Aspire Real Estate Investors is planning on a $1.1 billion acquisition pipeline, with a focus on Opportunity Zones. : Before the coronavirus pandemic, commercial real estate investors were pumping money into workforce and affordable housing. The pandemic-fueled recession has dramatically elevated the sector’s status among investors. “I think COVID has accelerated the flight of capital coming into the affordable and workforce housing space,” says Scott Everett, founder and CEO of S2 Capital, a Dallas-based private equity firm that targets value-add multifamily properties.