NEW YORK CITY—In the past two months, JosephSitt said Thursday, “The dealer has reshuffled the deckand dealt a new hand of cards.” The Thor EquitiesCEO, one of five industry leaders fielded byEisnerAmper and Bloomberg at abreakfast forum titled “Commercial Real Estate Outlook: 2015 andBeyond,” charted the fundamental ways in which the world “has beenflipped upside down” by recent events. Chief among them were thesteep drop in oil prices, the strengthening of the US dollar andthe primacy of technology in driving demand.

All of these changes have been a “perfect fit” for the US andCRE in this country, said Sitt. It's a changed view, he pointedout, from the more uncertain appraisal he had a few years back ofthe US economy's long-term prospects.

What's driving that economy? asked ScottRechler, CEO of RXR Realty. In word,“talent.” Employers, and therefore office landlords, needworkplaces that attract that talent, but that imperative goesbeyond the office space and into the surrounding neighborhood. Ithas changed the dynamic not only of office, Rechler said, “but alsohow everyone looks at real estate in totality.”