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Celebrating Today, Looking Ahead to the Future
Our annual Developer of the Year issue is a celebration of everything that makes commercial real estate development exceptional — innovation, resilience, community engagement and more. Our 2025 winner, Vulcan Real Estate, is only the second company to receive this prestigious honor twice, and after reading this issue’s cover story, I think you’ll see why.
Kathryn Hamilton
Discover the evolving landscape of residential real estate with in-depth profiles on senior living, workforce housing and the remarkable transformation of an iconic former Sears & Roebuck building in Chicago into modern lofts. Explore how urban sports districts are strategically reshaping cities, and gain insight into why capital continues to be the lifeblood of the commercial real estate industry.
I’m honored to join the ranks of the outstanding editors-in-chief who have led Development magazine before me; I certainly have some impressive footsteps to follow! As the industry continues to evolve — becoming ever more forward-looking and relevant — so too will this magazine. There’s so much ahead, and I’m glad to be part of the journey with you.
Telling the stories that shape our industry,
Kathryn Hamilton, CAE
Editor-in-Chief
In Brief
Notable facts and figures on the state of the commercial real estate industry, culled from media reports and other sources.
Data Centers
70%
The percentage of U.S. respondents to an Airedale Data Center Perceptions Survey who indicated they were comfortable with a data center being located within 5 miles of their home, including 47% who would be OK with a data center 1 mile or less from their home. Of those who expressed opposition to a data center being located within 5 miles of their home, the primary concerns were increased energy demand (63%), noise pollution (60%) and potential declines in property value (52%).
Office
$40.8Billion
The office sales volume over the last four quarters, representing a 69% increase compared with the prior year, according to Avison Young’s U.S. office market report for the second quarter of 2025. The report noted that trophy class and Class A assets accounted for 71% of transactions. “Notably, gateway and Sun Belt markets — including Manhattan, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Dallas — all experienced a marked rebound in sales activity, reflecting growing demand for high-quality office product in key markets.”
850,000
The number of square feet of office space the federal government shed in Washington, D.C., during the first half of the year as it attempts to reduce its real estate portfolio. According to CBRE, the city’s overall office vacancy rate stood at 22.6% to end the quarter, while its trophy vacancies were at a near record-low 11.5%.
Retail
4
Among the five U.S. metro areas with the most square feet of retail under construction in the second quarter, the number that are located in Texas, according to Colliers’ retail market statistics report. Dallas ranked first with 7.2 million square feet under construction, followed by Houston (3.9 million) and Austin (3.5 million). San Antonio ranked fifth (1.7 million). The only city outside of Texas to break into the top five was Phoenix, coming in fourth at 2.2 million square feet of retail under construction.
Multifamily
500,000
The approximate number of units that have been delayed across major U.S. apartment markets since 2018, according to RealPage Market Analytics data. “Labor disruptions have recently emerged as a significant concern among apartment developers. That new threat adds to the concerns of tariff implementation, surging insurance premiums and rising construction costs.” In excess of 70,000 units have been disrupted during construction in Los Angeles, amounting to more than half of the market’s expected deliveries.
$750 Million
The amount of multifamily real estate assets Starlight Investments is planning to acquire in major Canadian markets through its newly established investment fund, the Starlight Canadian Core Multi-Family Fund. The launch of the fund represents Starlight’s first residential-focused, open-ended investment vehicle.
Industrial
62.3%
The share of speculative industrial development currently in the pipeline, which is the lowest level since the second quarter of 2020, according to Cushman and Wakefield research on the U.S. industrial market. “The share of build-to-suit deliveries climbed to 30.4% year-to-date, up from 16.8% one year ago, as developers adjust to evolving tenant needs and a softening demand environment.”
Investment
$350 Billion
The amount of dry powder available for commercial real estate investment across various firms, as estimated by investment data company Preqin. “Optimism is said to be growing for the deployment of hundreds of billions in capital into North American commercial real estate in the second half of 2025 as sentiment builds from the year’s start,” CoStar News reported in July.
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