The 25th Annual Triangle Commercial Real Estate Conference

NAI Carolantic opened its 25th Annual Triangle Commercial Real Estate Conference with a flashback video of their first conference held in January 1985. Over 1,800 business and community leaders gathered at Raleigh's RBC Center on January 13th for the annual conference, considered the authoritative ‘state of the market’ report on the Triangle’s real estate sector.

Jimmy Barnes, SIOR, President jbarnes@naicarolantic.com

Jimmy Barnes, President of NAI Carolantic reviewed the past year’s commercial real estate landscape and offered Carolantic’s forecast for 2010. “As the tailspin ends for the residential markets, our commercial real estate market continues to suffer with loan write-offs, decreasing values and reductions in cash flow. The weak economy and slowly recovering job market will see the commercial markets suffer on into 2010,” said Barnes. “But as we know, there’s not a better place to be than the Triangle area. Our adaptability has been a proven reason we always rebound before other areas.”

Barnes then, introduced invited guest speaker Dr. Peter Linneman. NAI Global Economist and the Albert Sussman Professor of Real Estate, Finance, and Public Policy at the Wharton School of Business, the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Linneman is widely recognized as one of the leading strategic thinkers in the real estate industry. Outlining his view of the national economy, Linneman stated, “There is no doubt that capital markets are rebounding, as witnessed by the nearly 65% bounce in the stock market, and the greatly narrowed spreads on LIBOR, high-grade corporate debt, and, more recently, junk bonds. The process of price discovery always occurs first in the public markets, where assets are freely and frequently exchanged between third parties, with private markets lagging 12-18 months. As a result, we expect private asset pricing, including that of commercial real estate, to begin rebounding in the second and third quarters of 2010.”

Steve Stroud, SIOR, Chairman sstroud@naicarolantic.com

Steve Stroud, Chairman of NAI Carolantic closed the conference by saying, “Real estate is a non-renewable, finite resource. There is only so much, and no more. While it is possible to get ahead of ourselves, overbuild and overextend, in fact, demand will rapidly catch up with supply. While real estate is finite, human aspirations are endlessly renewable. Human energy is boundless. Human dreams of a better life never stop coming. That is why real estate will always be the best long-term investment you can make, and in the longer-term will always be recession-proof. Because what you are actually investing in is the boundless energy of the entrepreneur. You are investing in what is never in shambles and always on the rise -- and that’s the best of us.”

We were pleased to have these returning conference sponsors: Bobbitt Design Build, Edge Office, JDavis Architects, Manning Fulton & Skinner, The Title Company of NC, Wachovia, a Wells Fargo Company and Withers & Ravenel. Joining us for the first time as a sponsor was TriSure. We appreciate our sponsors and thank them for their support and partnership.

Click here to view a video of our sponsors.