the two are working together again, and Mosler’s newest title,
chairman of global brokerage, puts him front-and-center as
senior-level advisor on complex transactions both stateside
and internationally. Mosler remains a constant optimist and
believer in the future of real estate, but that’s not to say there
are no concerns, as he indicated in a recent chat: “We saw a
severe market bifurcation and there are only a limited few cities that have truly recovered: New York City, San Francisco and
Boston. Washington, DC has always held up, while L.A. and
Chicago have begun their recovery. But secondary and tertiary
markets haven’t recovered, nor is capital flowing into those cities the way we typically see in recovery years.” Jobs, too, the
driver of leasing and, indirectly, value, continue to be problematic. Still, he says, “I have a great deal of confidence in real
estate because market volatility makes it a safe haven for investment and long-term growth. We’ll continue to see substantial
capital investment.”
Hessam Nadji, Marcus & Millichap >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Among the most frequently quoted authorities on the state of
the market and macroeconomic trends is Hessam Nadji, managing director, research and advisory services, for Marcus &
Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. Nadji has been the
go-to guy for research since 1996, when he joined the Encino,
First came the Internet, which gave commercial real estate profes- sionals immediate access to information. Then came mobile email
and web browsers on Blackberrys, which put that information at
businesspeople’s fingertips. Now, the techno-gadgets of choice are
Smart Devices such as smartphones (namely, iPhone and Androids)
and tablets, which have brought so many more capabilities to industry
professionals on-the-go.
“The nature of this business is persistent and consistent contact
with clients,” relates John Boyer, senior marketing manager of
Coldwell Banker Commercial in Parsippany, NJ. “The Smartphone has
allowed the convenience of being more accessible and the ability to
retrieve and send emails while on the go. These days, it’s rare to see
a commercial real estate professional without a Smartphone. If you do
see one, would you conduct business with him?”
This is ground-changing for commercial real estate, which has
been notoriously slow in adopting new technologies. Many real estate
companies have embraced the new wave, making their marketing and
operations Smartphone-friendly with quick response codes to sell and
lease property or otherwise promote their business. (Even FORUM has a
QR code.) Cassidy Turley, for instance, allows users of smart devices to
download property information, broker contact information and other
data through QR codes on some of its buildings.
There are a variety of apps that use GPS to assist investment and
leasing brokers, owners, buyers and tenants alike. LoopNet, Colliers
International and CoStar are just a few of the entities that have released property-search apps that allow users to locate and get details
on a property, including physical specs and comps. Blueprints and
floor plans can also be visualized on tablets.
Technology is evolving every day, and there’s still a lot more
progress to be made on this front, at least in terms of its use in commercial real estate. Though there’s no replacement for face-to-face
contact, one can only expect smart devices to make the commercial
real estate business more efficient.
SMART DEVICES MAKE BUSINESS SMART
CA-based company after serving as
national director of research and
information services for Grubb &
Ellis Co. In his role with M&M, he
oversees its research and advisory
services, with the ultimate goal of
supporting valuation, underwriting
and development of specific investment strategies for the firm’s brokerage clients. Nadji is regularly quoted
in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today,
Investor’s Business Daily, Barron’s,
Financial Times, The Economist and
Bloomberg Businessweek. He is a frequent guest on CNBC, Fox Business News, Bloomberg News
and National Public Radio, as well as a regular blogger for
GlobeSt.com.
Tony Natsis, Allen Matkins >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Blackstone Group, Kilroy Realty, Boston Properties,
JPMorgan Asset Management, the State of California, TIAA-CREF and AT&T all are on the client list of Tony Natsis. The
Century City, CA-based Natsis is the chairman of the 125-attor-
ney real estate department at Allen Matkins Leck Gamble
Mallory and Natsis LLP and is considered among the nation’s
top real estate attorneys. He specializes in development, leasing, purchase, sale and portfolio-investment sales transactions.
Natsis figured in the quintessential mega-deal of the previous
market peak, representing Blackstone in its $39-billion purchase of Equity Office Properties Trust in 2006. He’s also the
chief consultant of the California Continuing Education of the
Bar Commercial Leasing Series, the legal education reference
book on leasing for California attorneys, and within Allen
Matkins he’s editor of the firm’s View From the Top Real Estate
Market Update.
Len O’Donnell, USAA Real Estate Co. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Len O’Donnell joined USAA Real Estate Co. as president and
CEO in February of this year. Previously serving in the same
capacity at Houston-based
Crimson Capital Ltd.,
O’Donnell was familiar with
USAA, having served as a co-investor with the company over
the past two decades. Earlier
this month, O’Donnell told
GlobeSt.com that USAA sees
both advantages and challenges. The advantages, he said,
stem from the lack of troubled
assets in USAA’s portfolio and a
balance sheet that’s “in great
shape.” But, he added, “Like
many of our competitors we are
faced with the challenges of
growing our portfolio in the
face of an uncertain political climate and an economy that has
been very slow to recover. While we have significant capacity for
growth, as demonstrated by the nearly $2 billion of investment
we have completed in 2011, it is important to maintain discipline.” USAA’s real estate arm is focused on determining growth
opportunities as well as identifying sectors that will perform well
when the recovery takes hold, O’Donnell said.
