REAL ESTATE
Real estate’s new center of gravity: Data centers
The largest investment boom in a generation has become a concentrated bet, hinging on the durability of AI infrastructure demand, the staying power of current technology and the long-term usefulness of the buildings themselves. The numbers are striking. Data center development in the United States has surpassed spending on all other commercial buildings combined, according to Jason Thomas, head of global research and investment strategy at Carlyle. Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022, completed data center projects have increased roughly 220%, while all other real estate development is up less than 10%. Capital is following that momentum. Funds with exposure to digital systems raised over $100 billion last year — double the 2024 total — and accounted for roughly half of all infrastructure fundraising, according to financial data provider Preqin. Private transactions now routinely top $10 billion, including a $40 billion deal in 2025. Debt financing has followed suit, rising from $27 billion in 2020 to $92 billion last year, according to JLL. That concentration raises a fundamental question: What happens if the thesis underpinning the build-out shifts?
https://www.costar.com/article/1120462958/real-estates-new-center-of-gravity-data-centers
Clean Energy 101: The Changing Electricity Grid
Cheaper, more flexible alternatives to this centralized grid model are emerging in the United States and beyond. As costs fall for solar panels, electricity storage technologies, and other clean technologies, distributed energy resources (DERs) are becoming more accessible. DERs represent an evolutionary shift from the grid’s original design, when power was mostly centralized in one big power plant supplying many users, to a new era in which smaller sources of power are distributed among many users. Some of them may not even be connected to the power line network.
https://rmi.org/resources/clean-energy-101-the-changing-electricity-grid/
The Data Center Boom
On the latest Walker Webcast, Willy sat down with Chris Crosby, founder and CEO of Compass Datacenters, a leading Class A, Community-First builder of the digital infrastructure powering the AI economy. They discussed the genesis behind Compass, the company’s community-first philosophy, its 100-year neighbor approach, and the realities of navigating local politics. Chris also shared his perspective on common misconceptions about data center water and power usage, the economics and modular innovation behind development, the impact of supply chains, tariffs, and immigration policy, and what lies ahead for the future of digital infrastructure.
https://www.walkerdunlop.com/webcast/chris-crosby
Nobody Wants to Talk About Architecture’s Role in Population Collapse
The path ahead is not simple. Design is often associated with improving humanity’s circumstances, but the same strategies that enhance quality of life may also contribute to slowing population growth. Understanding these tensions may be one of design’s most important challenges in the coming century. And there are many paradoxes to navigate.
https://www.architectmagazine.com/design/nobody-wants-to-talk-about-architectures-role-in-population-collapse
US commercial property prices slip, dragged down by offices
Among standout properties, a vacant Houston office tower was the biggest loser in absolute dollar terms, and it was one of the relatively few distressed transactions during the month. The 3000 Post Oak building in the city’s Uptown district was foreclosed on in May at $10.5 million — $159.5 million below its November 2014 purchase price. The property’s value had been under pressure since engineering firm Bechtel, its primary tenant, vacated at lease expiration in October 2024, leaving the 19-story building empty. It is scheduled to be auctioned this month, which could further reset its pricing.
https://www.costar.com/article/1974041369/us-commercial-property-prices-slip-dragged-down-by-offices
A Bold Bet on Senior Housing Nets Big Payday for Welltower CEO
Today, Welltower now owns more than 2,500 senior-living communities, the most of anyone in the industry. Its market value has increased close to sevenfold to about $160 billion since 2020. Mitra himself has been well compensated. He received a compensation package valued at $821 million last year, according to The Wall Street Journal’s annual analysis of executive pay.
https://trk.wsj.com/view/68a7bed7f8c1231b9694317frm9pl.zrl/4f9196c2
A New Wellspring for Apartment Conversions: Century-Old Schoolhouses
They often pose challenges. Many school buildings were built over a century ago, and years of abandonment have left them in poor condition. Developers often must replace the mechanical and electrical systems, update stairs and windows to code and remove asbestos and lead. But declining fertility rates combined with parents’ increasing preference for private and charter schools are sending public-school enrollments plunging.
https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/a-new-wellspring-for-apartment-conversions-century-old-schoolhouses-4fe9f3a0
Denver unveils $100M jobs plan to revive struggling downtown
Denver’s mayor and economic development officials are trying to give Denver’s struggling downtown economy a shot in the arm via several programs totaling $101.5 million in investments to help create 10,000 jobs over the next three years, the mayor announced Thursday. A mix of existing and new programs has been combined into a collective blueprint dubbed the Denver Jobs Agenda.
https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2026/07/09/denver-jobs-agenda.html
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Sweeping housing affordability bill becomes law, despite Trump’s delay. Here’s what it actually means for the housing market
The 21st Century Road to Housing Act, a bipartisan bill that aims to tackle housing affordability, officially became law early Saturday, despite a series of attempts by President Donald Trump to stall the legislation. Its passage signals that lawmakers recognize the frustration many Americans feel about the high cost of housing. At a time of elevated mortgage rates and near-record high home prices, many feel locked out of homeownership or struggle with monthly rent payments. Supporters of the law have touted it as the most comprehensive housing reform in at least three decades. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the new law “one of the most significant pieces of housing affordability legislation in American History,” in a social media post last month.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/11/economy/new-housing-affordability-law-heres-what-it-means
How housing regulation holds back innovation and what HUD gets right about fixing it
HUD recently issued a set of best practices for state and local governments to improve affordability by reducing the overall costs of construction, increasing land available for construction, and reducing the development timeline. By identifying specific regulatory and administrative barriers, HUD has taken a step toward a federal framework for encouraging housing production.
https://www.niskanencenter.org/how-housing-regulation-holds-back-innovation-and-what-hud-gets-right-about-fixing-it/
Inside the Deal: What’s in the Final 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
After months of back-and-forth between the Senate and the House, the two chambers reached an agreement on a comprehensive bipartisan housing package, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. On June 22, 2026, the Senate passed the bill 85-5 and the following day the House passed the bill 358-32.
https://bipartisanpolicy.org/issue-brief/inside-the-deal-whats-in-the-final-21st-century-road-to-housing-act/
A Landmark Housing Bill Passed Congress. Home Builders Fear It Will Fizzle
Ultimately, the bill exposes the limits of the federal government’s ability to increase housing supply. Congress doesn’t have the authority to change the local zoning regulations and building codes that actually determine what gets built in America and that have bogged down new-housing development for decades. Builders, scarred by the years of local bottlenecks that have delayed and killed their projects, fear that Congress’s new legislation could meet the same fate when cities and towns try to implement it.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/a-landmark-housing-bill-passed-congress-home-builders-fear-it-will-fizzle-fdce8b8e
Moving Back Home Used to Be a Sign of Failure. Now It Shows Financial Savvy
Last year, 49% of adults under age 30 said they lived with a parent, up 12 percentage points from 2019, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking. Nearly a third of those adults were 25 or older. Some economists put that figure lower and note that the Fed study doesn’t distinguish between children living in their parents’ homes versus parents living in their children’s homes. Still, young people say that living at home in 2026 doesn’t carry the stigma it once did because of how unaffordable life has become. About 55% of young adults who moved back home said it was out of financial necessity, according to a spring survey by financial services firm Thrivent.
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/relationships/living-with-parents-finances-0c35530c?mod=djemWeekend
The States Where Housing Prices Have Surged the Most (2021–2026)
Housing prices have risen sharply across much of America over the last five years. In Maine and Vermont, prices are up nearly 60% since 2021, highlighting how affordability challenges continue to shape the U.S. housing market. This chart, created in partnership with Plasma, shows how housing prices have changed across the country for the five-year period ending March 2026.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/pla02-u-s-housing-market-home-price-growth-by-state/
Denver Rolls Out 90-day Review for Affordable Housing
City staff across all departments involved in the Affordable Housing Review Team (AHRT) developed the fast-track review process in collaboration with the Denver Permitting Office (DPO). ~ AHRT will now administer the process, which is a requirement of the state ballot initiative Proposition 123, approved by Colorado voters in 2022. The implementation of Denver’s Proposition 123 Fast-Track Process is one of two requirements that must be met by jurisdictions that chose to file a commitment that opts them into Proposition 123, which Denver first did in the summer of 2023. This commitment allows projects in the city to be eligible for various funding mechanisms created by Proposition 123, including the State Affordable Housing Fund. The work to create the process was supported by a grant from Colorado’s Department of Local Affairs (DOLA).
https://milehighcre.com/denver-rolls-out-90-day-review-for-affordable-housing/
Landlords Win in Closely Watched Massachusetts Rent-Control Fight
Other states and cities are grappling with skyrocketing housing costs, sparking movements to try to tame rising rents. In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani promised a rent freeze on the city’s rent-regulated apartments. Los Angeles recently tightened rent controls for the first time in four decades. Advocates say such tenant protections are a key tool for preventing evictions and homelessness. But opponents point to examples such as St. Paul, Minn., where a rent-control ordinance enacted in 2022 led to a drop in building activity, prompting city officials to revise the ordinance.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/landlords-win-in-closely-watched-massachusetts-rent-control-fight-507826cb?st=UGSPSM
New York City Board Approves Mamdani’s Rent Freeze
The board’s vote will likely face legal challenges by those who oppose a freeze, however. The board is legally required to consider economic conditions in its decision, including costs such as taxes, utilities, maintenance and other data. One member of the board resigned ahead of Thursday’s vote, saying its decision was already “decided last year on the campaign trail” and cemented by Mamdani’s six appointments to the board in February.
https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/new-york-city-board-approves-mamdanis-rent-freeze-d6d42df4
Modular apartment building near Denver’s Santa Fe Art District to offer affordable housing by January 2027
Sohn said the speed of modular construction could represent a 30 to 40% savings in time compared to traditional building methods. Work on the factory portion began Jan. 19, and the project entered its final week of on-site setting on June 25. The building will have 54 units, most of them studio apartments of roughly 400 square feet. Some one-bedroom units will also be available, ranging up to approximately 500 to 550 square feet. To qualify, applicants must earn between 30% and 80% of the area median income. Average rent will be approximately $1,300 a month, and some units will be rented below $750 a month.
https://www.denver7.com/lifestyle/real-estate/modular-apartment-building-near-denvers-santa-fe-art-district-to-offer-affordable-housing-by-january-2027
REAL ESTATE AND MOBILITY
International Standards for Automated Vehicles: How Does This Impact Real Estate?
Many countries have agreed to follow the rules and standards developed under WP.29. The US is involved with WP.29 under a non-binding agreement. The US has reserved its position toadopt its own rules. This does not mean the US will not follow the UN position for DV under WP.29 standards. However, the US has been using a self-certification system as to its standards for DV, which is different than the recently issued UN standards.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/international-standards-automated-vehicles-how-does-impact-levine-y8xwc/
Transit-Oriented Development Pioneer Marilee Utter Receives ULI Colorado Legacy Award
Utter acted as development adviser to Englewood city government. She helped guide the redevelopment of Cinderella City, a failed regional mall on a 55 acre (22 ha) site, to becoming an award-winning project and the Denver region’s first transit-oriented development outside a central business district. Building on those efforts, Utter founded the Transit-Oriented Development Department at the Regional Transportation District, where she advanced the integration of land use and transit. In that role, she worked with municipalities and private partners across the Front Range to implement transit-oriented development strategies and expand their impact.
https://urbanland.uli.org/design-planning/uli-awards/transit-oriented-development-pioneer-marilee-utter-receives-uli-colorado-legacy-award
California Eyes Data Center Plan To Help Fund High Speed Rail
“The Authority is advancing an asset commercialization strategy to develop energy and technology projects along the high-speed rail right-of-way and on surplus land,” a 2026 revised draft business plan from the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) read. “By leveraging state-owned land for commercial development such as solar farms, battery storage, data centers, and fiber optic and transmission lines, the Authority can create new business income sources before operations, while also benefiting communities along the corridor.” The document went on to say that analysis “revealed several complementary opportunities, particularly in areas such as renewable energy and technology infrastructure.
https://www.newsweek.com/california-eyes-data-center-plan-to-help-fund-high-speed-rail-12103836
Remote Work Is Making It Harder for Grads to Find (and Keep) Jobs
A study last month from researchers at the London School of Economics noted that the amount of hiring devoted to entry-level roles across a handful of countries has fallen more than 14% since 2019. The study, based on more than 400 million online job postings, found that firms that stayed remote after the pandemic were more likely to cut back on junior hiring. Recruiting an entry-level worker, the researchers say, is a bet on the employee’s future skills. So a company’s return-on-investment hinges on the rate at which that young employee learns. Since remote work slows that process, the researchers argue, companies see young talent as a less attractive value proposition, preferring to invest instead in older workers. As a result, remote work doesn’t just dampen young employees’ day-to-day experience. It also makes it harder for them to find a job in the future.
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/work-from-home-gen-z-7b09795b
The Ivory Opens as Austin’s First Carless Condominium Community
In partnership with CapMetro and Quantum Mobility, residents will also have access to an on-site bus stop, a bike-share station, and two electric car-share vehicles, providing affordable and accessible transportation. Homebuyers will receive mobility credits and transit passes to support car-light or car-free living.
https://www.austintexas.gov/housing/news/ivory-opens-austins-first-carless-condominium-community
MOBILITY
This Simple White Line Is America’s Greatest Unsung Innovation
In the 1950s, around the time Jonas Salk cracked the polio vaccine, a metallurgist named John V. N. Dorr became the champion of a different lifesaver: a white line on the right side of the road. For years, Dorr told anyone who would listen—and everyone who wouldn’t—about his simple way of making highways safer. A line on the side of the road, he argued, would give drivers somewhere to aim their eyes at night other than oncoming headlights. It was both cheap and incredibly effective, which made it a brilliant investment. Over time, his revolutionary stripe of paint would reach billions of people and guide drivers across the planet.
https://www.wsj.com/business/white-line-road-invention-america-250-8ce6bb89
Mobility Hubs | Transportation Centers Reimagined
A mobility hub is a place where multiple modes of transportation (cars, regional bus services, bicycles, pedestrians, micro-mobility, public transportation and so on) seamlessly integrate to allow for quick mode-to-mode and route-to-route connections. CDOT has prioritized mobility hubs as a statewide program since 2019 and is committed to providing excellent bus transportation through the state-run Bustang family of services. CDOT’s Mobility Hubs will be located along I-25 from Fort Collins to Pueblo and I-70 from Denver to Grand Junction, providing Bustang bus services along Colorado’s major interstate corridors, along with convenient access to most other regions of Colorado via the Bustang Outrider network or through local transit providers. Several of these hubs will replace existing park-n-ride stations while others will provide new connections.
https://www.codot.gov/programs/transitandrail/mobilityhubs
https://transolutions.org/portfolio/southeast-denver-mobility-hubs-study/
Colorado voters will face Restore Our Roads transportation funding question on November ballot
The Restore Our Roads measure, which was submitted as Initiative 175, would cement road-spending requirements in the state constitution and divert more than $500 million a year from other priorities. It would also reduce the amount of money now set aside for transit and other non-road uses. The proponents of the initiative, which include construction industry groups, submitted the required number of valid signatures from each state Senate district to appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot, with a total of 143,112 valid signatures, state elections division officials confirmed.
https://www.denverpost.com/2026/06/23/colorado-initiative-175-transportation-funding-ballot/
They Can’t Fly Spirit Anymore, So They’re Taking the Bus Instead
Bus companies are pushing to capitalize, with Flixbus and Greyhound adding a net 25 new lines across the U.S. and Canada this year, after adding 16 in 2025. Operators are upgrading vehicles to move beyond perceptions of aging fleets and dingy stations. Flixbus and Greyhound, both operated by Flix North America, have added a net 25 new lines across the U.S. and Canada this year. Flix’s Greyhound purchased 181 new buses over the past two years equipped with more-comfortable seating and better Wi-Fi, and plans to buy 85 more this year.
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/they-cant-fly-spirit-anymore-so-theyre-taking-the-bus-instead-175054af?mod=djem10point
Front Range Passenger Rail – We Are Making Solid Progress!
In March the state team that is negotiating with BNSF Railway announced a deal that sets a lower total construction cost for Denver to Ft. Collins “Joint Service”. On April 28 all the relevant agencies — notably including the Regional Transportation District (RTD) — agreed to accept the terms of that deal. Two days later the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) revealed its planning for an Arvada station along the “Mountain Rail” route from Denver to Granby.
https://mailchi.mp/colorail/colorail-e-news-2026-07-05
Transportation and Quality-of-Life Effects of Los Angeles’s Mobility Wallet Program
The program provided low-income recipients with resources to spend flexibly on a variety of shared transportation services. In this study, we draw on interviews with 31 participants before, during, and after the 1-year pilot program to understand the effect of the mobility wallet on their travel behavior and quality of life. The findings are promising: increased travel frequency, decreased material hardship and stress, improved social connections, feelings of independence and autonomy, and improved wellbeing. The results suggest an important role for flexible, demand-side transportation subsidies in meeting the diverse transportation needs of low-income travelers.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01944363.2026.2675964#abstract
