Riding the wave of recovery: The tides are turning for real estate developers

This time last year, the pandemic imposed swift and unprecedented change on the commercial real estate market, signaling a sea change for developers and operators. Supply chain disruption, permitting hurdles and the evolving impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic had put construction projects on the backburner, driving developers to adopt a wait-and-see approach to the market. A year later, the tides are beginning to turn.

Development activity has increased significantly over the past year, as the need for certain assets, such as last-mile distribution centers, life science space, and modern office space, has peaked, notes Joe Sitt, chairman of Thor Equities Group. Between 2022 and 2024, the U.S. construction industry is expected to recover, with the industry’s output expected to register an annual average growth of 1.1 percent, according to a report listed on Research and Markets in July 2020. According to the report, the Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates zero-b