Fixing the Solar Split Incentive in Rental Housing

• Splitting the sun: Landlords have long avoided solar because tenants receive the savings, but new technology is changing that equation.

• Unsecure risk: After an NYPD officer was killed in a mass shooting at a Manhattan office building, the officer’s widow is suing the property owner.

• Blue boomtown: Blue Origin is exploring Central Texas sites for a $1B aerospace manufacturing and logistics hub.

• Multifamily outlook 2026: Demand will be steady in 2026, but margins are thinner and execution matters more than ever. Sign up for the webinar

Energy & Sustainability

Fixing the Solar Split Incentive in Rental Housing

Rooftops across the U.S. hold a vast, largely untapped clean energy opportunity, but rental housing has been left behind. The obstacle isn’t technology or cost. It’s the split incentive that forces landlords to pay for solar while tenants capture the savings, freezing adoption just as the economics should work.

That imbalance is what pushed Charlotte Meerstadt, founder of Fram Energy, to rethink how solar works in multifamily housing. Her personal experience as a homeowner turned landlord exposed a simple flaw: solar delivered value, but not to the person writing the check.

The solution emerging now is less about panels and more about trust. By making energy production and savings visible and fairly shared, new models are turning solar into an amenity tenants understand and owners can justify — opening the door for rental housing to finally join the clean energy transition.

Overheard

Lawsuit Over 345 Park Avenue Shooting Exposes Building Owner Security Liability

The widow of NYPD Detective Didarul Islam has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit following the July 2025 mass shooting at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Islam was working an off-duty, uniformed security shift when a gunman carrying an assault-style rifle crossed the building’s plaza, entered the lobby, and opened fire. After shooting Islam, a security guard, and others in the lobby, the attacker took an elevator to the 33rd floor, continued shooting, and then killed himself. Investigators later said the shooter believed he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy and was targeting the National Football League, which has offices in the building.

The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court, names the building owner and operator Rudin Management, its contract security provider McLane Security, and the NFL as defendants. According to reporting by The New York Times, the complaint alleges recklessness and negligence, arguing that no security measure deterred, detected, or delayed the attacker despite the weapon being openly visible. The suit claims the building lacked sufficient weapon detection, monitoring, and interception protocols as the gunman approached and entered. It also alleges failures in communication systems, training, and coordination among guards and off-duty police officers. Although the building reportedly had an elevator-freeze function, the security officer responsible for activating it was shot before he could do so.

The case shows how building security is no longer judged by individual safeguards, but by how well all of those measures work together as a system. Owners and operators are increasingly exposed to scrutiny not just over whether security features exist, but whether they work together in real time, from public plazas to interior circulation like elevators. The allegations point to growing legal and operational pressure to invest in perimeter awareness, interoperable communications, and scenario-based training, especially in buildings with high-profile tenants. As incidents like this move through the courts, they are likely to influence how owners evaluate security spending, risk management, and duty of care across large office properties.

Blue Origin Eyes Central Texas for $1B Aerospace Hub

Central Texas could be on the verge of landing a major aerospace investment as Jeff Bezos–backed Blue Origin explores sites in the Austin region for a large manufacturing and logistics hub. According to sources, the company is seeking roughly 100 acres split between a 20-acre manufacturing facility and an 80-acre logistics center, located within 15 miles of I-35. The proposed project carries an estimated investment of just under $1 billion and would create about 2,200 jobs over five years, prompting multiple cities, particularly in Williamson County, to submit proposals.

The push comes amid a coordinated economic development effort involving the state of Texas and Opportunity Austin, which circulated a formal request for information earlier this month. Blue Origin is reportedly moving quickly, aiming to begin site visits before year-end. While it is unclear whether Texas is competing against other states or already emerging as a frontrunner, the region’s growing aerospace ecosystem strengthens its case. Austin and Williamson County already host aerospace players such as Firefly Aerospace, and the recent formation of the Central Texas Spaceport Development Corp. underscores local ambitions to formalize the area as a space and aerospace hub.

For Texas's commercial real estate industry, a project of this scale would be a meaningful catalyst. Beyond the immediate demand for large-format industrial, manufacturing, and logistics real estate, Blue Origin’s arrival would likely accelerate infrastructure investment, land absorption along key corridors like I-35 and U.S. 183, and secondary demand for housing, office, and services tied to a high-skilled workforce. More broadly, the pursuit highlights how advanced manufacturing and aerospace are reshaping regional CRE dynamics, blurring traditional lines between industrial, logistics, and innovation campuses. Markets that can assemble land, talent, and public-private incentives quickly are increasingly positioned to capture outsized, long-term economic and real estate gains.

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