PHILADELPHIA, PA—Philadelphia is poised to become a “crown jewel” in the investment portfolios of real estate developers over the next decade, says veteran commercial real estate banker Christophe P. Terlizzi, one of the panelists featured at ALM's RealShare Philadelphia Conference February 10 at the historic Union League Club.

In comments provided exclusively to GlobeSt.com in advance of his appearance at the conference, Terlizzi says “As a real estate banker I have had the privilege to work with many fine Philadelphia developers who have exhibited extraordinary vision in pursuing trend setting projects.  This spirit is very much alive and well today and I predict that we are about to witness yet another five to ten years of unprecedented development quality, much of it funded by investors who have discovered the potential Philadelphia holds and whose investments will be among the crown jewels of their portfolios.”

Job creation and a more favorable business climate in Center City Philadelphia are challenges facing the City of Brotherly Love, says Terlizzi. “We need to do for businesses what we have done for residents to encourage more to stay in Center City or move back in,” he tells GlobeSt.com.  “The ten-year real estate tax abatement enabled developers to reverse blight and adaptively reuse older obsolete buildings creating many cool places for people to live.  We need to find a way to do the same for job creation and retention and we'll really witness an unprecedented transformation of Philadelphia's economy.”

Terlizzi, senior vice president and regional manager, First Niagara Bank, will join Douglas Rodio, executive vice president, Capital Markets, Jones Lang LaSalle, and Brian Sykes, senior vice president, Originations, Capital One Multifamily Finance on a panel entitled, “Capital Markets Update,” scheduled to start at 9:10 a.m. The conference kicks off Tuesday, February 10 at 7:30 am at the Union League Club, 140 South Broad Street, Philadelphia.

“I've been a resident of the Philadelphia metro area for 40+ years and have watched the region transform from a center city focus to a regional focus and back,” says Terlizzi.  “Center City Philadelphia is what many cities want to be when they grow up.  People really want to live in Center City and be part of its exciting energy.  One needs only to look at the outbound commuters in the morning rush hour to see the heavy volume of people who choose to live in the city and reverse commute to their jobs.”

More information on the RealShare Philadelphia Conference is available here.