Tax reform is seen as the major, but not the only barrier to attracting new businesses to Center City. "The Philadelphia tax burden is the highest of all US cities," said Gerard Sweeney, president and CEO of Brandywine Realty Trust, in his keynote address. "For every $1 it costs to do business in the suburbs, it costs $1.29 in the city."

"Our region lacks comprehensive planning efforts," he said, calling "the fractionalization of the political environment" a cause for concern. In addition, "we are our own worst enemy, because we reject anything new or innovative. We're protectionist." Pointing to lack of development of the city's dual riverfronts as an example, he said "where there's progress, there's risk, and where there's risk, there's criticism."

Others pointed to Comcast Center, now a done deal. In telling how it got done, John Gattuso, SVP of Liberty Property Trust, the developer; and David Binswanger, president of Binswanger Cos., who represented Comcast, described the pressures, frustrations and sometimes humorous turns that occurred during their 18 months of negotiations. Alterations of the building itself played a large role in the discussions, which took so long there was no time to create a model, reflecting those changes, by deadline: Christmas Eve. Gattuso closed the deal by telling Comcast, if they didn't like the model, they could walk away.

Regarding the impact of taxes on real estate and job growth, Brett Mandel, executive director of Philadelphia Forward, said, "we tax too much, we tax the wrong stuff, and we tax unfairly." His group is among several that pressed to get the wage tax reduced and are now working to get the "job killing" business privilege tax reduced. Jonathan Saidel, the City Controller, agreed, saying, "tax reduction is a necessity for Philadelphia." The city needs to attract more young business professionals, "wage earners," he said, versus more empty nesters, who, though wealthy, are no longer earning wages.

The RealShare showstopper, was Brian O'Neill, chairman of O'Neill Properties Group and the subject of an "Inside the Real Estate Mind" interview with Michael Desiato, Real Estate Media editor-in-chief. The one deal he regrets not taking, he said, was a warehouse in New York City that his brother and then-partner Michael (founder and chairman of Preferred Real Estate Investments), liked and he hated. "It was the deal we went our separate ways over. I passed, and, if I had my choice, I'd take Mike as a partner today."

Other candid revelations included his "junkyard dog" philosophy of hiring "smart, capable and hungry" employees, and his practice of changing his mind. "Real estate is a series of rolling strategies," he said. "You can't be bigger than the world. You have to be willing to change when the world says you have to." This accounts, he said, for his switch from office and industrial to multifamily, and, now, his gradual return to office. "Office is coming back," he said, "and we're buying cheap." In making a deal, he said, "if you can get it into one paragraph, I'll talk. Pay X, get Y, make Z. The 52 pages behind that are usually to support what is really not a good deal."

"Jobs follow housing; housing doesn't follow jobs," he also said, asking, "if that weren't so, why aren't people living in Research Triangle Park in the Carolina woods?" If he had his choice of where to redevelop next, it would be North Philly, he said, adding, "I snoozed on that one."

RealShare Philadelphia is one of 21 RealShare day-long conferences hosted nationwide by Real Estate Media, publisher of Real Estate Forum, GlobeSt.com and dozens of other print and online publications.

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RealShare EXCLUSIVE: Strategies to Lure Businesses and Young Professionals Dominate Conversation

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