
The popularity of urban centers for living and working has produced some major shifts in the CRE market. Companies are looking for amenity-rich spaces in buildings full of character to appeal to top talent, and mixed-use city neighborhoods are hot in markets all over the country. Existing industrial buildings are being converted into residential lofts and creative office spaces. These projects make sense considering the higher costs of ground-up development as well as the fact that refurbished older buildings have a cool factor that draws tenants like bees to honey. Some markets are seeing particularly high activity in this area.