2026 Multifamily Leadership Series: Elie Rieder, Castle Lanterra

The fourth year of Connect CRE’s annual Leadership Series focuses on multifamily. 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 are insights from Elie Rieder, Founder and CEO, Castle Lanterra.

Is the equity environment improving for development? 

At this time, we are not seeing the numbers work for new multifamily development. Available capital is focused more on renovations, repositioning, and value-add opportunities where the risk-adjusted returns are more attractive. 

Has the debt market changed compared to a year ago, and if so, how?  

The debt market has changed significantly compared to a year ago (mid-2025). As of May 2026, the market has transitioned from a phase of anticipating swift rate cuts to managing “higher-for-longer” rates, fueled by intense growth of U.S. national debt, which now exceeds the size of the entire U.S. economy.  

How are immigration raids impacting your business?  

From an asset management perspective, raids can result in occupancy loss and demand risk in certain assets. This is very locationally dependent and tied to property class. We’ve seen most of the impact here in terms of workforce housing product, Class C communities, and immigrant-heavy markets and submarkets. We’ve only seen limited impact in certain properties where we may have a tenant impacted, but definitely not enough to make a material impact on a property. 

There are also concerns as it relates to the construction industry, where new supply and renovations may be impacted by immigrant labor. That could lead to an increase in operating costs, delays in renovations or make readies, and a slowdown in new construction completions. I really do see this as a more hyperlocal problem rather than a nationwide overarching issue, so I hesitate to really paint it with a broad brush. 

Are the markets and products you’re investing in and developing changing?  

We continue to evaluate markets based on long-term fundamentals, including population growth, employment trends, housing demand, affordability, and the overall regulatory environment. As part of that process, we are placing greater emphasis on markets with more predictable business conditions, clear development pathways, and policies that support responsible investment and housing growth. The regulatory and political environment continues to be a major focus, as it can have a significant impact on investment conditions, operating costs, and the ability to execute business plans. 

Castle Lanterra is a privately held investment firm that repositions multifamily communities, acquires new-construction properties in growth markets and originates mezzanine and preferred equity through its credit platform. Since its 2009 founding, the Suffern, New York-based firm has completed more than $3 billion in transactions across 12,000 multifamily units.  

Click here to read the series.