Real Finds Podcast

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What if your building could think? In this episode of The Real Finds Podcast, @Gordon_CRE sits down with Honghao Deng, co-founder and CEO of Butlr, to break down how AI, sensors, and real-time data are transforming the way we design, operate, and invest in physical space. From MIT’s City Science Lab to deploying millions of sensors globally, Honghao explains why buildings are the largest interface humans interact with daily and why they’ve historically been operating “blind.” This conversation goes deep into the gap between how offices are perceived vs. how they’re actually used, and what that means for landlords, occupiers, and investors trying to make decisions in a rapidly changing market. Honghao is transforming the commercial real estate industry. 🔑 Key Topics Covered - Why buildings consume ~40% of global energy and how better data can unlock massive efficiency gains - The difference between badge swipe data vs. real spatial intelligence - Why most conference rooms are overestimated and underutilized - How AI can automatically redesign office layouts based on real usage data - The concept of “autonomous buildings” and what that means for CRE - How sensor data can help predict future rent rolls and tenant behavior - Why return-to-office policies are failing—and what actually works - The role of privacy-first sensing (no cameras, only thermal data) in workplace analytics - Why creativity—not productivity—is the future of the office - The growing importance of data centers and senior housing as asset classes If you’re interested in: - Office evolution - Industrial & logistics trends - Proptech & AI in real estate - Investment strategy 👉 Subscribe and turn on notifications for weekly insights from the front lines of commercial real estate.

Shift From Location To Power In Commercial Real Estate With Britt Burt - RFP 92 How much of the data center boom is really about real estate and how much of it is about power? In this episode of The Real Finds Podcast, Gordon Lamphere sits down with Britt Burt of Industrial Info Resources to unpack one of the most important forces shaping commercial real estate, industrial development, and infrastructure investment today: the growing electricity demand. Britt brings nearly four decades of experience covering the power industry, including generation, transmission, distribution, and the infrastructure behind large-scale industrial development. The conversation focuses on what is really driving data center growth, how site selection works in practice, and why the future value of many properties may be tied less to traditional location dynamics and more to access to power, interconnection, and infrastructure. Gordon and Britt also discuss why so many announced projects never get built, the biggest mistakes site selectors and investors make when underwriting data center opportunities, and why “speed to power” may be one of the most important concepts in real estate going forward. They also get into common public misconceptions around data centers, including concerns around water use, grid strain, and local opposition, while explaining how developers are adapting through behind-the-meter power, infrastructure investment, and long-term energy strategies. This is a valuable conversation for investors, developers, occupiers, industrial users, and anyone trying to understand the second- and third-order effects of AI infrastructure on real estate. Topics discussed include: - What is driving the rapid increase in power demand - Why data centers are the biggest force behind new electricity demand - Where data centers are being built across the United States - Why Texas, Arizona, Virginia, and the Gulf Coast continue to attract development - The biggest misconceptions people have about data centers - How behind-the-meter power is changing the economics of development - Why stranded power and interconnection agreements matter so much - The most common mistakes made in data center site selection - Why speed to power can matter more than permitting timelines - The supply chain, turbine, labor, and pipeline constraints slowing development - How to tell whether a proposed project is likely to actually get built - Why older data centers may need major modernization for AI workloads - How access to power may increasingly determine real estate value About The Real Finds Podcast: Hosted by Gordon Lamphere, The Real Finds Podcast features conversations with operators, investors, developers, policy thinkers, and business leaders shaping commercial real estate and the built world. The show focuses on practical insights, market trends, and the ideas changing how people invest, build, and use space.

How have the rules of the commercial real estate game changed? Grateful to have Elatia Abate on this week's Real Finds Podcast to take a deep dive into AI and the future of work.

@Gordon_CRE Almost like the solution is reducing supply side constraints and not padding the pockets of banks, builders and current owners. youtu.be/CTVetpNbIhM?si…

Stretching a mortgage to 50 years sounds like a solution: lower payments, easier entry, more “affordable” housing. But in reality, it’s a financial illusion. A 50-year mortgage doesn’t make homes cheaper; it just makes debt longer. It locks buyers into paying far more interest over time, delays equity buildup for decades, and keeps prices artificially high by enabling buyers to bid more for the same limited supply. In short, it treats the symptom (monthly cost) while deepening the disease (price inflation). From a consumer perspective, it’s a slow trap. The first 20 years of payments go mostly to interest, not principal. That means if life changes: a move, a layoff, a refinance, the borrower may still owe nearly what they started with. From a market perspective, it props up demand without adding a single new unit of supply. Developers have no incentive to build efficiently when easy credit inflates purchasing power. The real fix isn’t exotic financing, it’s supply-side reform. America’s housing crisis is rooted in zoning, permitting, and production bottlenecks. We need faster approvals, higher-density zoning where infrastructure already exists, and modernized building standards that support prefab, modular, and factory-built homes. Expanding the housing stock creates long-term affordability; stretching loan terms just extends the pain. A 50-year mortgage might calm political pressure for a moment, but it doesn’t build a single home. Real affordability starts with more roofs, not longer loans.

On Halloween 2025, are CEO's spooked about the economic outlook?

Deeply humbled to be in the Top 3 Investing Podcasts on Goodpods this month. We've grown a lot over the last few years and would be honored to have another member of our community. Check us out here 👇 Spotify - open.spotify.com/show/6259PC9dz… Apple Podcasts - podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rea… YouTube - youtube.com/channel/UCcPo4… And if you're already a member, please leave us a 5-star review, it helps us continue to get quality guests :)

Your Office Is Lying To You. We break down the small nudges for vastly more productive workspaces with Cisco's Bob Cicero 👇

Every developer wants to understand how to structure complex projects that actually get built. Ray Garfield explains how to layer public and private capital, manage bond structures, and deliver city-scale assets on time and on budget. These are lessons from courthouses, convention centers, and billion-dollar land portfolios. Watch The Full Episode: vvco.com/the-business-o…

Can we make work suck less, or are we doomed to endless Zoom calls and burnout? This conversation cuts through the noise to focus on what actually makes people effective. Watch our full episode with Corinne Murray and Sara Escobar, co-authors of Work, Then Place 👇 Corinne Murray has built a career spanning commercial real estate, consulting, coworking, and workplace strategy, from WeWork to RXR. She’s obsessed with defining “what makes work work” and helping leaders design environments where people can truly thrive. Sara Escobar started as employee #2 at Hulu, where she helped create one of the first culture-driven workplace teams before leading strategy at Netflix. With a background in organizational development, she’s focused on how physical, digital, and cultural environments interact to shape performance.

Watch the full episode here: youtu.be/Rdi5UCEypWg

We're so grateful to be climbing the podcast charts, including nearing the Top 10 for investing and the Top 10 for Entrepreneurship on Goodreads As part of our mission to improve the built world, Sara Escobar and Corinne Murray discuss at length: What is work really supposed to look like in the 21st century, and why do so many workplaces still feel broken? 👇

A 45-story, $800M tower across from Willis Tower could redefine Loop office space or become the latest rendering lost to high vacancies. Tenants, landlords, investors: here’s what it really means for you. Read the full breakdown 👇

What's the hottest asset class this summer? Potentially cold storage. On this week's podcast, we take a deep dive into cold storage and what it takes to keep down costs and maximize ROI with investor Cliff Booth, CEO of Westmount Realty Capital 👇

Are the tax benefits of private real estate markets really worth the risk? We Cover The Risk-Reward Calculus In Our Daily Blog👇 vvco.com/tax-benefits-o…

Are North America's Commercial Markets Frozen? This episode dives into how global policy uncertainty puts Mexico and Canada on ice and why that matters for U.S. manufacturing and commercial real estate investment. Full Episode: youtu.be/MhEwJwSrIjI

Cameras? Lawsuits. Swipe data? Useless. Andrew Farah the Founder and CEO of @densityio comes on the @RealFindsPod to discuss how we can measure office use ethically and accurately. Moreover, we tackle how RTO actually works. 🎙️ 👇 youtu.be/iy-5cN_9jeM

Where is industrial near-shoring most likely? Richard Barnett, from Supplyframe on our podcast, thinks the most immediate near-shoring potential rests in specialized manufacturing. This is how industrial real estate investors can profit👇 vvco.com/can-investors-…

We sit down with Pete Disanto, a nuclear marine engineer turned microgrid and data center energy expert, to understand the feasibility, financing, and speed-to-market issues of powering data centers. Full episode: youtu.be/PVIkUanHoy8?si…

This chat with Hunter Hopcroft sticks with me. The industry is full of investors who follow the crowd, but the value comes when investors blaze their own trail. Full Podcast Here: youtu.be/W-f_Yxn8Gfg

What happens when globalization breaks? Supplyframe’s Richard Barnett unpacks the new world of trade, tariffs, and industrial resilience on today's Real Finds Podcast. From the CHIPS Act to warehouse footprints, this one’s loaded. Watch Here 👇 youtube.com/watch?v=NReInq…