‘Too Much Money Chasing Too Few Deals’: Cortland’s Bruce Cohen At Bisnow's Premium Multifamily Summit

For 30 years, Bruce Cohen lived on the capital side of the real estate world. As founder and CEO of Wrightwood Capital and senior partner at Ares Commercial Real Estate, Cohen worked to establish investment strategies with a highly diverse range of investors and operators. Now, he has made the decision to move to the other side of the industry and bring his expertise to just one operator — multifamily developer Cortland. 

“We are moving toward a more muted return environment and people are going to have to generate alpha by doing something different,” Cohen said. “I believe that the operators who acquire properties and create value are going to be the ones creating that alpha.” 

Bisnow: What is the most pressing issue affecting commercial real estate at this time?

Bruce Cohen: I believe that there is too much money chasing too few deals. Multifamily assets have become highly attractive to investors, particularly in the Southeast and Southwestern parts of the U.S., as well as in suburban areas as capital rotates away from core cities. The asset class has been discovered, allocations are increasing, and this has led to a flood of capital chasing all the assets in our markets.