Late 2011 Surge Will Carry into 2012

By Natalie Dolce

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(Mark Your Calendars: RealShare REAL ESTATE 2012, March 22^nd in Los Angeles).

LOS ANGELES-“It’s amazing the kind of pessimism that is out there, but the reality is that the US and California economies are gaining momentum,” said Christopher Thornberg, founding principal of Beacon Economics, who served as opening speaker at the IREM-LA Forecast breakfast program “Breaking Barriers.” Thornberg told the nearly 400 attendees that “by no stretch are we completely out of the woods, but the first step to full recovery is for the economy to start picking up speed, and that is what I see happening.”

According to Thornberg, public sentiment is a lagging indicator, and growth in the second half of the year was solid. He added that exports business investments are leading the way, and that “risks from Europe are there—but are overblown.” Thornberg added that “If you are going to predict a European meltdown, you are predicting that the European central bank will sit back and let it happen and that isn’t going to happen.”

Christopher Thornberg says pot
holes are in the roads ahead,
but there is more reason
to be positive in 2012.

There is no reason to think that the late 2011 surge can’t carry into 2012, he said. “And 2012 will be significantly better than 2011,” he predicted. “There are pot holes in the roads ahead, and there are some risks out there, but I am about as positive on the economy as I have been in a long time.”

IREM Keynote speaker Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, said that “in order for us to turn our economy around, the private sector is going to have to step up and take the lead.” He explains that “We need to take our entrepreneurs and get them excited again about the future.”

Leiweke used his company, AEW, as an example of that “private sector” stepping up, pointing to the company’s $1-billion NFL stadium that is planned downtown. He pointed out that the stadium and improvements that will be made to the convention center, puts L.A. “in the game” in terms of moving up as one of the top destination cities for conferences, events, Super bowls and more. That project, he says, will greatly improve the economy.

Tim Leiweke says the private
sector is going to have to
step up and take the lead
to turn the economy around.

“If we get into that business [the business of hosting those big events mentioned], you will see 10,000 hotel rooms built because the demand will be there,” he says. “That will spur our economy and put our economy back to work and we can do it in five years.”  

GlobeSt.com previously wrote an analysis on the stadium project and local sources agreed that it would be a huge help to the L.A. economy. Carol Schatz, president and CEO of the Central City Association of L.A. and Downtown Center Business Improvement District, previously said that if “it [the stadium project] moves forward, it will add thousands of jobs, millions in tax revenue, a sharp increase in tourism dollars, and will establish Downtown as the premier destination for sports and entertainment.”

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