Before capital is deployed or plans are drawn, zoning has already determined what’s possible.

In this episode of The Alkaline Reaction, we break down how zoning shapes commercial real estate, from use, density, and intensity to height limits, parking requirements, and impact controls. We also explore how rezoning and policy shifts create opportunity, and how institutional investors evaluate zoning risk.

Zoning isn’t bureaucracy... it’s the architecture of permission.

If you understand zoning, you understand supply. And if you understand supply, you understand real estate.

In commercial real estate, deals don’t fail because of pricing or paperwork — they fail because the risk isn’t financeable.

In this episode of The Alkaline Reaction, Spencer Correnti breaks down how lenders actually underwrite commercial real estate deals. From sponsor strength and property durability to leverage, reserves, guarantees, and exit metrics, we walk through the exact framework most institutional lenders use to decide whether a deal gets approved — or dies quietly in credit committee.

You’ll learn:

• Why lenders underwrite 1) sponsor, 2) property, and 3) debt terms as a single risk equation

• How experience, liquidity, and communication shape sponsor credit

• What lenders really look for in stabilized, transitional, and development deals

• Why leverage, reserves, and covenants matter more than interest rate

• The exit metrics that decide most loan approvals

Lenders don’t finance upside. They finance risk.
And the best sponsors know how to present a deal like a credit.

This episode is educational and does not constitute tax advice. Always consult your CPA, tax counsel, and qualified intermediary.

A 1031 exchange can help commercial real estate investors defer taxes and keep more equity working for the next deal, but only if it’s executed with planning and discipline.

In this episode of The Alkaline Reaction, Spencer Correnti breaks down the mechanics of a 1031 exchange, including the 45-day identification window, the 180-day closing deadline, the role of the qualified intermediary, and how investors get forced into bad replacement deals when they don’t properly prepare.

We close with a rapid-fire checklist designed to help you avoid the most common execution mistakes.