News
ANSWER: FARE AND BALANCED
March 11, 2010
| Headline Question: How do you describe the food at an event featuring Fox Business Network’s Charlie Gasparino? Yesterday morning, we found industry movers and shakers at Lighthouse International for the New York Post’s Second Annual Dealmakers Forum, discussing NYC’s top transactions. (Particular buzz revolved around Extell and Angelo, Gordon’s $170M acquisition of the Carlton House, as well as today’s Atlantic Yards groundbreaking.) |
 |
| Charlie reports that we’re still in the credit crunch, and if it weren’t for a nearly 0% interest rate, we’d be in a banking crisis. Things may be improving, but when you dig deep, banks are losing money on loan portfolios, he says—at what point does it overwhelm the other part of their balance sheets? If we have a double-dip recession, he warns, we may see that banking crisis; Charlie polled five Wall Street analysts who said it could also happen if unemployment goes above 10.5%: “Pray it stays where it is.” |
 |
| State of the office and retail market panelists were a little less somber. Clockwise from top left, Paul Weiss’ Meredith Kane, Thor Equities’ Joe Sitt, the Post’s Lois Weiss (moderator), Malkin Properties’ Fred Posniak,The Harbor Group’s Jordan Slone, and Monday Properties’ Anthony Westreich. NYC will be a beneficiary of business increases, and has tremendous demand from all investor food groups, Joe says. Jordan is excited about the market, with tours picking up and tenants realizing they have to renew or extend now. Panelists agreed that the credit and stability of both the landlord and tenant are very important in a lease these days. |
 |
| For a glimpse into the debt and equity markets, we turned to Cushman & Wakefield’s Glenn Rufrano (newly-appointed CEO, in case all your recent news was Olympic-related), Ackman-Ziff’s Simon Ziff, The Carlton Group’s Howard Michaels, and Morgan Stanley’s Lauren Silverman, moderated by the Post’s Steve Cuozzo(standing). The good news: Howard sayas people have confidence, are taking risks, and investing again, so some normalcy will return; there are also deals coming to the market that aren’t distressed. The debt market is also coming back, adds Simon, and deals that weren’t doable four months ago are now.Check back for more Bisnow coverage of the Post event in our Monday blast |
