News
YESTERDAY'S NYT PANEL, GROUNDBREAKING & PWC AWARDS
May 20, 2009
| Bisnow started yesterday morning with the Times and a cup of coffee, sort of. We attended the paper's VU2009 event at its famed 8th Avenue HQ to hear top execs discuss the impact of federal policy on New York's real estate recovery. Panelists included Citigroup's Tom Flexner, LeFrak Org.'s Richard LeFrak, NYTcolumnist Joe Nocera, REBNY's Steve Spinola, and Rudin Management's Bill Rudin. |
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| The Armageddon scenario of no bottom and a depression is over, despite a lack of liquidity and confidence, Tom says. We might not have hit bottom, but we've stopped falling, Steve adds, and NYC should recognize that it's going to be a good investment. Bill is beginning to see people coming out of the woodwork to invest on the res side; commercial rents are down 20-30%. Residential's lack of overbuilding will keep prices compressed, Richard says, while commercial needs to focus on promoting new industry. |
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| Joe, also keynote, jokes that he's the "voice of uncertainty" at theNYT. So don't ask him if the worst is over yet, because his honest answer will be, "I don't know." But he says this is certain: the country took on too much debt, lived beyond our means, and now is paying the price. However, we're not in another Great Depression, we're not going to end up in Japan's zombie bank situation, and if we get through this recession, it's going to be in spite of Congress. |
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| No wonder Tishman Speyer's Jerry Cohen and Rubenstein's Steve Solomon were all smiles at 8:30am—both have exciting travel plans. Jerry's heading to Barcelona to speak on an NYU panel discussing the influence of architecture on changing cities, especially the Tishman-designed Hearst Tower. Steve and his wife are celebrating big birthdays by heading west to Sedona and Las Vegas. |
