THE CAPITAL ISSUE

(Clockwise, from top left) Randy Giraldo, TH Real Estate; George Carleton, Island Capital; Paul Boneham, Bentall Kennedy; Bill Moreno, UBS; Steve Pumper, Transwestern; Michael Desiato, ALM Real Estate Media; Brian Watkins, Clarion; and Tim McGuire, Brookfield, the Real Estate Forum/Transwestern’s 13th Annual Capital Markets Symposium, held at The Core Club in New York City, on December 6, 2017.

By any yardstick, commercial real estate remains among the most attractive investment vehicles available, especially in the US. Fundamentals- both economic and property-level – remain strong, interest rates remain historically low and ROI compares favorably with many of the alternatives. Yet data from Real Capital Analytics and other sources point to year-over-year declines in transaction volume across many asset classes for 2017. And judging by the comments of those gathered for the 13th Annual Capital Markets Symposium, hosted by Real Estate Forum and Transwestern, the experiences of institutional investment heavyweights bear the numbers out.

With record quantities of dry powder available and a need to deploy the capital they’ve raised, the sector’s key players frequently vie with an increasingly crowded field of buyers who are chasing a handful of top-dollar opportunities—and, not infrequently, bidding up assets that don’t necessarily warrant upper-tier pricing. For institutions, that has meant cultivating new opportunities, whether it’s shifting their investment strategies—to emphasize industrial or value-add, for example—or taking advantage of dislocation in the debt space. Held in New York City last December, the roundtable also presented its participants’ views on what they see ahead.

Don’t miss our other exciting features in the January/February issue.

Tech Talk Shaking Up the Status Quo Technology has brought speed, efficiency and transparency to CRE capital transactions in a way that’s made the industry sit up and take notice