Connect Apartments 2026

Drawing on decades of experience navigating real estate cycles, capital markets and periods of disruption, Ethan Penner will share the lessons that have shaped his approach to investing and leadership. This one-on-one conversation will connect those experiences to today’s apartment market—where the market stands today, what history can teach us and how industry leaders should prepare for what comes next.

• Daniel Ceniceros (Moderator)
  Connect Media
• Ethan Penner
  Hill Street Realty

As a wave of loan maturities approaches, capital is being deployed more selectively and with greater discipline. Lenders have returned, but underwriting is tighter, leverage is lower, and structure matters more than ever. At the same time, investors are shifting from yield-driven strategies to basis-driven opportunities, often targeting recapitalizations and dislocations. This session will explore how debt and equity are aligning, where transactions are getting done, and how institutional capital is thinking about timing and risk.

• Bryan Doyle (Moderator)
  Cushman & Wakefield
• Michael Cohen
  Brighton Capital Advisors
• Lonnie Hendry
  Trepp
• Chris Tourtellotte
  LaTerra Development

The metrics keep ticking upward as more properties become distressed. With trillions of dollars of CMBS set to mature in the next few years, property owners are looking for ways to refinance or exit their investments, buyers are looking for the bottom on pricing and lenders are beginning to apply stricter underwriting even to healthy properties. Our panel of experts will provide their take on the market as this year concludes and into 2027.

• Steve Pumper (Moderator)
  Transwestern
• Mitchell Hunter
  Trimont
• James Shevlin
  CWCapital

Today’s multifamily market requires more than building in the right location—it means delivering the experience renters want while operating efficiently in a highly competitive environment. As developers reassess where new projects still pencil, owners and operators are also rethinking unit design, amenities, technology, services and leasing strategies. This session will explore how firms are developing, repositioning and operating communities for today’s renter while controlling costs, maintaining occupancy, increasing renewals and protecting NOI. Panelists will also discuss how these priorities are shaping development decisions and the next wave of multifamily supply.

• Sonnet Hui
  Cumming Group
• Al Marshall
  Citivest
• Jon Tullo
  Apartment Management Consultants

As the multifamily market adjusts to a higher-for-longer interest rate environment, financing strategies continue to evolve. From agency lending and bank financing to debt funds, preferred equity, and structured capital solutions, borrowers are navigating a more complex capital stack than at any point in the last decade. This panel will explore lender appetite, underwriting trends, refinancing challenges, construction financing, and where capital providers are finding opportunities in today's market.

• Gary Bechtel
  Red Oak Capital Holdings
• John Petersen
  KeyBank
• Brad Ross
  Parkview Financial
• Scott Sumida
  Thorofare Capital
• Amit Tyagi
  Gantry
• Natalie Viola
  PACE Loan Group