Even during the most settled and least complicated of times, commercial real estate has been subject to a broad constellation of dynamics and variables. But these are far from settled or uncomplicated times. The world is changing and, in some cases, it is changing in ways most of us could not have fathomed a mere decade or two ago.

Today, there are mighty forces at play in the real estate business — a confluence of forces arrayed in favor and against the future prosperity of the real estate community, forces more powerful than anything real estate investment professionals have previously confronted. They are being driven by changing demographics, technology, business practices and human sensibilities, each of which have unleashed new trends that are changing the direction of the institutional real estate business; trends so big and immutable they are referred to here as “megatrends.”

These are trends so pervasive and inexora