2026 Multifamily Leadership Series: Ethan Penner, Hill Street Realty

Multifamily is the focus for the fourth year of Connect CRE’s annual Leadership Series. We invited 18 apartment heavyweights to provide their unfiltered views of the current market, its challenges and opportunities. The insights of these power players have been collected in a downloadable report, and we’re also presenting them individually, in alphabetical order. Here, Ethan Penner, Chairman, Hill Street Realty, shares his insights.

Lower-income households spend more of their income on paying rent. Where does a solution lie? 

There is a nationwide affordability problem, and it is worse in larger urban cities than elsewhere. The answer, despite what some would like to believe, is not rent control, which only inhibits new construction and exacerbates the problem. 

There are two solutions. First, fast-track permitting with minimal government friction. Second, broad-based adoption of prefabricated housing. 

Absorption has increased this year. Is that due to a slowdown in development or other factors? 

Absorption is increasing due to a reduction in construction during the past few years, which was caused by three factors: investor fatigue in the face of the prior cycle’s bust, higher construction costs, and sharply higher interest rates. 

Will we see an increase or decrease in rent prices this year? 

This will be highly market specific. We will not see a uniform nationwide rental increase. However, in certain markets where economic growth is occurring, we will likely see rents move up. It would not surprise me to see rents average 5% per year for a while in these more vibrant markets. Of course, these are the markets we target for investment at our firm. 

Give your young self some advice. 

Find a committee of mentors who are living a life that appeals to you. Buy them dinner four times per year and use them as a sounding board. We all have blind spots, especially when facing situations that are new to us. This committee of mentors is the best way I know to ensure that you avoid the stumbling blocks that await you. 

Founded in 2001, Hill Street Realty is a Denver-based, vertically integrated multifamily owner-operator built on conservative underwriting and hands-on asset management. Its affiliated property management arm gives the firm direct oversight of the communities it owns.  

Click here to read the series.