News
Captain Optimism
October 31, 2012
| Our prediction for this year's #1 Halloween costume? The little-known superhero in our headline. Granted, our source was the 415 people who came to our Second Annual State of the Market event yesterday morning at the W Hotel. |
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| (Captain Optimism's uniform, for the record, has always been dark slacks and a crisp white shirt.) In this very positive market, what keeps a CRE pro up at night? Fear of zombies it ain't: Out of state college tuition, according to both Transwestern EVP/managing director Greg Laycock and Cushman & Wakefield senior director/managing broker Dave Magee during the panel discussion. "I sleep very well," Dave assured everyone, "but I drink." |
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| What else spooks Greg? Politics. (It can give even the steeliest of businessmen the heebie-jeebies.) Greg believes an adverse policy change could be a game-changer, though for the record, none of the brokers expects huge changes no matter who gets to plant his flag on the White House lawn. |
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| When it comes to multifamily, the skeleton's out of the closet: "We've been discovered," Greg says. With so much Class-A stuff being built downtown, he sees opportunity in the multifamily market in suburbs like Redmond, Bellevue, and the U-District. (The U-District totally counts as a suburb; people live there because they can't afford to live in South Lake Union.) In Greg's opinion, developers shouldn't short sell existing stock—condo conversions could be the next big thing, and should be looked at more closely. |
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| Marcus & Millichap VP of the Pacific Northwest Justin White isn't concerned about another crash; if anything, he fears he hasn't invested enough in the game. "How can I get more money in the market?" After a very long thaw, Justin is excited that the capital markets are starting to warm up: "We're seeing the capital appetite get—I don't want to say aggressive—but certainly more open-minded," he says. Dave adds: That's not to say it's easy, but with good underwriting, lenders are willing to make deals. |
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| Moderator Jim Charpentier of BNBuilders confessed that from a construction standpoint, he's a bit afraid of the unknown. "I hope there isn't another shoe to drop somewhere." Look for more event coverage tomorrow, featuring our development panel. |
