ALL-STARS
| Some top players converged at the Westin New York on Friday forCommercial Property News' 12th Annual Executive Awards Luncheon, honoring the past year's all-stars, as voted by industry peers. If the suspense is killing you, you'll find a full list of winners at the bottom. (Isn't that nicer than printing the answers upside down?) |
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| Some of this year's winners with CPN publisher Victoria Osorio and editor-in-chief Suzann Silverman: GE Real Estate CEO Ron Pressman, Cushman & Wakefield chair John Cushman III; Cushman & Wakefield CEO Bruce Mosler; W.P. Carey & Co. CEOGordon DuGan; and Opus Corp. CEO Mark Rauenhorst. |
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| Super-pollster John Zogby keynoted the luncheon and talked about some of the findings in his new book, The Way We'll Be, which focuses on the changing American dream and where the country is headed politically, culturally and spiritually. John says more people these days want spiritual fulfillment; we'll take that in today's market. Here John signs a copy for Jones Lang LaSalle'sLloyd Desatnick. |
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| Cushman & Wakefield chair John Cushman III, with Lifetime Achievement award; president & CEO Bruce Mosler withBrokerage Executive of the Year award; and executive managing director Jeff Cushman. Although Jeff doesn't have an award in his hand, he does have quite a significant accolade: he's the seventh-generation Cushman to work in real estate. That's a lot of generations. |
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| Financer of the Year winner and Investor of the Year honoree Ron Pressman with GE Real Estate colleagues Deirdre Segerson and chief investment officer Jonathan Kern. Some of GE's largest U.S. transactions in the past year included the $105M refinancing ofDenholtz Associates' and Rothschild Realty's 1M SF New Jersey portfolio, the $98M acquisition loan with De Rito Partners for a Scottsdale shopping center and the $95M refinancing of the Parkside Towers office building in the San Francisco area for Sterling American Property. |
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| Related Management's Jeff Brodsky, Jim Kleeman and Lee Zucchi. Related Cos. prez Stephen Ross was there in spirit, nabbing the Multi-Family Property Executive of the Year award. Perhaps Stephen can put his award next to one of the firm's most recent accolades, the USGBC New York Chapter's Development Award (itsBronx Terminal Market and Kingsbridge Armory projects, among others, are sustainable). |
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| Preceding the event was CPN's annual New York Investment Summit, which brought together some top metro execs to offerinsights and predictions. Real Capital Analytics founder Bob Whitekeynoted. After admitting the dismal picture we're facing right now (distress, dislocation, inefficiencies and volatility), here speculated we're going to find opportunity in the new year. |
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| EE&K principal Stan Eckstut, Grubb & Ellis New York prez David Arena and Albanese Org. principal Chris Albanese participated in apoint-counterpoint session, moderated by Eastern Consolidated chief economist Barbara Byrne Denham. Some key points: looking back on past markets, it really does seem like a milder recession, especially since the market has a lack of oversupply. The NYS comptroller expects that the city is going to lose 165k jobs versus the early 2000s' 235k and early 1990s' 400k. What we need to do right now is focus on existing resources, make sure the city doesn't go back to pre-Giuliani times, shelve excess projects, and focus on becoming more affordable. |
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| New York is certainly feeling the chill of the capital freeze, and almost everyone is on the sidelines, waiting. Sterling American Property's Michael Katz, Schonbraun McCann Group's Jahn Brodwin (moderator), Jones Lang LaSalle's Tom Beneville (who apparently didn't get the red tie memo), the Singer & Bassuk Org.'sRichard Bassuk and Deloitte's Dennis Yeskey tell us that ownersare not selling unless under duress, and investors are holding out to see if prices drop further. The result? A brutal year for theinvestment market, with transactions down 80%. The bottom of the market will come six months after we solve the financial crisis. |
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| If there are any bright spots right now, they're in the suburban markets, contend Nielsen Claritas' Terry Munoz, C&W's Gil Medina,CBRE's Jeff Dunne (moderator) and Rechler Equity Partners' Mitch Rechler. The markets are seeing an average 2.7% in growth—and23 counties have exceeded 5% growth. The need for affordable housing is driving Long Island, while Jersey has seen an increase of 25k jobs per year. The changing household is expected to alter the workforce, as more people want to work near home. |
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The audience turned to the Alliance for Downtown NY's Elizabeth Berger, Marcus & Millichap's Marco Lala, Warburg Realty's Charlie Lewis, Dewey LeBoeuf's Stuart Saft and Swig Equities' Kent Swigfor the lowdown on Manhattan's two renaissance markets—Harlemand Downtown. There's still interest in Harlem, despite a financing standstill. Buyers and developers are slowing down, and sellersare not being realistic with prices, but it's just a waiting period for all of them. Downtown Manhattan is in a unique position, because it's not seeing Midtown's compression in office rents, and lack ofinventory has made it a stable submarket.And the awards go to (drumroll, please)….Lifetime Achievement Award:John Cushman III, Cushman & WakefieldExecutive of the Year: Winner – Jeffrey Schwartz, ProLogis Honorees – Colin Dyer, Jones Lang LaSalle; Ed Linde, Boston Properties Innovator of the Year: Investor of the Year: Developer of the Year: Brokerage Executive of the Year: Financer of the Year: Sustainability Executive of the Year: Rising Leader: Female Leader of the Year: Hospitality Property Executive of the Year: Industrial Property Executive Of The Year: Multi-Family Property Executive of the Year: Office Property Executive of the Year: Retail Property of the Year Honorees: Net Lease Executive of the Year: |
