Real Finds Podcast: Commercial Real Estate Unfiltered

Sean Hostert is a principal, investor, advisor, and founder of Net Lease Observer, widely regarded as the net lease industry's leading independent analyst. A finance major out of the University of Illinois who started his career advising mortgage servicers at PwC after the 2008 crisis, Sean found his way into net lease in 2013 at Cole Capital, a non-traded REIT platform in Phoenix. From the FP&A side of the business, he developed a deep understanding of what makes single tenant net lease a unique animal: an asset class defined not by property type, but by lease structure, sitting at the intersection of fixed income, tenant credit, and real estate.In this episode, Sean and Gordon take a practitioner's tour of the entire net lease universe, from Dollar General outparcels and FedEx distribution centers to the single tenant ownership structures behind Caesars Palace and the MGM Grand. Sean breaks down how to underwrite these deals across tenant credit, real estate fundamentals, and lease structure, why sale leasebacks have become a private equity favorite, and what's actually driving the institutional capital surge from names like Blackstone. If you own real estate, advise owners, or are thinking about your first triple net acquisition, this conversation is essential listening.What we cover:- Why net lease is defined by lease structure, not property type, and how it differs from traditional CRE- The three core ways to buy net lease: sale leasebacks, assuming existing leases, and development financing- How to underwrite a deal across tenant credit, real estate fundamentals, and lease structure- Absolute triple net explained: taxes, insurance, and maintenance responsibilities- Why sale leasebacks appeal to private equity, and the valuation gap that makes them work- Rent escalation norms, cap rate ranges, and what to look for in a typical OM- Who's actually buying: public REITs, private funds, and the fragmented private capital market- Why institutional players are surging into net lease, and the demographic tailwinds behind it- Sean's take on the underwatched middle of the yield curve and self-driving cars' fat-tailed impact on real estateThe Real Finds Podcast drops new episodes every Wednesday at 3 PM CT on YouTube and Spotify. If you enjoyed this conversation, please give us a like, a five-star rating, and a review. Your comments, interactions, and subscriptions truly matter and help us bring on quality guests.Brought to you by Van Vlissingen and Co., Chicagoland's oldest private commercial real estate brokerage, serving Greater Chicago, Wisconsin, and the broader Midwest since 1879.Chicago's Top Commercial Real Estate AgentsWebsite: vvco.comPhone: 847-846-6902Email: [email protected] with Sean Hostert: Net Lease Observer at netleaseobserver.comFind us on YouTube, Spotify, iTunes & more!Timestamps:00:00 Why net lease returns 10-11% annually00:46 Introducing Sean Hostert, Net Lease Observer01:13 Why real estate? From PwC to Cole Capital02:20 What drew Sean to net lease specifically03:37 The unique financial flavor of net lease03:53 Net lease defined: structure, not property type05:23 How an investor should approach net lease08:05 Underwriting: matching your goals to the asset10:10 Common lease structures and absolute triple net13:14 Sale leasebacks in the post-2020 market14:01 The three ways to buy net lease deals16:14 Why private equity loves sale leasebacks19:32 Rent bumps, escalations, and cap rate ranges23:06 Who's actually buying net lease26:18 Acknowledging data and availability bias26:48 The Blackstone effect and institutional surge30:03 Final Four: what we're not talking about enough32:18 What changes most in CRE over ten years32:42 Self-driving cars and the fat-tailed future36:10 Best career advice: lock down the right partner37:35 Who should come on the podcast next39:44 How to reach Sean and Net Lease Observer

Fiber connectivity has quietly become one of the most decisive factors in data center site selection, and the AI buildout is about to make it far more complex. In this episode of The Real Finds Podcast, Gordon Lamphere sits down with Bruce Garrison, CEO of BIG Fiber, one of the leading names in metro dark fiber infrastructure serving the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Portland, and Greater Atlanta.Bruce brings more than 20 years in the fiber infrastructure industry, including leadership roles at Kansas Fiber Network and GTS Central Europe. BIG Fiber operates a 100% underground network spanning hundreds of route miles and connecting dozens of on-net data centers across its markets.In this conversation, we cover:- Why fiber rings exist and how redundancy underpins data center uptime SLAs- How hyperscaler campuses now demand three to four diverse routes back to interconnect- Why AI inference could multiply data center endpoints tenfold and reshape the map- The shift from a few large campuses to high-volume, distributed, smaller compute sites- Why fiber is the hardest problem to solve once you move outside the urban core- How modular data centers, cell towers, and enterprise buildings become AI infrastructure- What developers, brokers, and communities should understand about the long-term tax and economic case for data centersFor site selectors, developers, and commercial property owners, this is a clear-eyed look at the infrastructure layer most of the market overlooks until it becomes a dealbreaker.Bruce Garrison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucegarrisonNew episodes of The Real Finds Podcast drop every Wednesday at 3 PM CT on YouTube and Spotify.Van Vlissingen and Co., Chicagoland's oldest commercial real estate brokerage (founded 1879)Web: https://www.vvco.comPhone: 847-846-6902Email: [email protected]#CommercialRealEstate #DataCenters #DarkFiber #AIInfrastructure #SiteSelection #CRE #DigitalInfrastructure #Hyperscaler

Everyone said 25 Water Street was unconvertible. Too big. Too deep. Too much building. Eugene Flotteron converted it anyway, and it became the largest completed office-to-residential conversion in American history: 1.1 million square feet of vacant Manhattan office space transformed into 1,320 apartments, with two courtyards carved out of the building's core and a 10-story addition stacked on top.On this episode of The Real Finds Podcast, Gordon Lamphere sits down with Eugene Flotteron, AIA, Principal and Director of Architecture at CetraRuddy, where over the past 24 years he has become one of the industry's foremost leaders in adaptive reuse. Eugene walks us through exactly how 25 Water Street got done: the structural negotiations that capped the overbuild at 10 stories, the facade surgery required to deliver light and air, the 467-M tax program that converted a fully market-rate plan into 25 percent affordability without changing a single floor plan, and the 100,000 square foot amenity package that reignited the amenity wars.Then we go deeper into the conversion playbook itself: what makes a building a candidate, why overbuilt FAR is your best friend, the 80 percent floor efficiency target, why 1970s curtain wall modules are the hardest puzzle in the business, and how the conversion wave is now spreading from New York to Dallas, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, and Charlotte.If you want to understand how distressed office buildings actually become housing, this is the masterclass.What we cover:- How 25 Water Street became the largest completed office-to-residential conversion in the US- Cutting courtyards, replacing facades, and adding 10 stories to make the deal pencil- New York's 467-M tax abatement and why developers are racing its June 2026 reduction- How City of Yes threw gasoline on the adaptive reuse market- The studio home office: the unit type beating one-bedroom comps by $500 to $600 a month- The amenity wars: pools, pickleball, bowling alleys, and 100,000 square feet of found space- Eugene's conversion checklist: overbuilt FAR, light exposure, floor depth, and efficiency targets- Which building eras have good bones and which are traps- Why conversions are going national and what other cities must fix to compete- Public-private partnerships and the future of urban redevelopmentTimestamps:00:00 Cold open: The amenity wars are back01:34 How Eugene got into adaptive reuse03:18 From small conversions to the biggest one ever attempted05:50 Inside 25 Water Street: 1.1M SF into 1,320 apartments10:21 Office distress: is there still opportunity left?13:12 The 467-M program and City of Yes15:32 Conversions go national: Texas, DC, Pittsburgh, Charlotte19:24 What renters demand in 202622:10 100,000 square feet of amenities and the amenity arms race27:44 The conversion playbook: what makes good bones34:10 Which building eras convert best36:10 The hardest conversion: a horse-and-buggy hospital40:35 Designing at developer speed43:22 Final Four: what the industry isn't talking about46:43 The future of public-private partnerships50:41 One minute of advice for younger professionals53:14 Who should be next on the podcast🔔 Subscribe to The Real Finds Podcast for real conversations with the entrepreneurs, activists, and researchers shaping the real estate industry. New episodes every Wednesday at 3 PM CT on YouTube and Spotify.Connect with Eugene Flotteron:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugene-flotteron-aia-513b3548/CetraRuddy: https://cetraruddy.comConnect with Gordon Lamphere and Van Vlissingen and Co.:Website: https://vvco.comPhone: 847-846-6902Email: [email protected]#OfficeToResidential #AdaptiveReuse #CommercialRealEstate #25WaterStreet #RealEstatePodcast #CRE #Multifamily #NYCRealEstate #RealFindsPodcast

Industrial real estate looks remarkably similar whether you are in Edmonton, Dallas, or Chicago. On this episode of the Real Finds Podcast, Gordon Lamphere sits down with Chad Griffiths, MBA, SIOR, CCIM, a partner at NAI Commercial in Edmonton and host of The Industrial Real Estate Show, the most-watched industrial real estate podcast in the industry. Chad shares two decades of perspective on the Alberta market, the universal forces reshaping industrial demand, the power crisis facing every warehouse (not just data centers), and how to cut through the noise on real estate social media without selling your soul.We dig into the bifurcation of industrial users, the tension between last-mile delivery and community pushback, the cap rate documentary that revealed no two experts agree, and Chad's prediction for vertical, automated, ultra-high-clear warehouses over the next decade.Timestamps00:00 Cold open: nobody wants warehouses, now nobody wants data centers01:28 Welcome and introducing Chad Griffiths01:35 How Chad accidentally fell into industrial real estate03:18 Always be learning: the danger of thinking you know it all03:59 Inside the Alberta market: oil, gas, and the Texas comparison05:00 Edmonton's 160 million square feet and what makes a building universal06:32 The biggest universal trend: data centers and the power crisis08:00 Electrification of everything, from forklifts to retrieval systems09:20 Higher clear heights, more land, trailer storage09:40 Political instability, tariffs, labor, and deals that no longer pencil10:21 Warehouse and data center moratoriums: Deerfield, California, New York11:09 The last-mile tension: we want fast delivery but nobody wants the warehouse14:36 What it means for occupiers and investors: the rent-to-revenue calculus10:00 The coming bifurcation of industrial users17:40 Reading the cycle: upward pressure on rates and tightening availability18:02 Predicting unpredictability in a chaotic world20:01 Real estate meets social media: the two toxic extremes22:32 The guru-grifter problem and the doomsayer problem25:04 Telling the truth when doomerism gets the views27:23 The cap rate documentary: asking 12 experts, getting 12 answers30:18 Thirty-two ways to calculate a cap rate32:44 Real Finds Final Four: the topic we are not discussing enough34:47 What happens to data centers when we no longer need them35:53 Ten years out: distribution goes vertical37:33 Super-flat floors, power, and the engineering challenge40:08 One minute of advice: become an expert, build relationships42:53 Guest recommendation: Ron Rohde and the world of IOS44:23 Where to find ChadConnect with Chad GriffithsThe Industrial Real Estate Show: industrialize.comAvailable on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTubeX / Twitter: @ChadGriffithsNAI Commercial, EdmontonConnect with Van Vlissingen and Co.Website: https://www.vvco.comPhone: 847-846-6902Founded in 1879, Van Vlissingen and Co. is Chicagoland's oldest independent commercial real estate brokerage. Subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping commercial real estate.#IndustrialRealEstate #CommercialRealEstate #CRE #DataCenters #Warehouse #RealFindsPodcast #Logistics

Episode 101 of The Real Finds Podcast features Daniel North, a partner in the Chicago office of Polsinelli, whose practice has built an accidental niche in industrial real estate that took off during COVID and has not slowed since. With over a billion dollars in national property deals behind him, Daniel walks through the legal mechanics of how today's industrial, data center, and multifamily transactions actually get done in a market defined by tariffs, supply chain volatility, geopolitical risk, and a power grid straining to keep up with demand.The conversation covers the rise of small bay industrial and how risk allocation has shifted as tenants prioritize speed, location, and stock turnover over raw size. Daniel traces the evolution of the force majeure clause from boilerplate background language ten years ago to a heavily negotiated business term that now gets fought over at the LOI stage, with detailed carve-outs for pandemics, government shutdowns, tariffs, and supply chain disruption. He draws the critical distinction between timing risk and pricing risk in supply chain delays, explains why contractors are increasingly unwilling to accept true guaranteed maximum price structures, and walks through the political dimension of data center development as communities raise concerns about water usage, electricity costs, and noise. Daniel also breaks down why data center deals run on wattage rather than square footage, how phasing allows gigawatt projects to align with utility capacity over multi-year buildouts, and the asset-specific legal strategies that matter most for industrial speed-to-market, multifamily financing contingencies, and student housing's calendar-driven delivery windows. He closes with what he believes is the most underappreciated story shaping commercial real estate: the power grid and the infrastructure constraints that will dictate where and when the next decade of development actually gets built.For owners, developers, and investors operating in the Chicagoland and Wisconsin industrial corridors, the legal frameworks Daniel discusses translate directly to deals across the I-55 corridor from Romeoville and Bolingbrook through Joliet, Elwood, and Wilmington, the I-80 markets in Channahon and Minooka, and the I-88 corridor running west through Aurora, Naperville, and Sugar Grove. The O'Hare submarket in Elk Grove Village, Bensenville, Itasca, Wood Dale, and Franklin Park continues to anchor last-mile distribution across DuPage County, while the I-90 corridor through Elgin, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, and Huntley supports large-format and small bay product alike. North of the city, Lake County industrial demand stretches through Waukegan, Gurnee, Mundelein, Libertyville, and Vernon Hills before crossing into southeastern Wisconsin, where Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie, Racine, Mount Pleasant, Sturtevant, Oak Creek, and the Milwaukee metro are absorbing reshoring activity, data center siting, and last-mile logistics buildout. Northwest Indiana submarkets including Hammond, Gary, Portage, and Merrillville round out the broader Chicagoland industrial footprint this episode speaks to directly.📍 Blog: https://www.vvco.com/the-real-finds-blog 🎙️ Podcast: The Real Finds Podcast 📞 847-634-2300 🌐 vvco.comVan Vlissingen and Co. has been the Midwest's oldest commercial real estate brokerage, development, and management firm since 1879.