NAIOP Forms Foreign Investment Recruiting Team

So says George D. Livingston, president, Central Florida chapter, National Association of Office and Industrial Properties. NAIOP has formed its first foreign investment recruiting team, headed by brokers Dan Woodward of Trammell Crow Co. and Paul Johnson of Wigginton Corp.

Livingston hopes the foreign team concept will spread to other national markets. Local brokerage houses have no recent data on foreign investment numbers in Central Florida but that isn't deterring Livingston and the newly formed NAIOP International Committee.

"Foreign investment in commercial real estate opportunities in Central Florida is a significant regional resource," Livingston says. "Just how significant is hard to measure, but three things are abundantly clear: the potential to recruit new foreign investment here is enormous; the benefits of such recruitment are substantial; and the process has been largely ignored."

It's that last point that bothers Livingston. "We are encouraging each of our members to take on a single task--the recruitment of one foreign investor member or liaison with one foreign consulate, banking authority or government," the founder/president of NAI Realvest Partners Inc. tells GlobeSt.com.

"It is not unrealistic to expect that we could sharply increase the volume of commercial development and foreign industry in Central Florida on the strength of foreign investment alone," says Livingston, a former Pentagon liaison with Iran, Israel and Africa in the 1970s.

In their new responsibilities, Woodward and Johnson will coordinate efforts of 20 committee members to identify foreign investors, developers and owners with interests in Central Florida and encourage them to participate in NAIOP activities. The International Committee will also work to strengthen liaisons with foreign consulates and chambers of commerce already represented here.

Woodward and Johnson will also serve as liaisons with economic development councils throughout the region and the World Trade Center which search for foreign investors on a daily basis.

The International Committee specifically will help inbound manufacturers, distributors and service companies with their real estate needs. "The streamlined committee structure should produce measurable results soon and sustained results throughout the year, and for years to come," Livingston says.

He comes from a family that has owned real estate in Central Florida for 80 years. Livingston retired from the Army with the rank of Lt. Col after serving as a Ranger, a member of the elite Special Forces and a master parachutist. He is acutely familiar with the foreign real estate markets through his membership in FABCI, the international corporate real estate organization based in Paris.

"A concerted effort by local communities throughout the United States to encourage foreign investment here could have significant positive impact on world trade and the international economy; on our government's international policies; and on international peace efforts, as well."