CRE Unplugged: Innovating from the Streets to the Skyline

Most CRE firms are about to fail at AI, and not for the reason they think. In her farewell as co-host, Nadine Ezzie tells Ryan Elazari why buying the tools is the easy part. Nadine Ezzie, Managing Partner of Ezzie and Co. has spent twenty years in law and PropTech watching the industry chase shortcuts. Her warning: the firms treating AI as a switch to flip, without clean data or trained people, ar...

The data center industry is losing the public narrative, and CENSAI has the survey numbers to prove it. In this Founder Series episode, Ryan Elazari sits down with Devin Boesen, Director of Population and Migration Products, and Jon Liggett, Head of Data and Partnerships at CENSAI, to dig into what population intelligence actually reveals about how Americans move, where they avoid, and why the sto...

What do brokerages actually want from technology? Ashley Stinton, Managing Partner of NAR REACH, decides which real estate technology companies get to scale across the largest organized real estate market in the world. Here is what she sees most founders getting wrong. Trillions of dollars are flowing into PropTech, but the gap between a great demo and real Realtor adoption is where most companies...

The power grid holding America's AI future together was built decades ago and it was never designed for this. Two of the sharpest minds in data center development just told us exactly what's coming. Trillions of dollars are flooding into data center development, but most of the people chasing that capital do not understand the fundamentals. In this episode of CRE Unplugged, host Ryan Elaza...

Small businesses aren't credit risks. They're cash flow timing risks. And the commercial real estate industry has been treating them like the same problem for decades. In this episode of the CRE Unplugged Founder Series, Ryan Elazari sits down with Alix Maurin and Joseph Thalinjan, Co-Founders of RentFlow, a Y Combinator-backed platform giving small business tenants flexible, cash flow-aligned ren...

What happens when a marketing veteran builds PropTech from the inside out? In this episode of CRE Unplugged, Ryan sits down with David Abrams, Co-Founder and CEO of HILO, to unpack why the best building technology isn't the loudest it's the most thoughtful. David shares how 20+ years running a marketing and communications agency shaped HILO's obsession with partnership, service, and genuine tenant...

How a founder with no real estate experience built a vertically integrated platform now powering the future of multifamily living. A conversation on bootstrapping, resident expectations, and why the best PropTech founders stay close to customers. In this Founder Series episode, Ryan Elazari sits down with Konrad Koczwara, Founder and CEO of ElevateOS, to explore how he went from complete industry...

Bill Douglas doesn't sugarcoat it: most CRE owners are sitting on a goldmine of data they don't control, don't understand, and can't monetize while vendors quietly profit from it. In this episode, the CEO of OpticWise and co-author of Peak Property Performance pulls back the curtain on the messy reality of digital strategy in commercial real estate. From buildings running 17 system...

How AI is transforming pre-construction, and why precision matters as much as speed in construction tech. A conversation on AI, risk reduction, and building durable software for real estate development. In this Founder Series episode, Ryan Elazari sits down with Paul Zeckser, Co-Founder and CEO of LightTable, to explore how AI is changing one of the most expensive and error-prone phases of real es...

In the debut of the Founders’ Series, Ryan and Nadine sit down with William Sankey, CEO of Northspyre, to unpack what it really takes to build a tech company inside one of the most conservative industries: commercial real estate. William shares the moment he knew he had to build Northspyre, the messy leap from idea to execution, and whether, after a decade of lessons, he would choose the founder p...

Real estate’s future won’t be built by code alone. It will be built by people who know how to connect it all. In this episode of CRE Unplugged, Ryan Elazari sits down with Richard Reyes, CEO of OSCRE International and VP of Digital Strategy at ConnexFM, to discuss how data, culture, and collaboration are reshaping the built environment. From his Texas ranch roots to leading digital transformation...

Everyone loves to say retail is dead. Beth Azor is here to say: not so fast. In this episode, Nadine and Ryan sit down with the indomitable "Canvassing Queen" to break down why retail’s not dying, but rather, evolving. From the rise of “competitive socializing” and medtail to the real story behind retail occupancy rates, Beth brings receipts, red blazers, and a whole lot of truth. We tal...

What if the real fix for America’s housing challenges isn’t just more supply, but better-designed towns? In this episode, Nadine and Ryan sit down with Casey Roloff, the visionary behind Seabrook, Washington, a walkable coastal town built from scratch on the principles of New Urbanism. From starting with a $500 land option and a cold-calling hustle, Casey shares how his early experiences shaped a...

In this special episode, the gang break down three policy shifts with major implications for real estate. We start with Trump’s AI Action Plan , which fast-tracks data center, semiconductor, and energy infrastructure development. Next, we cover Boston’s proposed driverless car ban and its clash between job protection and innovation, a decision that could set a precedent for AV deployment nationwid...

We sit down with Sandhya Espitia, COO of REBNY, to explore how the $1.4 trillion industry is reshaping New York. From Local Law 97 and retrofits to debunking the “developer as villain” myth, Sandhya highlights real estate’s role as a civic partner in keeping NYC livable and competitive. We cover her journey from Colombia to COO, why most real estate tech company fail in NYC, and how she balances t...

The crew kicks things off with a fiery debate on NYC’s shifting political tides, unpacking Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory over Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary. They dive into what this means for commercial real estate, and whether being labeled a “socialist” still sparks fear or just change. From there, the gang shifts gears to explore the current state of CRE fundraising, dissec...

In this episode of CRE Unplugged, we’re going retail and we’ve got the perfect guide. Nick Harbaugh, VP International at Flexecution and the creator of The Retail Nomad on YouTube, joins us to unpack the evolving world of brick-and-mortar across continents. With over 200,000 locations under his belt and more than 200 videos capturing retail trends worldwide, Nick blends hands-on expertise with an...

The gang explores how niche assets like data centers, healthcare housing, and music buildings are creating new opportunities for investors seeking resilient, high-yield returns. They break down the capital market forces driving these sectors, examine signals of a possible recession, and debate New York City’s ambitious Local Law 97 and its impact on building owners. The episode wraps with a fun ro...

What does the next chapter of real estate tech really look like? We sit down with Alon Gorbonos, founder of RE Angels and veteran of the global investing scene, for a candid convo on the evolution of venture capital, the AI-fueled startup wave, and what it actually takes to scale innovation in a tighter, tougher CRE market. From PropTech to ConTech to FinTech (and a few dad jokes in between), we u...

In this CRE Unplugged x Thesis Driven crossover, Ryan, Nadine, and Brad unpack the ripple effects of newly imposed tariffs and the fresh wave of uncertainty hitting the market. They dig into the hype (and reality) of reshoring manufacturing—and whether bringing production back home could actually reshape industrial demand and CRE investment strategy. As hybrid work continues to win out over return...

The construction industry is evolving fast—and at the center of it all is the race to build smarter, faster, and more responsibly. In this episode of CRE Unplugged, hosts Nadine Ezzie and Ryan Elazari sit down with Josh Hullum, Executive Director of Construction at Affinius Capital to unpack how teams are navigating grid constraints, shrinking carbon footprints, and making smarter bets on material...

In this episode of the CRE Unplugged x Thesis Driven collab series, Nadine, Ryan, and Brad dive into four hot-button issues shaking up U.S. cities—and the real estate world. We continue to unpack NYC’s embattled congestion pricing plan (with a surprise Trump twist), break down Cambridge’s landmark rezoning and its impact on housing affordability, and ask the big question: why are mayors of America...

Nadine and Ryan sit down with Susan Gerock, CIO of Elme Communities and one of the most respected voices in multifamily tech, to cut through the noise and get real about what’s actually moving the needle in real estate technology. From the one tech investment smaller firms can’t afford to skip to how applying a hospitality mindset to multifamily is reshaping the industry, Susan brings sharp insigh...

In the first episode of this special collaboration series, Nadine and Ryan are joined by none other than Brad Hargreaves, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thesis Driven and a sharp voice on all things real estate and urbanism. Together, we dive into the biggest trends shaping commercial real estate—from NYC’s congestion pricing and its ripple effects to the rise of exurbs and new cities designed for...

What does it take to lead a cutting-edge research and analytics team in one of the biggest names in industrial real estate? Everything—and then some. On this episode, Nadine and Ryan welcome Matt Rand, Managing Director of Research and Analytics at Link Logistics, for a no-holds-barred conversation about leadership, legacy, and data. Matt spills the secrets on mastering the "build vs. buy" tech di...