as investors grow tired of waiting for a market correction – growth is uneven and concentrated in markets benefiting from job creation, population inflows, space needs, and structural changes in demand.

Insights Multifamily Housing

Student Housing’s Next Test Is Execution

Student housing still looks like one of the steadiest corners of commercial real estate. Yardi Matrix reports that preleasing for the 2026-2027 academic year reached 52.3% in January, ahead of an estimated 45.6% a year earlier. Across 184 universities, total fall 2025 enrollment reached 4.9 million students, up 1.8% year over year. For investors looking for durable demand, those are the kind of numbers that keep the sector near the top of the watch list.

Insights Office Space

The Next Phase of the Office Market Is Already Forming

The office market is often described as either recovering or collapsing. The data increasingly suggests neither explanation fully captures what is happening. Office usage is rising again, but not evenly. Simultaneously, new office construction has slowed to a near standstill. Together, those two forces are reshaping how the office market will evolve over the rest of the decade. The result may not be a traditional recovery cycle. It may be a reorganization of the office market itself.

Retail

Are Malls Making a Comeback?

For years, shopping malls felt like a fading part of the retail landscape, shaped by store closures, declining foot traffic, and the steady rise of e-commerce. But in 2026, that narrative is starting to shift. Malls are not just recovering, they are being rethought around how people actually want to spend their time.

Drew Ward Warne News Insights

Market Tales x WCBC: Missoula, MT with Kelsey Ward

This Market Tales × WCBC special, recorded live at CBC Global Conference 2026, features Kelsey Ward in conversation with Ashley Wilson on agility, influence, and next-gen CRE leadership — plus an exclusive Women of CBC lightning round with Jenna Hille. Kelsey’s path from architect to broker is anything but linear — she brings a rare design-meets-dealmaker perspective to creative financing, adaptive reuse, and what it means to build a career and a reputation at the same time in commercial real estate.