Glossary of Commercial Real Estate Terms
A comprehensive glossary of terms used by commercial real estate professionals.
Welcome to our CRE Terms Glossary
#
See complete list of # termsA
- Additional Rent
- Acquisition Fee
- Asset Management Fee
- Adjusted Funds From Operations (AFFO)
- Air Rights
- Anchor Tenant
- Appraisal
- Affordable Housing
- Amortization
- Asking Rent
- Absolute Net Lease
- Adaptive Reuse: Definition & Meaning
B
- Breakpoint
- Base Year
- Brownfield
- Build-to-Suit
- Broker Opinion of Value (BOV)
- Build-to-Rent (BTR)
- Base Rent
- Bad Boy Carve-Out
- Bridge Loan
- Balloon Payment
C
- Capital Expenditure (CapEx)
- Commercial Mortgage
- Common Equity
- Cash Sweep
- Common Areas
- Comparable Leases
- Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- Capital Call
- Change Order
- Certificate of Occupancy (CO)
- Construction Draw
- Conditional Use Permit
D
- Debt
- Depreciation
- Defeasance
- Debt Yield
- Default
- Dry Powder
- Disposition Fee
- Delinquent Loan
- Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure
- Development Spread
- Density
- Data Center
E
- Equity REIT
- Entitlement
- Extend and Pretend
- Economic Occupancy
- Effective Gross Income (EGI)
- Earnest Money Deposit
- Escrow
- Easement
- Encumbrance
- Effective Rent
- Equity
- Exit Cap Rate
F
- Fixed-Rate Loan
- Family Office
- Foreclosure
- Fair Market Value
- Flex Space
- Flight to Quality
- Fulfillment Center
- Forbearance
- Free Rent
- Full-Service Gross Lease
- Floor Area Ratio (FAR)
- FFO (Funds from Operations)
G
- Guaranty
- Gross Lease
- General Partner (GP)
- General Contractor (GC)
- Greenfield Development
- Ground-Up Development
- Grade-Level Door
- Grocery-Anchored Shopping Center
- Gross Absorption
- Gross Potential Rent (GPR)
- Going-In Cap Rate
- Gross-Up Provision
H
See complete list of H termsI
- Institutional Investor
- Infill Development
- Interest Rate Cap
- Interest Rate Swap
- Industrial Outdoor Storage (IOS)
- Inline Tenant
- Industrial Real Estate
- Interest-Only Loan
- Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
J
See complete list of J termsL
- Lease Term
- Load Factor
- Leasehold Improvements
- Lease Negotiation
- Lease Covenant
- Loan Default
- Limited Partner (LP)
- Lease-Up
- Land Assemblage
- Loan Workout
- Life Science Real Estate
- Lab Space
M
- Mezzanine Debt
- Maturity Default
- Mortgage REIT (mREIT)
- Mixed-Use Development
- Megawatt (MW)
- Maturity Wall
- Medical Office Building (MOB)
- Multifamily Real Estate
- Market Rent
- Modified Gross Lease
- Mezzanine Debt: Definition & Meaning
- Mortgagor: Definition & Meaning
N
- Net Cash Flow
- Net Lease
- Net Asset Value (NAV)
- Net Absorption
- Non-Recourse Loan
- Net Present Value (NPV)
- Neighborhood Shopping Center
- Net Lease: Definition & Meaning
- Net Operating Income (NOI)
O
- Operating Expenses
- Option Period
- Occupancy Rate
- Opportunistic Real Estate
- Outparcel
- OCIP vs CCIP Construction Insurance
- Opportunity Zone Investing
P
- Purchase Price
- Property Value
- Pro Rata Share
- Percentage Lease
- Property Management Fee
- Publicly Traded REIT
- Private REIT
- Private Equity Real Estate
- Planned Unit Development (PUD)
- Predevelopment
- Pre-Leasing
- Punch List
Q
See complete list of Q termsR
- Rent Roll
- Retail Real Estate
- Rent Growth
- Retail Lease
- Rent Commencement Date
- Real Estate Sponsor
- Real Estate Syndication
- Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)
- Rezoning
- Regional Mall
- Retail Pad
- Recourse Loan
S
- Sale-Leaseback
- Same-Store NOI
- Soft Costs
- Stabilization
- Setback
- SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate)
- Self-Storage
- Shopping Center
- Strip Center
- Spec Suite
- Stabilized Property
- Single-Family Rental (SFR)
T
- Terminal Value
- Total Project Cost
- Tenant Improvements (TI)
- Technical Default
- Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO)
- Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)
- Transferable Development Rights (TDR)
- Trophy Office
- Title Insurance
- Title Search
- Tenant Improvement Allowance (TI Allowance)
- Tenancy by the Entirety
U
See complete list of U termsV
See complete list of V termsW
See complete list of W termsY
See complete list of Y termsZ
See complete list of Z termsCommercial Real Estate Terms & Definitions
Commercial real estate comes with its own language. CRE Daily’s Commercial Real Estate Glossary provides clear, straightforward definitions of the terms, acronyms, and concepts used across the CRE industry.
Whether you’re an investor, developer, broker, lender, property manager, or simply looking to better understand commercial real estate, this glossary is designed to be a practical resource for navigating industry terminology.
Explore definitions covering:
Commercial real estate investing: Cap rates, NOI, IRR, equity, debt yield, cash flow, and other key investment metrics.
CRE finance and lending: Commercial mortgages, bridge loans, mezzanine debt, loan defaults, interest rates, and financing structures.
Leasing: Base rent, net leases, tenant improvements, lease terms, operating expenses, rent rolls, and other leasing concepts.
Development and construction: Entitlements, zoning, hard and soft costs, ground-up development, adaptive reuse, and construction terminology.
Property types: Office, multifamily, industrial, retail, data centers, self-storage, hospitality, and other commercial real estate sectors.
Ownership and investment structures: REITs, private equity real estate, joint ventures, syndications, general partners, limited partners, and institutional investors.
From foundational concepts to specialized industry terminology, CRE Daily’s glossary makes it easier to understand the language behind commercial real estate deals, markets, and investments.
Browse the glossary alphabetically to find the commercial real estate terms and definitions you need.
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