www.REBusinessOnline.com October 2021 • Volume 19, Issue 2 REITS REMAIN ACTIVE IN THE WEST By Nellie Day he single-family housing mar-ket isn’t the only one experienc-ing a boom in activity since the pandemic. Many commercial sectors — including industrial, multifamily, and even niche categories like seniors housing, cannabis and self-storage — are feeling the love as well. This is especially true when it comes to institutional buyers, who are among some of the most active players in this region. REITs own more than 516,000 U.S. properties with an estimated $3.5 tril-lion as of the second quarter of 2021, NAREIT notes. These players were more active than ever during COVID, with the average funds from opera-tions (FFO) rising nearly 20 percent REITs are on a buying spree for most product types in key Western markets. T quarter-over-quarter through second-quarter 2021. Out West, a lot of the publicized activity involves acquisitions, in addi-tion to a few high-profile leases and dispositions. Industrial Remains Hot in the Inland Empire Spec development continues in the industrial sector, particularly in high-demand markets like Southern Cali-fornia’s Inland Empire. “We continue to see high demand for logistics real estate space in South-ern California, driven by accelerated ecommerce growth and expanded see REITS, page 20 Yaheetech signed a lease for Duke Realty’s 199,472-square-foot spec development at 1532 S. Vineyard Ave. in Ontario, Calif., in October. The building will feature 36 feet of clear height, 25 dock doors and 21 trailer parking spaces, among other features. PANDEMIC SHOWCASES URBAN WORKFORCE HOUSING Workforce housing in the Bay Area maintained high occupancy, rent recovery and ROI at the height of the pandemic. By Riaz Taplin T Riaz Capital opened the Linden, a 30-unit multifamily construction project at 1805 Linden Street in Oakland, Calif., in October 2020. The community was fully leased within a few weeks. he real estate industry and capi-tal markets have long over-looked a growing multifamily subgroup — workforce housing — as a stand-alone asset class that offers overwhelming demand and stable in-vestor returns. Often miscategorized under the broad umbrella of affordable housing, this emerging asset class is distinct in both tenant demographics and in-vestment stability. Workforce housing tenants include college-educated pro-fessionals and essential workers, such as nurses, teachers and fi rst respond-ers who tend to pursue jobs that pay from 80 percent to 120 percent of their market’s median income. In the high-see HOUSING, page 22 INSIDE THIS ISSUE After a COVID Pause, California Universities Commence Construction page 16 Boise Market Highlight page 14 Industrial Demand Targets A New Way to Think About Denver’s Northern Submarkets Commercial Real Estate page 18 page 20