CRE Leaders: AI, Housing Foremost Among Growth Industries

Leaders are able to provide an in-depth forecast of where things are going along with understanding where matters stand at present. As part of the 2025 Leadership Series, we asked key executives in commercial real estate to identify growth sectors and industries and their effects on the industry. Their responses ranged from artificial intelligence to housing. Here, you’ll gain insights from Alison Beddard, CEO of CREW Network; Greg MacDonald, co-founder and CEO at Ballast Investments; Tony Chereso, CEO and President of The Inland Real Estate Companies, LLC; and Bob Hart, Founder and CEO of TruAmerica Multifamily.

What growth industry do you see powering economic gains in the next few years, and how are your company and your clients poised to benefit? 

Alison Beddard: AI is certainly fueling a new era of jobs and opportunities within CRE.  We will see an influx of new AI focused companies that will need office space with desire to work in-person.  In addition, the demand for data centers will continue to surge, with a large demand for data centers especially in APAC and EMEA over the next decade.  Affordable housing will continue to be a major factor, with not one size fits all.  CREW members are highly focused on bringing alternative solutions to the market, working as both developers and with developers in partnerships to bridge the lack of housing and affordability.   The delta between cost of construction, market rent and zoning will continue to put pressure on developers’ ability to perform.  Our members are well equipped to advise and perform at all stages of the CRE lifecycle.    

Greg MacDonald: As one of the largest owners of multifamily in the Bay Area, we are beneficiaries of the proliferation of AI-related jobs which help drive demand for the apartments in our portfolio. San Francisco is experiencing the strongest annual rent growth in the nation driven by AI-related hiring, stricter return-to-office mandates, and a general revived appetite for urban living. One-bedroom median rents are up 13.3% year over year which is the highest level since April 2020. Two-bedroom rents are up even more year over year at 16.3%. 

Tony Chereso: As the housing market recovers, and more families purchase homes, multifamily rentals are expected to see a surge in demand due to affordability constraints and demographic shifts. High mortgage rates will keep would-be buyers in the rental pool, supporting strong occupancy and mid-single-digit rent growth. According to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, homebuying is at its lowest level since the 1990s, pushing more households into rentals.

Self-storage, one of our strongest [sectors], demand is closely tied to life transitions, like downsizing, relocation, divorce, and death—and tends to rise during both housing downturns and recoveries. So, as housing transactions pick up, so does the need for temporary storage. And a housing recovery can also stimulate demand in several indirect but powerful ways for student housing. During economic recoveries, job markets improve, and families regain financial stability—making higher education more accessible. This leads to increased university enrollment, which directly boosts demand for student housing.

Bob Hart: Housing itself is becoming a growth industry. The U.S. is facing a deep and growing shortage of attainable rental housing, particularly in high-growth, economically diverse regions. In addition, the cost of homeownership remains out of reach for many renters, which is keeping a growing number of households renting longer and further attributed to the stability and resilience of the multifamily sector. Multifamily investment strategies continue to offer a unique combination of durability, growth, and downside protection.

While no asset class is immune to the macroeconomic cycle, multifamily remains deeply aligned with enduring demographic and economic trends that support long-term value creation. TruAmerica’s partners are positioned to benefit by investing in this demographic and economic reality—providing high-quality housing to the essential workforce that drives local economies. As technology, healthcare, and logistics sectors expand, they create housing demand—and TruAmerica is there to meet it.