MIT Takes On FBI HQ
The MIT Center for Real Estate just announcedthat its Alumni Associations fourth-annual case competition, in which graduate student teams from 32 top real estate programs in North America and Hong Kong will plan the redevelopment of the FBI's DC HQ. Yesterday, the school's associate director Lisa Thoma told us the J. Edgar Hoover Building at 935 Pennsylvania Ave is the best redevelopment site in DC.(It comes pre-installed with surveillance cams to monitor progress.)The teams will be narrowed down to three finalists that willpresent at the Associations Real Estate Forum on April 5.
Meanwhile, Center interim director Tod McGrathis heading the search for a permanent director to be chosen this spring from dozens of applicants spanning three continents. Tod says commercial banks that issued short-term loanextensions in pretend-and-extend scenarios will sell assets in the future. With an "extraordinary" amount of debt maturing through 17, the source of the replacement debt capital is a major issue, he warns. CMBS is rising from the ashes but still has inherent conflicts. Instead, borrowers may look to non-bank funds and mezz lenders.
So what if nice guys often finish last; nasty jerks never achieve their potential. Susan@bisnow.com
