At the intersection of commercial real estate and technology, REItrades is redefining how institutional commercial real estate assets change hands. By combining an AI-powered marketing engine, a vast network of 3,250+ pre-vetted real estate investment firms (GPs), and a fully integrated digital workflow, REItrades turns what was once a fragmented, months-long process into a streamlined, data-driven marketplace for principal-to-principal institutional commercial real estate investment sales ($10M+).

The commercial real estate industry is entering a new era, driven by fundamental changes, a challenging macroeconomic environment, and technological advancements that are reshaping the industry; urging investors to reevaluate their operations and adopt optimized, cost-effective alternatives. For decades, broker-led sales processes have slowed deals and added a massive layer of costs, a process that once required significant manual work, now largely automated, yet still lengthy, with commissions unchanged. REItrades cuts through the inefficiency, offering a streamlined alternative designed for today’s market.

With a fully automated, end-to-end digital marketing and transaction management platform, REItrades enables principals to close faster while maintaining complete visibility over every stage of the deal. From initial auto-generated marketing materials and targeted outreach to NDA execution, offer negotiation, and due diligence tracking, all activity is captured within a single, secure workspace. Real-time analytics provide insight into exposure, engagement, file access, and offer activity, allowing sellers to respond strategically and buyers to move decisively. By removing intermediaries and replacing fragmented, multi-platform workflows with a unified system, REItrades delivers clarity, control, and operational efficiency, achieving unprecedented results.

Beyond its core marketing and workflow capabilities, REItrades includes a full suite of tools designed to keep every transaction organized, secure, and fully transparent. Sellers can request broker price opinions and arrange 3D virtual tours directly from the platform through trusted partners. Built-in NDA and LOI templates can be executed with integrated e-signatures, eliminating delays in document handling. Targeted buyer outreach leverages the platform’s network data to match assets with the most relevant acquisition criteria. Collaborative deal management allows principals to add team members for shared access and coordination, and secure file sharing ensures controlled access to confidential documents throughout the transaction. Additional functions include centralized offer management, private buyer–seller chat for direct communication, due diligence tracking with task checklists, and network insights that reveal buyer profiles and market trends across asset classes and regions.

REItrades brings together decision makers from established institutional real estate investment firms, who are actively seeking opportunities nationwide and across all asset classes. Access to the platform is by invitation or application only. Buyers must meet minimum requirements ($50M+ AUM) to join, showing that they are financially capable and have the expertise to deal directly. No intermediaries are allowed. Over the past 3+ years, REItrades has built a network, one connection at a time, which now encompasses over 5,600+ decision makers from over 3,250+ GPs. The goal: to connect with each and every GP active in the institutional commercial real estate space, so sellers don’t have to pay high commission fees to reach this small niche of buyers, creating a highly competitive sales process similar to traditional methods.

On REItrades, the sales flow is software-led and linear: sellers provides property information and uploads files to create a listing; teasers and offering memorandums are auto-generated using pre-built asset-class-specific templates, with select sections generated by AI; marketing materials are enhanced with property data from our data partner; a targeted teaser email campaign to matched buyers runs with an automated 7-day follow-up while the listing is showcased on the platform. There is zero cost to sellers, listings can be created in minutes with no minimum periods. Sellers may accept an offer or cancel the listing at any time. Qualified buyers can use the platform free and pay a 0.1% platform fee upon closing of a deal.

The soft beta launch date will be announced in the coming weeks and will spotlight a limited number of listings, exclusively marketed through REItrades. It presents a unique opportunity for leaders in the institutional commercial real estate space to distinguish themselves with investors as forward-thinking and innovative. Principals, both sellers and buyers, can schedule a demo to experience the platform’s capabilities firsthand by contacting the REItrades team at support@reitrades.com.

Life science leaders are recognizing that laboratory design and infrastructure can be a secret weapon in enabling innovation—capable of responding to rapidly advancing research demands, technological innovation, and shifting workforce expectations, according to a new Unispace Life Sciences survey report on lab design development.

The survey, fielded in May 2025, explored the perspectives of 400 senior and mid-level decision-makers across the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland, Switzerland, and India, spanning biotechnology, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and medical technology.

Perceptions of how current lab environments enable innovation are markedly positive among U.S. life science executives compared to their global peers—they have a strong sense of confidence in the capability and resilience of U.S. lab workspaces, particularly in terms of its adaptability for growth (67%) and integration of new technologies (63%).

U.S. labs are also more likely to cite “flexible, modular spaces” as a key driver shaping lab design—61% of US executives identify this as a critical driver compared to 53% of their global counterparts.

Despite this positive sentiment, the U.S. sector faces headwinds in terms of future capital planning. More than half (52%) of executives in this region express apprehension that there will be a return on investment when deciding to fund new life sciences facilities.

“U.S. life science executives believe they have the winning formula when it comes to designing labs that will support their organization’s speed-to-market goals,” said Alicia Inman, Principal, Life Sciences, Americas. “However, the bigger challenge is making the upfront investment in the new facility itself due to the current economic climate,” she said.

Designed to Spark Innovation

To enable innovation, respondents cited the following three features as the most important in a life sciences workplace:

• Digitally integrated, using AI and smart technologies. Respondents highlighted the growing role of technologies such as IoT, AI, and digital simulation tools in transforming laboratory operations. Innovations like digital twins and virtual/augmented reality are enabling new possibilities for simulation, remote collaboration, and training—especially valuable for laboratories operating in decentralized or resource-constrained environments.
• Highly flexible, with modular spaces that scale with shifting needs. Mobile benching and modular infrastructure allow labs to accommodate shifting equipment requirements and emerging technologies. Designing for a variety of bench specifications enables flexibility across a broader range of research applications, while a shift in the wet lab-to-dry lab ratio—and between lab and office space—should be anticipated as research needs change.
• Optimized for seamless cross-functional collaboration. Collaboration is at the heart of modern lab design, with open, shared spaces and dedicated zones key to enabling interdisciplinary teamwork and driving research excellence. Nearly half of respondents see purpose-built collaboration areas as vital for employee satisfaction, enhanced with features such as flexible workspaces, ergonomic furniture, natural light, and biophilic design elements.

In addition to enabling innovation, respondents cited “embedding sustainability” as one of the top factors informing their lab workplace design strategy, driven by mounting regulatory pressures, investor demands, and internal commitments to climate goals. Leaders flagged issues such as emissions control, hazardous and biowaste disposal, and overall environmental compliance as pain points that must be addressed early in lab planning.

“It’s now table-stakes for labs to incorporate eco-friendly construction materials, smart lighting, energy-efficient HVAC systems, and innovative waste and water management strategies in any new build,” said Inman.

About Unispace Life Sciences

Unispace Life Sciences, part of Unispace Group, creates future-ready environments for the world’s most innovative science-led organizations. With deep sector expertise and a science‑first mindset, we deliver strategy, design, and construction solutions for laboratory and workplace environments across biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical technology, and healthcare industries.

CBRE has arranged a $17.35 million construction loan on behalf of Constellation Real Estate Partners and their partner, a large insurance company, for the development of a 240,041-square-foot speculative industrial facility in Pasadena, Texas, a key submarket within the Greater Houston area.

The CBRE Capital Markets’ Debt & Structured Finance team of Brian Linnihan, Mike Ryan, Richard Henry, and Taylor Crowder sourced the financing from Texas Capital Bank. The non-recourse construction loan will fund the development of Constellation Genoa Red Bluff, located at 2543 Genoa Red Bluff Road.

Strategically positioned in Houston’s Southeast submarket, an area characterized by limited land availability, the project is poised to meet growing demand for Class A industrial space in one of the metro’s most supply-constrained corridors.

The project will feature modern industrial specifications tailored to logistics and distribution users, including high clear heights, ample dock-high loading, and trailer parking. Construction is expected to begin in Q3 of 2025 and is scheduled to deliver in 2026.

CORFAC International’s first-half 2025 survey of members from 75 independent commercial real estate firms points to an upward trajectory for deals. When looking at the past six months, 67% of respondents said that deal activity had increased, compared to 35% of respondents in the last survey of 2024.

Industrial real estate continues to be the growth factor of CORFAC members’ business. Nearly 70% of respondents said it was a leading driver of business so far in 2025, and 56% said they expected it to be the leading sector in the second half of the year. In addition, 72% identified warehouse and distribution centers, continuing the trend from 2024 of those categories leading the way.

Members from 40 markets around the world identified positive employment trends (55%), population migration into their market (48%), and stabilizing interest rates (38%) as the three key factors that are having a positive influence on transaction activity. Members are noticing a strengthening of the office market after the post-pandemic slump. Two CORFAC deal highlights included the headquarters for Safelite AutoGlass – the largest office deal in the Columbus market—and a $24M class A office sale in Troy, Michigan.

Economic Uncertainty, Tariffs Dampen Positivity

The good news was tempered by some economic realities that are worrying members, including high costs of construction (66%), inflation and interest rates (60%), and local and national policies (40%). Multiple members mentioned the impact of tariffs causing volatility in the market. Some CORFAC respondents also mentioned lending challenges and the length of time to get deals done as headwinds.

“We’re pleased to see the strong uptick in deal activity in the first half of the year, but we also recognize the economic volatility that’s going to require a steadying force to keep that heading upward,” said Daniel Shindleman, CCIM, MRICS, of Bridgemer AG/CORFAC International and 2025 CORFAC President. “Collaboration and cross-market referrals have been the cornerstone of CORFAC’s mission since our founding and will continue to be our focus looking forward.”

To help their clients withstand market turbulence, while timing things right when deal opportunities arise, CORFAC member firms can provide trusted counsel. Their localized market intelligence is backed by global network that can put macroeconomic factors into context.

Sansone Group announced a new build-to-suit industrial project for Palmer Logistics in Midlothian, Texas, part of the Dallas MSA.

The facility will span 269,700 square feet on 26.5 acres and will be fully leased to Palmer for hazardous material storage and distribution. Construction will begin the first week of August 2025.

Palmer plans to take occupancy in July of 2026.

This is Sansone’s first transaction with Palmer Logistics.

Northmarq’s Chicago Debt + Equity team, led by Kevin McCarthy, Jeff Frankel and Alex Czachor, secured a $129.7 million refinancing for The Victor, a 344-unit luxury high-rise in the Victory Park neighborhood of Dallas, Texas.

The permanent, fixed-rate loan was arranged through Northmarq’s Fannie Mae DUS platform on behalf of the joint venture between Houston based – Hines and Chicago based – Diversified Real Estate Capital.

Completed in 2022, The Victor is a premier multifamily tower featuring top-of-market unit finishes and hospitality-inspired amenities, situated in a dynamic, rapidly transforming entertainment and employment district. The fixed-rate loan carries full-term interest-only payments, underwritten on a 35-year amortization schedule.