News
YOUNG GUNS
April 8, 2010
| The under-30 real estate crowd hosted its annual round-table discussion Wednesday (making us feel like we needed Aspercreme and a Power Chair). More formally known as The TREC Young Guns, topics ranged from the career ladder to downtown development. | |||
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| The “2010 View from the Top†included top dogs like HFF senior managing director Trey Morsbach, left, who says Wall Street's back, which is causing people to come out of the shadows. Beyond that bold pronouncement, he advises the Young Guns to find a mentor to help accelerate their careers, while making themselves a “go-to person†at their firms. "Make yourself indispensable. Make it so they can't make a decision without you." | |||
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| Downtown Dallas CEO John Crawford (right, with John T. Evans Co's Arthur Santa-Maria) touted the success of residential properties downtown—the Mosaic, the Merc, and the Element are each 75-80% occupied. He adds that 135k people work in downtown, which is about 20% of the city's workforce and the goal of his non-profit is to entice these people to live and play there, too. Though to attract a grocery store, the critical mass is missing, he says. The Woodall Rodgers Park will play a large role toward increasing those numbers, comparing it to Bryant Park in NYC when its done. | |||
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| JLL managing director Carl Ewert (sporting the tie and words of wisdom) says office relocations may focus on LBJ's upcoming road construction, which starts in 4Q. “Its going to be like the Berlin Wall,†Carl says of the 6-year construction project. “We're advising clients to look at going where their most important people live,†he says. If most of their employees are coming from the suburbs, they may want to move there instead of downtown. “This is going to have a significant and dramatic effect, making it like a tale of two cities with the inner city and outside of the city,†he adds. | |||
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| The event was in the Sky Lobby on the 40th floor of the JPMorgan Chase Tower. Carl says Baby Boomers and 20-somethings are dramatically changing America, especially in regard to living downtown. “The younger group wants to live, work, and play together. My group's lives are changing, too. We don't want to own homes. We want to get in and out and we're tending toward condominiums,†he says. “My age group and your age group are pushing this dynamic.†(We haven't seen his Guitar Hero skills, but we bet Carl could hang with the 20-somethings in categories besides real estate dynamics.) | |||
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| Henry S. Miller's Missy Hodges listens as Pillar Commercial prez Manny Ybarra recounts the advice he received from Stream's Mike McVean to make his dream of running a business a reality. "He told me to quit my job and do it, but said I never would. That challenged me," Manny says. He did walk away from his job and started his own CRE company six years ago with zero, he says. "Great things happen when you step up and there's no net. They can happen when you pursue your dream." |
