What do a multifamily community in Florida, a Class-A retail center in Alexandria, Virginia, and a large mixed-use parcel outside of Austin have in common?

Those three developments are representative of the diverse investment opportunities in the top commercial real estate markets in the United States, as identified by Avison Young’s new U.S. Investment Sales platform, known as USIS, which it established earlier this year.

James Nelson, head of U.S. investment sales for the global real estate advisory firm, said USIS is focused on multifamily, office, retail and other development projects in 12 CRE markets that generate roughly 40% of the average annual sales volume for the entire country. 

“If you really want to move the needle as a company or as an investor, you need to focus on these dozen markets,” Nelson said. “Our investment sales group is well positioned to expand our client relationships and identify new business opportunities in these metropolitan areas, leveraging our uniquely integrated teams.”

Nelson said Avison Young’s goal is to drive its sales volume in these markets for transactions worth $25M or more through dedicated research and business development efforts. Opportunities outside these markets are also presenting themselves as Avison Young professionals in other markets seek to leverage the national USIS presence. 

“Multifamily is the most desirable asset class right now, accounting for over a third of the dollar volume year to date,” Nelson said. “As for office, once you start getting more billion-dollar sales, like 590 Madison in New York, that’s really going to start pushing up the numbers.”

USIS partner and principal Erik Edeen added that there were 10 transactions worth more than $100M in Manhattan in the third quarter, at least one in each of the asset classes. It was the first time this has happened in five years.

“This highlights the availability of capital chasing larger deals across the sector spectrum and presents as a vote of confidence for the market in general,” Edeen said.

Despite their impressive performances so far in 2025, USIS’ 12 target markets aren’t even reaching their full potential, Nelson said. On average, these markets are performing at only about half the level they were in 2021 due to the CRE disruptions of recent years, such as higher interest rates.

“You look at these cities and you start to ask, for example, if Dallas is currently a $24B market, does that mean it could be close to a $50B market?” he said. “Or I can tell you that the 10-year average in New York was around $30B and right now it’s two-thirds that. These are big markets with a lot of growth potential.”

Nelson said Avison Young’s approach will appeal to investors who are looking for diversification across asset classes, geography or both. With its local expertise and 60 offices across the country, USIS can locate deals that meet clients’ unique needs and risk profiles, he said. This is particularly important for out-of-town investors who might be interested in growth cities such as Dallas or Charlotte. 

“With all the capital flowing to these major markets, we can help make introductions with our local boots on the ground to win more large-scale business,” he said. “Likewise, if you’re looking to sell, you certainly want someone who has expertise in the local market but who can also put it on a national or even global stage, and that’s what we’re really good at.”

Nelson said the representative developments — the Florida multifamily community, Northern Virginia retail center and suburban Austin mixed-use parcel — exemplify Avison Young’s ability to find and bring local opportunities to the attention of global investors. 

In Florida, 2211 Grand Isle is a 390-unit multifamily community on about 25 acres. Less than a 15-mile drive from Tampa, its garden-style apartments provide much-needed housing.

“There’s always going to be demand for this type of housing and occupancy numbers at 2211 Grand Isle are in the high 90s,” he said. “It’s a really solid investment for someone who’s looking for cash flow with upside potential.”

In Alexandria, 5900 Kingstowne Village Parkway features 88K SF of 100% occupied Class-A retail. As a key component of a much larger mixed-use property, the center also presents significant cash flow with further potential.

“Real estate investors like that theme,” he said.

Meanwhile, Revelry, a master-planned community near Austin, offers more than 200 acres of multifamily, mixed residential and commercial development parcels for sale.

Nelson said the USIS platform gives clients the opportunity to easily invest in projects like these in any of its principal 12 markets, with Avison Young providing seamless support across the country.

“In the brokerage world, especially at a lot of the big shops, there are a lot of silos where, if you want to invest in a dozen markets, you have to meet with a dozen different teams,” he said.

“The nice thing about Avison Young is we’re a principal-owned company with 750 owners and one database. If an investor wants to invest in particular markets, we all have access to that information here. That’s what we’re solving for, and with the traction we’ve already seen out of the gate, I couldn’t be more excited for the future.”

This article was produced in collaboration between Avison Young and Studio B. 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. 

After seeing its office occupancy boosted by continued demand for “lifestyle space,” Cousins Properties plans to deploy fresh capital for high-quality office assets. 

Cousins Properties’ Promenade Tower in Atlanta.

The Atlanta-based development and landlord REIT has one of the largest office portfolios across the Sun Belt and an 88.5% occupancy, up from 87.6% at the start of the year, Cousins President and CEO Colin Connolly said during its second-quarter earnings call. 

This demand, paired with a national lack of new office development, could lead to a rebalanced market, Connolly said, as reported by CoStar.

Cousins is now eyeing “compelling investment opportunities” externally, he said, adding that it plans to grow its leasing market share and boost occupancy to more stabilized levels. The REIT is open to opportunities including debt, structured transactions, joint ventures and property acquisitions, Connolly said.

“Our core strategy remains the same: invest in properties that already are or can be positioned into lifestyle office in our target Sun Belt markets,” he said. “Near-term accretion is also a priority.” 

A shortage of lifestyle office space in certain markets is not far off, Connolly said. 

“Tenants’ flight to quality and capital continue to differentiate the market, and while a broader office market recovery certainly appears to be underway, that is especially the case for lifestyle properties,” he said. “Cousins is well positioned to take advantage of the trend, and we’re beginning to see compelling investment opportunities.”

The occupancy gap is expanding between top-tier and non-prime buildings, according to CoStar data. The average vacancy rate in top-tier properties was less than 15% in the first quarter, while it was more than 19% in properties with fewer amenities or in less desirable areas. That creates a gap of about 4.5 percentage points, up from less than 2 percentage points in mid-2018. 

And Cousins is reaping the benefits. About 240K SF out of the 391K SF in signed leases reported for the second quarter were new or expanded, Executive Vice President of Operations Richard Hickson said. The lease growth helped boost Cousins’ Q2 numbers and marked its 41st consecutive quarter of positive rate increases, CoStar reported.

The overall office market remains plagued by a record amount of vacancy and an increased cost of financing, with the Fed yet to make any interest rate cuts. But Connolly said those problems are primarily in older buildings, and the “commodity office sector continues to struggle.”

“While some economic headwinds exist, we are encouraged by the improving fundamentals in the lifestyle office sector,” Connolly said.

Cousins has more than 19M SF of rentable office space in the Sun Belt, including markets like Austin, Charlotte and Tampa, Florida. The migration to the Sun Belt is a powerful tailwind, Connolly said. 

“We own the highest quality lifestyle portfolio and we have a fortress balance sheet with the lowest leverage among office REITs and great access to capital,” he said. “I’m excited about the opportunities ahead.”