A Blackstone affiliate is preparing to close on an $845.2M refinancing deal for a nearly 5,000-unit multifamily portfolio.

Cortland University City in Charlotte

The investment giant’s Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust lined up the two-year floating-rate loan with the New York branch of Deutsche Bank AG, Societe Generale Financial Corp., Bank of Montreal and Nomura Corporate Funding Americas LLC, according to a presale report compiled by Fitch Ratings. Fitch expects the loan to close next month. 

BREIT is coming off a rebound year in 2025, reversing two years’ worth of weak returns with $7.2B in inflows and improved performance.

Proceeds will be used to refinance $924.5M of existing debt and pay $14.8M in closing costs. As part of the refinancing, BREIT is contributing roughly $94.1M in new equity to close the gap between the new loan and the debt being paid off.

BREIT acquired 98% of the 12-property portfolio in 2021 from Cortland Sponsors LLC at a reported cost basis of more than $1.2B. 

Blackstone did not immediately respond to Bisnow’s request for comment. 

Cortland retained the other 2% ownership and manages nine of the properties. The remaining three properties are managed by Preferred Apartment Advisors LLC.

The 4,922-unit portfolio includes: 

• the 664-unit Cortland Park 83 built in 1989 in Roswell, Georgia; 
• the 608-unit Cortland Bowery constructed in 1989 in Tampa, Florida; 
• the 510-unit Cortland Watermark built in 1998 in Marietta, Georgia; 
• the 440-unit Cortland Gateway Park constructed in 2002 in Denver; 
• the 426-unit Cortland Southpark Terraces constructed in 2009 in Austin; 
• the 384-unit Cortland Mountain Vista completed in 2009 in Mesa, Arizona; 
• the 376-unit Cortland at Fredericksburg built in 2010 in San Antonio; 
• the 372-unit Cortland University City completed in 2009 in Charlotte, North Carolina; 
• the 323-unit Cortland East Cobb completed in 1991 in Marietta, Georgia; 
• the 284-unit Cortland Falls River built in 2001 in Raleigh, North Carolina;
• the 271-unit Cortland Whitehall completed in 2018 in Charlotte;
• and the 264-unit Cortland West Boynton constructed in 2001 in Boynton Beach, Florida.

The properties are all market-rate apartments with no major concentrations of student, senior or military housing, according to the report. 

As of January, the portfolio units have a weighted average occupancy of nearly 92% and an average monthly rent of $1,728. Occupancy declined from 94% in 2022, reflecting broader softness across the Sun Belt apartment markets as new supply increases competition.

“The properties are generally well located in markets that have above average median income and population growth with nearby demand drivers,” Fitch’s presale report says.

An appraisal of each property conducted by Newmark Valuation & Advisory gave the portfolio an aggregate as-is value of more than $1.14B. Based on that appraisal, the loan-to-value ratio for the financing is 74%.

Since acquiring ownership, BREIT has invested more than $50M in capital improvements. Fitch estimated the portfolio’s net cash flow at $56.2M. 

Charlotte and Raleigh have emerged as the top two retail markets in the country, according to Marcus & Millichap’s 2026 Retail Investment Forecast Report published March 12.

The report weighs a mixture of forward-looking economic indicators and supply-and-demand variables over a 12-month period. 

Nationwide, the retail sector exhibited resiliency in 2025, with a rise in vacancy in the first half of the year followed by surging demand to finish the year strong, the report stated. 

Charlotte ended the year with accelerating net absorption while holding one of the 10 lowest vacancy rates among major markets, according to the report. Momentum in the city was driven by big-box, single-tenant move-ins. Those included new leases by supermarkets such as Publix, Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods.

Andrew Margulies, Marcus & Millichap’s senior managing director of investments for the Carolinas, told Bisnow that soft goods discount chains like T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Burlington were also key drivers of positive retail activity in Charlotte, reflecting the budget-consciousness of many consumers.

“That category has really excelled over the past five to seven years in terms of new store accounts, fewer store closures, actually just adding more stores and absorbing more space,” Margulies said. 

The metro area experienced slowing construction and growing net absorption, combining for a 3.5% vacancy rate. That’s 40 basis points under the city’s trailing 10-year average, according to the report.

Raleigh-Durham actually weathered the departures of several notable big-box retailers, and its positive retail fundamentals were driven by small-shop demand. A rise in completed projects in Raleigh-Durham helped vacancy to tick up slightly to 3.0%, but that still ranked second-lowest among major U.S. markets. 

Marcus & Millichap’s report noted that years of “robust in-migration and household formation” have supported significant demand for retail space throughout the Southeast. Margulies said there is almost unlimited appetite right now for well-located retail centers in both Charlotte and Raleigh, putting upward pressure on pricing. 

“In some cases for the same asset that may have sold 12 months ago at one price, today actually could be worth more just from cap rate compression,” he said.

As office vacancy remains high after boom years in the state and the region still working off a glut of multifamily overbuilding, retail has become the coveted asset class in the area, Margulies said. 

“From a financing perspective, it is one of the most coveted asset classes for investing and commercial real estate,” he said. “If you lose a tenant in a building, you sometimes have two, three, four, five, six options of other tenants you could backfill the space with.”

A major mixed-use project in a northern Charlotte suburb has cleared a key regulatory hurdle.

The Huntersville Planning Board voted Wednesday to back a rezoning proposal for a $200M mixed-use development from WLA Enterprises Inc., The Charlotte Observer reported.

Knox Crossing, proposed for a 44-acre site near the Lake Norman intersection of Sam Furr and Old Statesville roads, would reportedly bring nearly 500 apartments and townhomes to the town and around 82K SF of commercial development. It would be anchored by a 45K SF grocery store.

The board voted 6-3 in favor of the project.

WLA first filed a rezoning request in early January, seeking Transit Oriented Development Residential Conditional District and Highway Commercial Conditional District designations for the site, the Charlotte Business Journal reported.

But the planning board initially denied the request, noting several required improvements, including a phasing plan for commercial development to occur alongside residential construction as well as upgrades to architecture, road infrastructure and green space elements.

The town’s board of commissioners will make a final decision on the rezoning proposal at its March 17 meeting.

Knox Crossing’s development team — led by Kevin Rogers of WRS Inc., a local real estate investment firm — is negotiating with three major grocers to anchor the development, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.

WRS had estimated it will take two years to complete the project after rezoning approval, according to the CBJ. The company has other developments across the Southeast, including the Shoppes At Mallard Creek in Charlotte. 

Last December, the town allowed developer Peak Development to rezone 21.3 acres at 17220 Old Statesville Road for Station South, a 348-unit residential community with around 25K SF of commercial space.

The Sonesta Extended Stay Hotel in southwest Charlotte was sold to a New York-based nonprofit on Feb. 12 and is reportedly earmarked to become housing for veterans.

Marcus & Millichap announced it had brokered the sale, representing the private seller. The announcement declined to name the buyer, but Mecklenburg County records lists the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation as the owner.

The 75K SF property sits on 3.39 acres at 7925 Forest Pine Drive off Interstate 77.

WSOC-TV reported last October that the Staten Island-based Tunnel to Towers Foundation was looking to purchase and renovate the hotel site into 117 apartment units for veterans.

The foundation states it offers several programs to assist military veterans and former first responders, including constructing smart homes for those who have been injured, providing mortgage-free homes to families with young children who have lost a parent in the line of duty, and working to end homelessness among the veteran community.

The foundation pulled in revenue of $559M in 2024 with expenses at $381M, according to the organization’s 2024 IRS 990 form, published by ProPublica. Its total assets were $653M at the end of that year.

In mid-2024, the foundation was tied to a post-bankruptcy filing of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani’s lawyers disclosed that he was receiving just over $16K a month in income from his internet show and that the money was coming “mainly” from the nonprofit, according to a New York Times report.

Creditors sought subpoenas to further understand the nature of the financial agreement between the politician and the charity, Law & Crime reported.

The foundation did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. 

A North Carolina developer has acquired a large parcel of land in Durham, five months after receiving rezoning approval from the city for a 300-acre mixed-use development. 

Charlotte-based Beacon Partners bought 119 acres in southeast Durham in a $20M deal with longtime partner Stephens Enterprises, the Triangle Business Journal reported.

The land will be used for mixed-use industrial buildings that will be part of a development called Durham Gateway. 

The 119 acres are along Highway 70 and Leesville Road on the edge of Brier Creek. Stephens put the land up for sale in January 2023. 

Durham Gateway is a joint venture with HM Partners and SFRE Holdings. It comprises 1,750 residential units and 1.3M SF of industrial and commercial space that will be built out in two phases. Beacon received rezoning approval for the 300-acre development from the Durham City Council five months ago.

CBRE’s Ann-Stewart Patterson, Austin Nagy and John Hogan handled the leasing and marketing for the project.

While there was some backlash to Durham Gateway when the project was approved in September 2025, Mayor Leo Williams said it would bring substantial benefits to the community.

Beacon has agreed to donate $1M to the Durham Dedicated Housing Fund, $50K to Durham Public Schools’ capital needs, and $350K to a fire and emergency services grant project. Williams also said the project would feature affordable housing options.

The last quarter of 2025 came with price haircuts across much of the U.S. real estate landscape. Urban offices were hit particularly hard.

Commercial properties took price haircuts across the U.S. at the end of 2025, according to MSCI.

While MSCI’s commercial property price index last month rose 0.2% year-over-year, it fell 0.4% from November to December. And the drop from the third quarter to the fourth implies an annualized pace decrease of 3.5%. 

“Price growth has been softening in recent months,” the analysis says.

The office sector was hit the hardest, with central business district properties falling in the fourth quarter at an annualized pace of 7.9%. That metric for their suburban counterparts showed a 1.2% drop. 

Retail and industrial prices edged down slightly in December, and the only sector to see prices rise was multifamily, with a monthly increase of less than 0.1%.

Still, the value of apartment properties was down 1.3% year-over-year.

“Apartment’s softening prices mark a reversal of earlier momentum, as what had been nearly two years of moderating annual declines has given way to renewed pressure,” MSCI’s report says.  

The report also broke down geographic differences in commercial price changes. 

The markets with the largest price increases over the last year were Orlando, Florida; Houston; Baltimore; Phoenix; and Sacramento, California. 

The sharpest price drops in 2025 were found in Boston’s central business district, New York City’s outer boroughs, Seattle, San Francisco’s East Bay and Nashville. 

Boston’s CBD also had the largest price decline over the five-year period ending in 2025, the report found. The other markets with the biggest five-year slides were D.C.’s central business district, San Francisco, Los Angeles’ central business district and San Jose, California.

The markets with the most price growth over the last five years were South Florida; Orlando and Fort Myers/Sarasota/Naples, Florida; Charlotte; and LA’s Inland Empire. 

MSCI Executive Director Jim Costello said the data center boom masked distress in other parts of the market last year. 

“In the beginning of the year, there was optimism and some price growth, but it’s weakened as of late,” he told Bisnow last month.

A Charlotte apartment developer is spearheading a mixed-use project next to a Wieuca Road Baptist church that includes plans for a new office building.

The monument sign for the Church at Wieuca in Buckhead

Crescent Communities applied for special administrative permits Jan. 9 with the city of Atlanta to develop a 300-unit apartment complex and a multistory office building at 3626 Peachtree Road, part of the Church at Wieuca campus.

The church’s lead pastor, Kevin Head, confirmed the nearly 2.5-acre parcel at the corner of Wieuca and Peachtree roads in Buckhead is under contract to Crescent but declined to disclose the pending purchase price. 

“We have finalized the purchase and sale agreement with them,” Head said. “It’s a significant step for us as a church.”

According to SAP applications filed by engineering firm Kimley-Horn, Crescent is looking to build 300 apartments with a parking deck, plus an office building with 6,500 SF of commercial space and a parking deck. 

Harvey Rudy, an Atlanta-area development vet and founder of HSR Development Services, is the development partner with Crescent, continuing his affiliation with the site that he first established while with Greenstone Properties. Rudy said Crescent is considering a 375K SF office building on the site.

Crescent Commercial Managing Director Sagar Rathie declined to comment further about the project.

“Crescent Communities is excited about our continued investment in Buckhead, and we look forward to sharing more details in the future,” Rathie said in an email.

This is the latest iteration of the redevelopment of the Church at Wieuca’s land. Greenstone previously partnered with the church in 2021 on redevelopment plans. Two years later, the firm announced it had partnered with Toll Brothers to build townhomes, 400 apartments, 500K SF of office space and 12K SF of retail space on the site, but the project ultimately failed to materialize. 

Rudy was previously Greenstone’s development head, responsible for such projects as HD Supply’s 220K SF headquarters near The Battery in Cobb County and the 14th + Spring office tower in Midtown. Rudy continued to do planning for the Church at Wieuca when he formed his own firm in 2024.

Developers have scaled back to historically low levels of new office construction.

Courtesy of Harvey Rudy

HSR Development Services founder Harvey Rudy

Portman Holdings delivered its 525K SF Ten Twenty Spring office building in Midtown in 2024, which snagged consulting firm EY as an anchor tenant last year. The only other office under construction in Atlanta is 1072 West Peachtree, the 60-story mixed-use skyscraper by Rockefeller that includes 224K SF of office space and is set to deliver this spring, according to a fourth-quarter CBRE office market report.

A recent upswing in Atlanta’s office fundamentals, especially among landlords that own the city’s collection of trophy towers, could be encouraging developers to consider planning for new office development once again, said Sara Barnes, Avison Young Southeast market intelligence manager.

“I have a feeling some developers are going to start considering it,” Barnes said. 

Office tenants inked more than 7M SF in 2025, focused mainly on Class-A and trophy properties, according to a Q4 Avison Young report. In fact, nearly three-quarters of all new leasing activity in 2025 was among Class-A and trophy office properties as tenants vied for high-caliber office spaces amid back-to-office initiatives, according to Avison Young.

Metro Atlanta office landlords tallied negative net absorption of more than 475K SF last year, but trophy tower owners saw nearly 468K SF of positive absorption, demonstrating the growing bifurcation in the office market.

Still, Barnes said she doubts any developer will break ground on office in the next 12 months, especially as they must pencil in elevated construction costs. The average price to develop a new urban office building is around $750 per SF, up $200 from five years ago, according to data compiled by Avison Young senior associate Nick Steen. 

Further interest rate cuts and further cooling of the trade wars, however, could help push construction pricing downward, but most developers will likely sit on the sidelines in the near term rather than risk building new office space, Barnes said.

“Spec development, I still think we have a little bit to go before we see that break ground,” she said.

Another high-end retail outlet in Charlotte will carry the Simon brand. 

Simon Property Group has acquired the Phillips Place mall in the SouthPark neighborhood of Charlotte, according to a press release.

Phillips Place is a 134K SF, mixed-use, open-air retail center with more than 25 retail shops and restaurants, a 180-plus-room hotel and a multifamily residential property on the grounds.

Simon, a retail REIT that owns over 90 malls in the United States, paid $144.8M for Phillips Place, Charlotte Business Journal reported.

Phillips Place sits on 15.4 acres and was Charlotte’s first mixed-use development when it opened in 1997, CBJ reported.

Berkeley Capital Advisors listed the shopping plaza this past July, marking it as 95 percent leased and noting that the three most recent leases rented at an average of $100 per SF.

Big retail names at the shopping center include Ralph Lauren, Peter Millar and J. Crew.

With the sale, Simon now has five malls and retail outlets in the Charlotte area, including the nearby SouthPark mall, the city’s largest. This comes as Charlotte is seeing a surge of new retail and restaurant openings across its malls. 

The company’s acquisition of Phillips Place comes at a time when quality malls have been making a comeback in the United States following the retail slowdown at the height of the pandemic. 

Nationally, retail foot traffic recovered to prepandemic levels by Q3 2024 and this year is projected to surpass 2019 volumes, according to CBRE’s 2025 U.S. Retail Market Outlook.

While the construction pipeline in Charlotte has encountered some hurdles, with vacancy remaining high and deals slowing, there’s still a positive outlook for the multifamily and build-to-rent markets. 

A growing population, a robust job market and increased demand for rentals have investors gaining more confidence in Charlotte’s strong fundamentals.

NFP, an insurance and advisory brokerage that provides specialized risk management to construction companies in Charlotte, is also noticing this shift.

“New construction starts have dropped significantly as developers are cautious amid high interest rates and inflationary pressures,” NFP Senior Adviser Peet Poillon said. “Despite this, Charlotte’s construction pipeline remains one of the largest nationally, particularly in multifamily and build-to-rent sectors.”

Poillon moderated a panel discussing how to make projects happen in today’s construction market at Bisnow’s Charlotte Construction and Development Conference on Nov. 4. 

Bisnow spoke with Poillon about the state of construction in Charlotte, his role at NFP and how the firm is helping advise construction clients.  

Bisnow: How would you describe the current state of the construction market in Charlotte?

Poillon: The current state of the construction market in Charlotte is characterized by a slowdown from the historic expansion highs of 2023 and 2024. Apartment completions peaked in 2024 with more than 16,700 units delivered, but 2025 is expected to see about a 30% decline in completions with approximately 12,000 units delivered.

While the market is currently in a “breather” phase after rapid growth, it’s expected to pick up as interest rates stabilize. The market is also absorbing these new units strongly, with absorption reaching record highs in 2024.

However, office vacancy rates are still elevated compared to national averages, and operating costs like taxes, insurance and maintenance continue to rise, squeezing operating income for property owners. The industrial and commercial construction sectors are experiencing a similar cautious slowdown, with developers focusing on completing ongoing projects and postponing new starts until demand rebalances. Labor shortages and material cost inflation remain key challenges.

Bisnow: Can you tell us about your role at NFP?

Poillon: My role involves advising construction companies on managing their insurance portfolios, mitigating risks related to labor, materials and project delays, and designing comprehensive coverage programs that fit the unique needs of builders and developers. NFP leverages its market expertise and broad carrier relationships to help firms maintain financial stability and protect against unforeseen claims.

Bisnow: What’s NFP’s place in the market, and how are you advising construction companies in the Charlotte area? 

Poillon: NFP has established itself as a trusted adviser and risk management partner for local reconstruction and development firms. We support clients by offering innovative insurance solutions, safety consulting and strategic advice on navigating the evolving construction marketplace, including adapting to regulatory changes, labor shortages and cost fluctuations. 

For construction clients, NFP provides tailored approaches to manage exposures related to workforce challenges, supply chain disruptions and project financing risks.

Bisnow: What were some of the hottest topics of conversation at Bisnow’s Charlotte event? 

Poillon: The current cautious but optimistic outlook for construction in Charlotte, impacts of rising interest rates on project financing, workforce challenges, sustainability and green building trends, and the future of urban development, including residential and commercial shifts postpandemic. 

We also discussed how developers are being strategic in timing groundbreaking and focusing on projects with strong preleasing or tenant commitments.

Bisnow: What were some of the key takeaways from the event? 

Poillon: Labor shortages remain a critical concern impacting construction schedules and costs, and developers and contractors must be agile in managing the supply chain and inflationary pressures. There’s a strategic focus on build-to-rent and multifamily housing due to strong local demand driven by population growth. Also, risk management and insurance advisory services are becoming more pivotal in navigating uncertainties.

While Charlotte’s construction market is moderating from recent highs, it remains active with strong underlying demand. NFP plays a crucial role in advising construction companies to effectively manage risk and adapt to market complexities, and Bisnow events provide valuable insights and networking to navigate these dynamics.

This article was produced in collaboration between Studio B and NFP. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.

Despite steady rent growth, a deep pool of educated renters and one of the smallest construction pipelines in the country, Chicago’s multifamily market is being held back by one thing.

Institutional capital needs to catch up.

Local and private investors are keeping deals moving, but once institutional money fully recognizes the opportunity to buy assets at below replacement cost in a growing market, Chicago multifamily will take off, Lument Managing Director Todd Stofflet told Bisnow.

“The continued strength in Chicago is starting to wake the herd up, and they’re starting to ask the questions, trying to develop investment theses on Chicago and some of the other Midwestern markets,” Stofflet said. “It takes time and it takes transactions.”

Chicago has one of the smallest multifamily construction pipelines in the country, according to a report from real estate investment sales company Lument shared exclusively with Bisnow.

Units in the pipeline make up less than 1% of Chicago’s total multifamily inventory, a rate only met by Houston and San Francisco. 

There are probably about a dozen sites that are shovel-ready in the city that aren’t getting built because developers aren’t finding equity for them, Stofflet said. Equity challenges make it difficult to project exactly how many units will deliver in the city and when. 

Many of the city’s traditional major sponsors, like JPMorgan Chase and Ares, have pulled back from the market, so the difficulty for investors is finding a source of equity excited about developing in the city and comfortable with returns on its investment, Stofflet said. Many of the institutional investors that were on the sidelines are heading back to growth markets like Austin, Charlotte and Nashville, he said.

“I look at Chicago, and I see less than 1% in the pipeline, 7% year-over-year rent growth in downtown,” Stofflet said. “At some point, you just have to focus back on yield and where I’m going to make more money, and that is the Midwest right now.”

Chicago started off the year with strong multifamily sales. The city recorded nearly $1B in multifamily transactions in the first quarter, one of its strongest quarterly performances on record, according to the report. 

But yearly sales won’t come near a record — total year-end multifamily volume in the Chicago area for 2025 will likely be close to the transaction mark in both 2023 and 2024, which was about $3.9B, Stofflet said. 

That’s a far cry from the nearly $5.9B of multifamily sales in the Chicago area in 2022. Of the 12,400 units on the market in the city, 4,000 have closed or are under contract as buyers and sellers feel out pricing, Stofflet said.  

As more product hits the market, it is starting to draw a wider range of investors back to Chicago, Stofflet said. Groups that have wanted to sell for a while are starting to test the waters to see what today’s market will bear.

Downtown Chicago did see some return of institutional and private equity firms — they accounted for more than half of the dollar volume and nearly a third of transactions, according to the report.

“You’re starting to see institutional groups back on your bid lists in Chicagoland, but for the most part, the groups that are winning are private capital just because they have a longer-term perspective,” Stofflet said. 

Seeking lower rent is renters’ top reason for leaving their units, but Stofflet said that shouldn’t be a big concern for landlords. Chicago landlords are comfortable continuing to push rents because there isn’t a significant amount of new inventory coming online, which means landlords don’t have to compete over concessions. 

Some renters are staying in the rental pool longer and coupling together later, and other renters are leaving Chicago entirely because they can’t afford to live in the city, Stofflet said. 

“For every person leaving Chicago, we’re being replaced with one that is five years younger and making $10K more,” he said. 

The percentage of Chicagoans between 25 and 34 years old with a bachelor’s degree or higher is nearly 11% above the national average, and the city’s demographics are shifting. Chicago’s major universities are bringing an influx of educated people to the city, Stofflet said.  

But still, some investors remain skeptical of Chicago’s reputation because they are inundated with “clickbait” that the city is filled with crime, overly progressive and bankrupt, Stofflet said. Until those perceptions shift, institutional capital is likely to stay away, leaving deals to contrarian investors and family offices.

“The more that we can show a stable transaction environment in Chicago, the more that institutional money will feel comfortable investing back in Chicago,” Stofflet said.

CORRECTION, NOV. 11, 3:25 P.M. CT: This story has been updated to correct the misspelling of a company name.