Hello Brick Brief readers, 

Thank you for your continued support! Today we’re seeing retail shift toward experiential tenants, data center growth face rising local resistance, oil prices plunge after Trump signaled a potential end to the Iran war, and commercial property prices continue rising in February.

🏬 Retail Shifts Toward Experiences
Service-based tenants now lease more retail space than goods retailers as of 2025; fitness centers, pickleball courts and other experiential concepts are increasingly filling former big-box and anchor spaces. Outlet malls are also expanding dining and experiential offerings to attract visitors as new restaurants and entertainment concepts drive longer and more social visits.

⚡ Data Center Boom Faces Local Resistance
Blackstone says the AI data center buildout remains in the early stages; the firm has $140B in data centers globally with a similarly sized pipeline for future development. Community opposition, however, is increasingly delaying U.S. data center projects as local pushback blocked or delayed ~$98B of projects in Q2 2025.

Other key news today includes:

Trump signals Iran war could end soon and considers easing oil sanctions – Oil prices fell below $90 after earlier surging above $119 as markets reacted to possible de-escalation (Bloomberg)

NY Fed survey shows 1-year inflation expectations easing to 3% in February – Data does not yet reflect oil surge from Iran war that could push expectations higher (Reuters)

Green Street commercial property price index rose 0.2% in February and 2.5% YoY – Data centers posted the strongest annual pricing growth at 7% (ConnectCRE)

Citi expects REIT sector growth to accelerate in 2026 – Stronger fundamentals and rising demand for data centers and industrial assets are expected to support the $4.5T market (CommercialObserver)

CRE CLO issuance rises 34% YoY to $11.2B in early 2026 – Multifamily dominates collateral at ~70% while office exposure remains below 3% (Trepp)

Senate housing bill would force large investors to sell build-to-rent homes within seven years – Industry groups warn mandate could deter financing and reduce new housing supply (WSJ)

This was discussed in yesterday’s newsletter, but the WSJ also ran a deeper report on the proposal. The National Association of Realtors supports the provision as forcing investors to sell homes would increase transactions and benefit agents, while the National Association of Home Builders and National Multifamily Housing Council oppose it as the mandate could deter financing for build-to-rent development and reduce new housing supply.

Atlanta exurban home prices near parity with core metro and poised to surpass them in 2026 – Median exurban prices reached $380,962 in Q4 2025 as migration and job growth drive demand on the metro’s outer fringe (WSJ)

New York office investment rises 34% YoY to highest level since 2019 – Investors show growing comfort with repriced assets as transaction activity rebounds (CoStar)

Harvey AI expands to 185K SF at SL Green’s One Madison Avenue in Manhattan, NY – The legal-focused AI company signed a 93K SF expansion that brings its total footprint in the Flatiron District tower to 185K SF (Bisnow)

Clay leases 163K SF at SL Green’s 11 Madison Avenue in Manhattan, NY – The AI sales software firm signed for space in the 2.3M SF Midtown South office tower, bringing the property to 100% leased (Bisnow)

Carlyle Group leases 150K SF at SL Green’s 245 Park Avenue in Manhattan, NY – The global investment firm signed a 10-year deal at the Midtown office tower as part of a broader 202K SF Park Avenue expansion (CommercialObserver)

TD Securities expands to 181K SF at SL Green’s 125 Park Avenue in Manhattan, NY – The TD Bank subsidiary added 51K SF across the 21st and 22nd floors in a 10-year lease, bringing its total footprint in the Midtown East tower to 181K SF (CommercialObserver)

GE Aerospace to invest $1B to expand U.S. engine production – Investment will boost manufacturing capacity and support 5,000 new jobs amid strong commercial and defense aircraft demand (Reuters)

ICE awards $400M in contracts to convert warehouses into immigrant detention centers – Federal government taps defense and security contractors instead of traditional private prison operators (Bisnow)

Service-based tenants now lease more retail space than goods retailers – Fitness centers, pickleball courts and other experiential uses are increasingly filling former big-box and anchor spaces (CoStar)

E-commerce has not completely eliminated the need for physical retail, but it has certainly reduced the amount of space required for goods-based stores. Landlords are increasingly backfilling excess retail space with service-oriented tenants whose businesses require physical locations and generate steady foot traffic. A consistent gymgoer may (hopefully!) visit Planet Fitness several times a week.

Outlet mall foot traffic rose 7.2% YoY in February 2026 – Growth nearly matched open-air shopping centers and accelerated from 3.5% YoY in January (Placerai)

Outlet malls led visit growth during peak shopping hours – Traffic between 11 AM and 8 PM outpaced indoor malls and open-air centers across every daypart (Placerai)

Outlet malls are expanding dining and experiential offerings to attract visitors – New restaurants and entertainment concepts are helping drive longer and more social visits (Placerai)

Gen Z-focused apparel brand Princess Polly is expanding its U.S. retail footprint with eight new store leases – Australian digital-native retailer plans to open locations in major malls across several U.S. markets (CoStar)

Blackstone says AI data center build-out remains in early stages – Firm has $140B in data centers globally with a similar pipeline for future development (Bisnow)

Oracle refutes Bloomberg report on Abilene AI data center expansion – Company says two buildings are operational and confirms it has already leased an additional 4.5GW of capacity for OpenAI (X)

Community opposition is increasingly delaying U.S. data center projects – Developers are expanding outreach efforts as local pushback blocked or delayed $98B of projects in Q2 2025 (Bisnow)

Ventilation and filtration system maker Madison Air files for $2B IPO – Company generates two thirds of revenue from commercial markets, including healthcare, data centers, manufacturing and logistics (Bloomberg)

Live Nation agrees to sell more than 10 venues as part of DOJ antitrust settlement – Company also must cap ticketing fees at 15% and allow rival ticketing platforms access to Ticketmaster (Bisnow)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise projects $9.6B–$10B quarterly revenue on strong AI hardware demand – Networking sales surge and AI server backlog reaches $5B as companies expand infrastructure for AI workloads (Bloomberg)

Shell agrees to sell quick-service oil change chain Jiffy Lube to Monomoy Capital Partners for $1.3B – Sale includes the Jiffy Lube brand and Premium Velocity Auto, which operates company-owned service centers (Bloomberg)

Avila Real Estate Capital holds second close of homebuilding debt fund at $200M – Investors include D.R. Horton, Toll Brothers and Century Communities; fund is targeting $1B in total capital (IREI)

Hotelier Su-Mei Yen files Chapter 11 for South Loop hotel projects facing $187M foreclosure from Acore Capital in Chicago, IL – The filings cover 18 entities tied to the Best Western and Homewood Suites developments (TheRealDeal)

Safe Harbor Equity acquires Tides Hotel in Miami Beach, FL through foreclosure auction after $96M judgment against Chetrit Group – The lender bought the 45-key Art Deco hotel tied to $42M defaulted mortgage debt (Bisnow)

Dealpath forms partnership with Cushman & Wakefield to expand investment and loan sale distribution – Brokerage will integrate listings into Dealpath Connect platform used by institutional investors (IREI)

The marketplace Dealpath is building sounds similar to a Zillow or Crexi for institutional CRE investors.

On first glance, it may not make sense for brokers to distribute listings through Dealpath, as it could appear to disintermediate brokers by centralizing deal distribution in the same way Zillow initially raised concerns among realtors. However, the platform may expand exposure to institutional buyers and improve deal sourcing efficiency, as many large investors already use Dealpath internally to track and underwrite acquisitions, meaning listings integrated into the platform reach buyers directly within their existing investment workflow.

Rezervology and Titl launch AI-powered RezeLink platform to automate title searches – System processes and structures raw title data with over 95% accuracy and reduces workflows from hours or days to minutes (HousingWire)