Note from the Editor: Issue #20

WELCOME TO ISSUE #20

This landmark twentieth issue of Summit Journal comes at a crucial period in the US story, as the informal geopolitical agreements defined by the rules-based order of the eighty years are now transforming into a new global economic balance.

Anyone tracking the latest nuances of foreign policy understands that this current process of transformation is both volatile and unpredictable, but as savvy investors understand, the world is not wholly subject to political whims.

Innovations in energy usage, financial mechanisms, transportation, building methods, and technology continue apace, regardless of external social contingencies. Live, work, and play preferences evolve in kind, even as climactic and environmental factors accelerate or contravene forecasts around migration trends, work preferences, and broader investment decisions.

The articles selected for this issue of Summit Journal, for initial presentation at the AFIRE Winter Conference in Washington, DC on February 11–13, 2026, cover the full range of the commercial real estate conversation—including a critical conversation around metro-level resiliency and migration from from RCKRBX; a voice of informed conscience around the AI and supposed data center bubble from RCLCO; equity and debt trends from Berkshire Residential; and global investor insights from the latest AFIRE investor survey, included at the front of this issue.

Ongoing economic uncertainties and geopolitical rebalancing will determine how the rest of this year (and beyond) will shape up, but the global investor community continues to advance a long-term view, affirming continued in confidence in US real estate—with some important qualifications.

– Benjamin van Loon, Editor-in-Chief

CONTENTS

Note from the Editor: Issue #20

Benjamin van Loon | AFIRE

AFIRE Investor Survey: The Case for US Real Estate in 2026

Benjamin van Loon | AFIRE

The Data Center Pipeline: Is it a Boom, or a Bubble?

Scot Bommarito, William Maher, Andrew Janko, Amber Hughes | RCLCO Fund Advisors

Autonomous Intelligence and the Global CIO: Formalizing Conviction in a Fragmented Market

Francis Huang | Apers AI

A Home Genome Project: How a City Learning Cohort Can Create AI Systems for Optimizing Housing Supply

Brookings

How C-PACE (and Stretch PACE) are Rewiring Global Real Estate Finance for the Energy Transition

Jonathan Seabolt | Clearwater PACE

Solar Wave: Community Solar is Set to Transform Lease Income

Michael Sanduski | Lumen Energy

Trade Winds Redraw: US Tariffs and Commercial Real Estate

Stewart Rubin and Marshall Swett | New York Life Real Estate Investors

The Complexity Premium: Leveraging the Alpha Opportunity in Regulated Gateway Cities

Donal Warde | Consultant + Richard Cadena | Bank Hapoalim (BHI) + Wenpeng Ding | Zicklin School of Business

NYC Office Recovery: Repricing Physical Infrastructure in the Age of AI

Scott Crowe | RXR

Beyond Motivation: Why Invest in US Affordable Housing? And Why Now?

Deborah La Franchi | SDS Capital Group

Build-to-Rent: Redefining Housing for Renters and Investors

Paul Kolevsohn, Alex Lachman, Lev Kling-Bronstein | Stockbridge + Don Walker, Kevin Cody | John Burns Real Estate Consulting

Inflation Fighters: The Case for Mission-Critical NNN

EJ Wislar | PRP Real Assets

Private Apartment Equity or Private Debt: Comparing Investment Performance of the Two Quadrants

Gleb Nechayev | Berkshire Residential Investments

Meet Them Where They Are: National Demand Landscape Survey

Kevin Hudak and Michael Broder | RCKRBX

REIT Puts and Calls: Public Market Signals for Private Real Estate Investors

William Pattison, Michael Steinberg, Carsten Raaum, Kiel Deitrich, Jacob Kurosaki | MetLife Investment Management

Modernizing Management: How Structural Shifts in Real Estate are Rebalancing the GP and LP Relationship

Finn DuComb-Festor and Miles Treaster | Cushman & Wakefield

Clarifying Vision: Exploring the Dynamics of Slowing Capital Flows

Cliff Booth | Westmount Realty Capital

ISSUE #20:

ASSOCIATE SPONSOR

+ EDITOR’S NOTE

+ ALL ARTICLES

+ ARCHIVE

+ LEADERSHIP

+ POLICIES

+ GUIDELINES

+ CONTACT

+ MEDIA KIT (PDF)

DISCLAIMER

The publisher of Summit is not engaged in providing tax, accounting, or legal advice through this publication. No content published in Summit is to be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Some information included in Summit has been obtained from third-party sources considered to be reliable, though the publisher is not responsible for guaranteeing the accuracy of third-party information. The opinions expressed in Summit are those of its respective contributors and sources and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.