PACE Equity and Lone Star PACE closed $2.4 million in C-PACE financing for a medical office building north of Dallas.

The 57,000-square-foot Independence Medical Center, located at 5501 Independence Parkway in Plano, Texas, will undergo a series of renovations funded by C-PACE. Planned upgrades include a full HVAC replacement, modernized common areas, and the installation of 56 covered parking spaces topped with solar-paneled rooftops.

C-PACE funded improvements are expected to result in roughly $664,000 in projected utility

savings over the assessment’s 30-year financing term.

 JLL Capital Markets secured construction financing for 635 Exchange, a Class-A industrial development totaling 595,688 square feet across three buildings in Dallas, Texas.

JLL represented the borrower, a joint venture between Creation Equity and PGIM Real Estate, to secure the financing through a 50/50 syndication between Veritex Bank and Comerica Bank.

The 635 Exchange development occupies a 36.27-acre site at the corner of Interstate 635, the vital loop around Dallas, and Interstate 35E, a crucial north-south artery connecting Texas from Laredo to the Minnesota border. This strategic positioning provides tenants with swift access to more than 7.8 million consumers within a 60-minute drive and a rich talent pool of 2.6 million workers within a 30-minute commute. The development is also less than 20 minutes from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field, further enhancing air freight capabilities for potential tenants.

Scheduled for completion in October 2026, the industrial park comprises three rear-loading distribution buildings of 144,216 square feet, 208,000 square feet and 243,472 square feet with clear heights of 32 to 36 feet and truck courts ranging from 130 to 185 feet. Additionally, the development features 100 dock doors, six drive-in bays, 498 car parking spaces and 132 trailer parking spots across the three structures.

The JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team was led by Managing Director Greg Napper, Associate Luke Rogers and Analyst Charlie Mossy.

The record-setting days of the pandemic era might be over, but the nation’s self-storage market remains a strong one.

That’s the highlight from Cushman & Wakefield’s first-half 2025 Self Storage Market Report, a report that shows a sector adjusting to normalized transaction volumes, stable capitalization rates, and moderated rent growth after the record-setting activity of the pandemic era.

Total transaction volume reached $2.85 billion in the first half of 2025, less than 1% higher than the same period in 2023 and consistent with pre-pandemic trends. Between 2020 and 2022, self storage investment surged to nearly $50 billion, far exceeding the $35 billion transacted in the seven years prior.

“Investor interest in self storage remains strong, even as the market moves into a steadier cycle,” said Tim Garey, Managing Director and Practice Group Leader, Self Storage at Cushman & Wakefield. “Valuations have moderated, but long-term fundamentals and demand drivers continue to underpin confidence in the sector.”

Key findings from the report include:

• Valuations: After peaking at $174 per square foot in Q1 2023, valuations declined for six consecutive quarters to an average of $159 psf in Q2 2025, down 12 percent from peak levels.
• Capitalization Rates: Self storage cap rates averaged 5.8 percent over the past six quarters, with Class A assets ranging from 5.0–5.5 percent and Class B ranging from 5.5–6.5 percent.
• Occupancy: National occupancy has held steady at around 90 percent since 2023, with regional variations between 89 and 92 percent.
• Rents: Asking rents, which reached a peak of $134 psf in Q3 2022, have since ranged between $124 and $132 psf, averaging $127 psf. In Q2 2025, the Pacific and Northeast subregions posted the highest averages at $193 psf and $154 psf, respectively.
• Construction: Elevated costs, potential tariffs on materials, and tight debt liquidity have slowed development, with more projects placed on hold in Q2 2025.
• Investor Sentiment: In Cushman & Wakefield’s survey of industry leaders, 56 percent expect little to no change in cap rates over the next 12 months. While 39 percent cited the housing market as the top concern, nearly two-thirds of investors plan to be net buyers over the next year.

“While market conditions have normalized, the appetite for self-storage remains resilient,” added Garey. “Investors are increasingly targeting secondary markets and value-add opportunities, positioning the sector for steady activity into 2026.”

Walton Global brokered a 120-acre land sale in Texas’s Caldwell County.

The property, known as Cotton Ridge, was sold to Stafford Development and is part of the larger Cotton Center Master Plan that spans over 2,000 acres. 

Cotton Ridge is located directly off Highway 1984, just outside of the city of San Marcos and about a 16-minute drive from the city’s vibrant center. In December 2024, Stafford Development purchased 88 acres from Walton Global in the nearby Cotton Gateway community to serve as a utility lot to service nearby residential and commercial developments. 

Blacktop Industrial Trust acquired Rosslyn Business Park, a fully leased, heavy industrial campus in Northwest Houston.

Blacktop acquired the property from Houston-based Clay Development & Construction, Inc.  Blacktop closed the transaction in partnership with a leading global alternative investment firm with dedicated real estate investment vehicles.

Blacktop was founded in 2024 by real estate industry veterans Thomas A. Rizk and Roger W, Thomas and is led by Ricardo Cardoso and Christian Vergilio.

Rosslyn Business Park is a 337,705-square-foot, 45-acre campus that is fully leased to seven tenants in 11 buildings in the Northwest Houston Submarket, one of the tightest industrial manufacturing submarkets in the Houston metropolitan area.

The campus features abundant outdoor storage space (IOS) and the buildings feature clear heights ranging from 20-55 feet, heavy power, overhead cranes, reinforced concrete floors, sprinkler systems and drive through capability with oversized grade level doors. The site is conveniently located next to several major highway systems and is currently occupied by established industrial manufacturing users with decades-long operational histories in fabrication, engineering, and energy sectors, including Baker Hughes, KoneCranes and Amogy.

Houston’s industrial manufacturing sector continues to demonstrate remarkable strength. The Northwest submarket recorded 1.3 million square feet of absorption in the second quarter of 2025 – the strongest quarterly performance since 2021 – while maintaining the lowest vacancy rate in Houston at just 4.7%. Manufacturing requirements now represent nearly 35% of total tenant demand in Houston, with vacancy in manufacturing facilities at just 1.3% as of the second quarter of 2025. This imbalance between robust demand and limited new supply positions assets like Rosslyn Business Park for long-term growth.

Blacktop’s strategy is underpinned by proprietary research identifying a persistent supply-demand imbalance in functional, infrastructure-heavy industrial properties, primarily across the Sunbelt, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Blacktop is targeting assets that are crane-served, rail-connected, and power-intensive at discounts to replacement cost while new construction is constrained by zoning restrictions, high capital requirements, and extended permitting timelines. Secular tailwinds including reshoring, investment in energy and transportation infrastructure, labor cost advantages, and migration into pro-business environments are fueling demand for these specialized facilities.

Blacktop is backed by Rizk Ventures, a leading special situation platform with investments in real estate, technology and healthcare  Founded in 2000 by Thomas A. Rizk, the firm has deep roots in the commercial real estate sector and currently owns and operates properties across the US totaling 26 million square feet.  Rizk Ventures builds fully integrated real estate businesses around seasoned entrepreneurs who bring deep expertise in their asset classes while leveraging technology to enhance returns and elevate customer experiences.

JLL Capital Markets served as financial advisor to Blacktop on this transaction.

How hot is the industrial outdoor storage market today? A new report from Newmark says that rent growth in this sector has increased an impressive 123% since 2020.

That easily outpaces the 58% increase in rent that bulk warehouse product has seen during the same time, according to Newmark’s report, Lots to Gain: Industrial Outdoor Storage Outperforming Bulk Warehouse.

Newmark estimates that there are 1.4 million acres of industrial outdoor storage space across the United States. For reference, that’s an area roughly equivalent to the state of Delaware. Newmark estimates that a conservative estimate of readily tradeable industrial outdoor storage real estate in that footprint signals a $200 billion market capitalization.

The vacancy rate for industrial outdoor storage space, known by its abbreviation of IOS, remains low. Newmark reported that it stood at around 5% as of the middle of 2025. That’s because of both strong demand and a lack of new IOS space.

At the same time, the vacancy rate for bulk warehouse space had risen to slightly more than 8%, another example of IOS space outperforming bulk warehouse.

Don’t expect this trend to change anytime soon, either. In its report, Newmark says that land density and zoning issues are driving more bulk warehouse occupiers to IOS. This is especially true in dense markets such as Chicago, where a lack of available land has pushed rents higher for bulk warehouse space. This has caused some tenants to lease IOS space instead.

Zoning restrictions also frequently make it difficult for developers in denser markets to add bulk warehouse space. Users that can’t find bulk warehouse space in tighter markets might choose IOS as a replacement.

Because of these factors, the number of acquisitions of IOS space by large equity managers is rising. Some examples include Alterra IOS and J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s sale of a $490 million, 51-property IOS portfolio and Realterm’s $277 million portfolio acquisition from Brookfield. Catalyst added to this activity by closing a $163.5 million sale of 18 IOS properties.

During the past five years, the number of IOS properties reported in the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries’ Expanded National Property Index more than doubled. Five-year annualized returns in this sector now exceed those of the broader industrial sector by 126 basis points, Newmark said in its report.