Intelligent Investment

Its Just Easy

By: Jeremy McGown, Executive Managing Director and Dallas-Fort Worth Market Leader, CBRE

February 24, 2026 4 Minute Read

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Investor sentiment is shifting from caution to conviction in Dallas-Fort Worth.

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World travel became part of my life as a Navy officer before I fell in love with commercial real estate. Between the military, internationally focused education environments and working for a global company, I’ve had the good fortune of building friendships all over the world.

For years now, I’ve heard a version of the same question from those friends:

“Why Dallas?”

Not just why me, but why do so many people move to Dallas–Fort Worth and plant roots here?

I’ve paid close attention to that question because population and job growth are the primary tailwinds behind nearly everything we underwrite in commercial real estate. And I do something simple: I ask people who moved here if they like it—and why.

The answer I hear most often is surprisingly consistent:

“It’s just easy.”

Easy to do business. Easy to make friends. Easy to find a home you want to live in. Easy to find great schools. Easy to travel. Easy to commute. Easy to build a life.

“Easy” can sound soft—until you realize it’s one of the most investable words there is. Because “easy” is really another way of saying low friction. And low-friction markets compound.

On this point, it’s helpful to consider the context of where we are in the cycle in the broader real estate market.

Disciplined optimism is turning into action in the commercial real estate investment market across the U.S.

Among investors, the macro mood this year isn’t euphoric. It’s constructive. Capital is moving again—carefully, but decisively.

Seventy-four percent of respondents to CBRE’s 2026 North American Investor Intentions Survey plan to buy more commercial real estate this year than last. At the same time, 83% of surveyed investors plan to sell as much or more commercial real estate than last year.

Moreover, 55% plan to increase their capital allocations to commercial real estate this year—driven by stabilizing interest rates, ample liquidity, attractive pricing against other asset classes and cyclical opportunity.

When both buyers and sellers are active, liquidity and price discovery return together.

And the “where” keeps landing on Dallas-Fort Worth.

Dallas–Fort Worth continues to show up at the top of investor preference lists, including the majority of those we’ve surveyed for each of the past five years. And this consistency isn’t accidental; it’s structural.

I often say this: The U.S. is good for business. Texas is great for business. And Dallas-Fort Worth is phenomenal for business.

The reason that statement holds up through uneven cycles is diversification. Dallas-Fort Worth does not rely on a single industry or economic lever. It benefits from breadth: diversity of employers, industries and submarkets. When one sector cools, another often heats up. The flywheel keeps turning.

That’s why Dallas-Fort Worth often feels “easy.” Growth here isn’t fragile. It’s layered.

Case in point: the industrial market. Large-format demand remains historically strong, and the market is tightening again in the sizes that matter most to institutional users, with the 50,000- to 200,000-sq.-ft. band waking up after a slower stretch.

Meanwhile, office isn’t “back” everywhere, but it is meaningfully back in the right places: amenity-rich, walkable nodes and well-positioned submarkets. Uptown/Turtle Creek, Lower Tollway and Preston Center are among the districts where upgraded product and flight to quality are driving higher rents and tightening vacancies.

Multifamily is set up for rental growth as new deliveries have declined sharply, and Dallas-Fort Worth’s powerful demographic and employment tailwinds continue. In the investment market, liquidity in the multifamily sector remains deep, with sustained institutional allocations and increasingly pronounced foreign capital interest.

Dallas-Fort Worth’s digital infrastructure buildout is strengthening the region’s industrial and investment flywheel, especially as AI and cloud growth drive power-intensive capacity demand. Advantages include abundant land, established developer ecosystem, strong talent base, central location and robust airport system.

As a result, Dallas-Fort Worth is a top-tier U.S. data center market by multiple measures—online colocation capacity is 1,067 MW (98% leased), with 698 MW (95% preleased) under construction and 3 GW in planning.

What does all this mean for investors and occupiers?

For investors, treat Dallas-Fort Worth as a portfolio, not a monolith. Precision by submarket and asset quality matters.

Also, have a debt plan that’s honest about timing. Short-term negative leverage may be tolerable; prolonged negative leverage is not. Finally, prioritize quality and optionality—liquidity returns first to well-located, high-quality assets.

For occupiers, start your planning earlier than you might normally, especially in tightening segments like large-format industrial. In office, the best buildings in the best locations are already proving they can command rent and capture demand. Waiting can be more expensive than acting.

Investor sentiment is shifting from caution to conviction. Dallas–Fort Worth continues to win because “easy” is actually low friction plus diversification—the kind of foundation that compounds through cycles.

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