In this week’s episode of The TreppWire Podcast, we break down macro data pointing to a resilient economy, with Institute for Supply Management (ISM) PMIs at multi-year highs, but employment components still in contraction and the Fed firmly on hold. We dig into corporate AI sticker shock, including one company&#x27;s reported $500 million monthly bill, and discuss whether data center build-out delays could slow the CapEx engine driving the economy. We then cover sports and CRE: underwhelming World Cup hotel demand, the Mavericks&#x27; planned arena at the Valley View Mall site, Samsung&#x27;s HQ move to Plano, and how Midtown has transformed since the Knicks&#x27; last Finals run. To close, we do a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) 101 and introduce Trepp&#x27;s new REIT IQ tool. Tune in now. Episode notes: • Economic Update • AI Sticker Shock &amp; Corporate AI Spending • Data Center Build-Out Delays • Trepp MCP &amp; AI Use Cases • World Cup Hotel Demand Underwhelms • Dallas Mavericks’ Valley View Arena &amp; Dallas Stars’ Move to Plano, TX • Samsung HQ Relocation to Plano, TX • Knicks &amp; Midtown’s Transformation • REIT 101 &amp; Trepp’s REIT IQ Tool • Programming Notes • Shoutouts Questions or comments? Contact us at podcast@trepp.com. Follow Trepp: X: www.x.com/TreppWire LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/trepp

399. The Apex of CapEx? AI Sticker Shock, Data Center Delays, REIT 101, & Sports-Driven CRE 

The TreppWire Podcast: A Commercial Real Estate Show

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** The TreppWire Podcast: A Commercial Real Estate Show

## Participants

- **Haley Keen** (Trepp)
- **Lonnie Hendry** (Trepp)
- **Stephen Bushbaum** (Trepp)

## Transcript

Welcome to the TreppWire Podcast, the show where commercial real estate meets data and insights. This is our week in review for the week ending June 5th, 2026. I'm Haley Keen with Trepp, a data, modeling, and analytics firm for the CMBS, commercial real estate, and CLO markets. I'm with Lonnie Hendry, Chief Product Officer, and Stephen Bushbaum, Head of Applied Research and Analytics.

This week's macro data gave us a pretty classic good news, bad news setup. On the good side, the economy still looks resilient. The ISM manufacturing PMI rose to 54 in May, its highest level since 2022. And the ISM services PMI also improved to 54.5. ADP showed private employers adding 122,000 jobs in May, and JOLTS showed job openings jumping back to 7.6 million in April.

But the inflation and labor details were a little less comforting. Prices are still elevated across both manufacturing and services, supplier delivery times remain stretched, and employment components in both PMI reports were still in contraction territory, with the ISM Manufacturing Employment Index coming in at 48.6, and services employment at 47.9. So macro data has the Fed pinned in place for now, as the economy still looks resilient enough that a cut isn't warranted,

and inflation isn't quite hot enough to warrant a hike either. On today's episode, we'll also cover a wide range of CRE headlines, including AI spending sticker shock, underwhelming World Cup hotel demand, the Dallas Mavericks planned arena district at the former Valley View mall site, and how the area around Madison Square Garden has transformed since the Knicks' last finals run. Then later in the episode, we'll do a 101 on REITs and plug Trepp's new REIT IQ tool.

We'll also share Trepp's latest delinquency data, where the headline CMBS delinquency rate ticked up slightly to 7.55%. So Stephen, start us off with the macro picture. What stood out to you this week?

To be honest, I keep coming back to AI CapEx spend. And this question that eats away at me about, you know, if and when we hit the apex in CapEx, that outlay is the driving force behind the current day economic strength. And there were some articles published this past week that, at least in my opinion, warrant further discussion. And we'll get into that. But first, let's walk through the economic data that sets the stage for that discussion.

And Haley, you did a great job covering a lot of this. So I don't think I have to spend too much time on it. But this week's data was not exactly rate friendly. The headline numbers were solid. Manufacturing, as you mentioned, it was further into expansion territory. Services improved. ADP showed a decent private payroll again. And JOLTS, I mean, JOLTS was surprising. That showed job openings moving higher again and is the stro...

399. The Apex of CapEx? AI Sticker Shock, Data Center Delays, REIT 101, & Sports-Driven CRE

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

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399. The Apex of CapEx? AI Sticker Shock, Data Center Delays, REIT 101, & Sports-Driven CRE

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.