**Connect LA 2025: Capital Markets Leaders Pick Their Spots in Volatile Environment**
Despite ongoing uncertainty and volatility in the U.S. and global economies, commercial real estate deal activity isn’t slowing down entirely. Leaders from across the industry gathered for the Capital Markets Spotlight panel at Connect Los Angeles 2025, where they emphasized that while dealmaking has become more selective, capital is still actively at work.
“Obviously, we can open up Bloomberg and see a new headline about something impacting the world or the U.S. economy,” said Scott McCallum, managing director at Blackstone. “But when we zoom out and look at the big-picture drivers—which is something we do whenever evaluating an investment opportunity—we see a lot of the same themes across multifamily markets in the U.S.”
He pointed to falling supply, resilient demand, and improving operating fundamentals as key forces keeping the multifamily sector attractive for investors. “Against that backdrop, we remain very bullish and constructive on multifamily as an asset class and investment opportunity—and we’ve been pursuing it,” McCallum added.
Moderator Marc Renard, executive vice chairman at Cushman & Wakefield, asked panelist Robin Potts, CIO of Canyon Partners Real Estate, whether today’s market favors debt or equity from a risk-adjusted return perspective.
“The balance of risk and return profiles has favored debt consistently over the past couple of years,” Potts noted. “It’s very easy to find opportunities where we can put out subordinate debt with significant value cushion, significant cash equity cushion, and earn a low- to mid-teens return profile—with a lot of things that can go wrong before we would be impaired.”
Potts contrasted this with equity investments: “To earn that same return profile on the equity side, you have to be right on your rent growth, you have to be right on your exit cap projection. A lot of things must align to achieve that return. So in equity, we have to pick our spots very carefully. On the debt side, it consistently feels like there’s a wide margin for error with a good return profile.”
At Connect LA 2025, capital markets professionals underscored that despite challenges, strategic investment—particularly in multifamily and structured debt opportunities—remains both viable and attractive in today’s landscape.
