Research, analysis, and perspectives on the built world.
Wholesale and colocation data center facilities look similar from the outside but represent fundamentally different development businesses. This post breaks down how lease structure, tenant credit, power density, capex, and exit pricing differ between the two product types, and provides a decision framework for developers evaluating which to build at a given site.
April 12, 2026 ·5 min read
GPU rack densities from AI compute workloads have outpaced air cooling's limits, forcing data center developers to choose between direct liquid cooling, immersion, and evaporative systems before a building is designed. This post covers the capabilities and site constraints of each approach, explains the water availability issue reshaping market selection, and shows where AI-assisted feasibility modeling changes the economics of the decision.
April 11, 2026 ·5 min read
A technical breakdown of the five components of power analysis for data center site selection, covering utility capacity, transmission constraints, interconnection queue timelines, rate structures, and PPA viability, with a guide to public data sources and where AI accelerates the process.
April 10, 2026 ·4 min read
Student housing is outperforming conventional multifamily on most institutional benchmarks, driven by on-campus housing deficits and enrollment growth at Tier 1 and Tier 2 universities. This post covers the site criteria that actually drive underwriting, the supply-demand dynamics shaping the best opportunity markets, and how AI is compressing enrollment analysis, proximity mapping, and zoning research.
April 9, 2026 ·5 min read
Last-mile logistics facilities face uniquely constrained site requirements: proximity to dense urban markets, high dock door ratios, and growing power demands for EV delivery fleets. This post covers the technical site criteria, 2026 market dynamics in infill industrial submarkets, and where AI is compressing the development process from site screening to pro forma.
April 8, 2026 ·5 min read
Senior housing spans four distinct care levels, each with different regulatory requirements, staffing models, and demand drivers. This post covers the 2026 development opportunity, the site criteria that actually matter for institutional teams, and where AI is compressing analysis time across screening, regulatory mapping, and pro forma modeling.
April 7, 2026 ·5 min read
Adaptive reuse projects are technically complex to underwrite and increasingly attractive as office vacancy rates rise in gateway markets. This piece covers the structural, regulatory, and financing variables that make conversions hard to analyze and shows where AI accelerates feasibility screening, MEP scoping, and capital stack modeling before a team commits significant resources.
April 6, 2026 ·4 min read
Industrial real estate development is entering a more rigorous underwriting environment after the pandemic demand surge. This post covers site criteria by asset type, tenant requirement-driven program design, build-to-suit vs. spec considerations, and how AI is compressing the site screening and permitting workflow for industrial developers.
April 2, 2026 ·5 min read
Commercial solar development requires stacking irradiance, grid access, land criteria, permitting, and offtake analysis before a site can advance. This guide covers each criterion at the practitioner level, including where interconnection queue dynamics are creating the biggest bottlenecks in 2026. Includes a breakdown of where AI compresses the site screening and advancement process.
April 1, 2026 ·5 min read