Taylor White, President & Partner, Banyan Street Companies

In an interview with Invest:, Taylor White, president and partner at Banyan Street Companies, discussed the company’s significant milestones, its approach to leveraging regional growth, adapting to shifting tenant expectations, sustainability efforts, community impact, and strategic goals for the coming years.

What have been the most significant milestones or achievements for your organization?

One of the major achievements for Banyan Street Capital over the last several years is the continued diversification of our business. We successfully raised our fourth fund for our workforce housing business, now with over 5,500 units under management. Our parking operating platform, launched just two and a half years ago, has also grown significantly, currently managing over 80,000 paid parking spaces and delivering excellent results for both us and our customers. Lastly, we’ve been building our development business and opportunistically pursuing interesting projects, most recently receiving approvals for a 330-unit residential multifamily rental project in Doral.  Of course, we are also a company with significant investments in office assets, and I am proud of how we’ve navigated the current office market environment and associated challenges, while also capitalizing on opportunities arising from the disruption.

How is Banyan Street leveraging regional growth while preparing for potential risks or market corrections?

We have a unique perspective as a Miami-headquartered company with an investment footprint that spans the Eastern Seaboard and Texas.

South Florida has obviously been one of the strongest markets in the country over the last several years.  South Florida’s growth brings incredible opportunities, including new market entrants, job growth, and an expanding financial services sector. However, challenges like traffic congestion and strained schools and infrastructure accompany this growth. Despite these growing pains, the overall impact is positive for businesses like ours.

Addressing these challenges requires forward-thinking leadership on climate resilience, education, and community development. Collaboration between the private sector and local leaders will be key to ensuring sustained growth and success.

Can you share insights into your strategic approach across different markets?

One of our key strengths is flexibility. We avoid making significant fixed investments in any one market, which allows us to adapt our strategy, people, and partners to each market’s unique dynamics.

For example, multifamily investment in Atlanta is vastly different from multifamily investment in Miami. Similarly, office investments in Washington, D.C., given the dynamics of the federal workforce, differ significantly from investing in office properties in Miami Beach.

We pride ourselves on tailoring our strategy and approach to reflect local market realities, helping us to achieve optimal results for both us and our investors.

What shifts in tenant expectations are you observing, and how is Banyan Street adapting to meet these demands?

It has been a tenant’s market for some time, both in office and more recently in multifamily, as tenants prioritize the best buildings, amenities, and locations, especially in oversupplied markets.

Changing office utilization patterns, localized oversupply, and a capital markets liquidity crunch have created a stark divide. Well-capitalized owners with high-quality, well-amenitized properties in prime locations perform well. In contrast, undercapitalized owners with inferior products struggle to invest, leading to “zombie buildings” that can’t attract or retain tenants.  We have tried to be very proactive, investing in our assets and staying competitive despite broader challenges.

How have higher interest rates and construction costs impacted the multifamily rental market?

Even South Florida hasn’t been immune to higher interest rates and construction costs, particularly in the multifamily rental market. In other Southeast markets, a development boom led to oversupply, and then to deteriorating market fundamentals.

South Florida has fared better, but challenges remain. Higher required yields, higher interest rates, and soaring construction costs have made it difficult to make deals work, even in high rent growth markets.

The market will eventually self-adjust. As fewer projects are built and demand grows, rents and costs will realign, making development viable again.

How are technological advancements and changes in user behavior shaping the profitability of your parking assets?

Historically, parking was a sleepy industry with dark, dingy garages, and cash-based transactions prone to revenue leakage. Owners tended to be smaller, local players and the business was truly passive.

Over the past 15 years, significant advancements have transformed the sector. Modern systems use technology like access equipment, license plate readers, and data analytics to cut costs and provide valuable operational insights.  These insights in turn drive things like customer acquisition and pricing strategies.

The industry now faces a tension between the view that parking can be a fully automated, dynamically priced technology business, and the view that parking is a technology-enabled real estate business. While I understand the desire to believe the former (and the multiples that are attendant to such businesses), at Banyan Street, we align with the latter, focusing on tailored technological solutions for each garage or lot and best in class operations.

While variable pricing can be useful, customer experience is crucial. A long-time customer surprised by a $30 fee due to dynamic pricing may leave with a bad impression, ultimately affecting demand.

How are you incorporating sustainability into your projects, and what challenges do you face?

Sustainability is a personal priority for me as a South Floridian, born and raised, and a current resident of the barrier island of Key Biscayne. Incorporating sustainable practices into our business is challenging but something we strive for wherever possible. For example, we’ve explored solar carports on parking garages and solar-hydrogen power solutions. However, the business case for large-scale renewable energy solutions often isn’t there yet, making widespread adoption difficult.

That said, we’ve made significant strides where the cost-benefit equation aligns. For years, we’ve implemented LED lighting retrofits and water conservation measures like low-flow plumbing in our properties. These low-capital investments deliver utility savings and make economic sense.

For broader initiatives, such as powering AI-driven data centers or grid-independent solutions, economic constraints remain a challenge for commercial real estate. While we’re committed to doing more, we’re limited by the financial realities of our industry.

How are your projects fostering meaningful community impact?

Community impact is integral to our ethos, and we take pride in our work across the regions we serve. We partner with food banks across Florida, organizing employee volunteer events and hosting initiatives like food drives, toy drives, and electronic recycling events at our office buildings. Many team members also actively participate in local advocacy groups and nonprofits. Personally, among others, I have served as a long-time board member of Breakthrough Miami, a summer learning program supporting disadvantaged children in our community, as well as Central Atlanta Progress, a downtown advocacy organization in Atlanta.

In workforce housing projects, we often focus on naturally occurring affordable housing, collaborating with local nonprofits serving individuals experiencing homelessness. In some cases, we master lease units to these organizations, enabling them to help people transition back into the workforce and stable housing. These initiatives reflect our commitment to fostering meaningful change and giving back to the communities where we operate.

What are the firm’s goals for the next two to three years?

Our primary goal is to continue growing and diversifying our business, a long-term strategy for us. Recent years have brought significant dislocation in capital and real estate markets, creating opportunities we plan to capitalize on in the coming years.

By staying flexible and adaptive to market conditions, we aim to position ourselves for success while delivering strong results for stakeholders.