Real Estate Forum - April 2011

PARTICIPANTS

Clockwise from top left

Nicholas R. Smith, EVP and Chief Investment
Officer, First Potomac Realty Trust
Todd Bassen, Senior Director,
Acquisitions, Invesco Real Estate
David Popp (moderator), Senior Vice President,
Transwestern
Charles Lindwall, Regional President,
Eastern US, KBS Realty Advisors
George Duke, Managing Director,
LaSalle Investment Management
Jeffrey Kovach, Managing Director,
Beacon Capital Partners
Marc DeLuca, Director, ING Clarion
David Hamm, Vice President,
Transactions, RREEF
Jim Hedges, Senior Vice President, Acquisitions
& Dispositions, Brookfield Properties
Scott Dalrymple, Vice President,
Prudential Real Estate Investors

Be it fundamentals or investor interest, the Washington, DC commercial real es- tate market is at the top of the national list of best performers. Barely touched by the recession, the region’s property markets are considerably healthy, thanks predominantly to its main tenants—the federal government and supporting industries— and a growing population base. These factors, among others, have driven investors of all stripes to target DC as a preferred market in which to place their capital.

Recently, a consortium of executives from some of the market’s leading investment firms got together at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center for a discussion on the current trends in, and expectations for, Metro Washington, DC’s property industry. An edited version of that roundtable, held immediately prior to Transwestern’s annual Trendlines event, appears below.

NOT PICTURED Sule Aygoren Carranza (moderator), Editor-in-Chief, Real Estate Forum

SULE AYGOREN CARRANZA: What
impact do you see for commercial real
estate as a result of the 2010 elections?
NICHOLAS R. SMITH: Hopefully noth-
ing. The idea is that the federal govern-
ment is going to shrink in size and we’re
going to have vacancy on the market. It’s
hard to believe that’s going to happen.
Government doesn’t shift its focus very
quickly; it happens over a long period of
time. If anything were to happen, I think
the market will react accordingly with
enough advance notice.
MARC DeLUCA: I’ve read that, thus far,
18 administrations have promised
decreases in federal government and with
every one of them, there was an increase.
As the population grows, so does the gov-
ernment; you have to service it. I don’t
really see the compression being as exten-