The Counselors of Real Estate of the National Association of Realtors held their midyear meetings from April 29 to May 1, 2018 at the London House in downtown Chicago. Speakers included David Reifman, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Planning and Development; Lawrence Yun, Senior Economist and SVP, National Association of Realtors; Geoffrey Kasselman, Executive Managing Director, Newmark Knight Frank and Founder/CEO, Op2mize Energy; KC Conway, CRE, Director of Research, Alabama Center of Real Estate; James Postweiler, Managing Director, JLL; Mary Ludgin, PhD, Managing Director, Heitman and many others.
A collection of 25 key takeaways and thought provoking comments include:
1. Many exciting new projects on the horizon for the City of Chicago! Presented by David Reifman
2. Transit-oriented development has been a major priority of Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
3. In February, Chicago announced an 8.5 billion expansion to O’Hare – without taxpayer dollars as an example of the multitude of new projects
4. “We won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century – it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate).” per Ray Kurzweil noted by Kasselman.
5. Blockchain will be bigger than the internet per Geoffrey Kasselman
6. Blockchain is an opportunity to take control of your data and eliminate the middleman per Kasselman
7. Blockchain will allow you to reorganize internet and control data.
8. Blockchain – high growth from 2018-2024 – reaches maturity in less than 7 years.
9. Adaptive reuse is a major opportunity.
10. Real estate counselors should be advising clients on air rights.
11. Cyber crime is the greatest threat to every company in the world. Be vigilant.
12. In 2016, millennials are now the largest components of the workforce.
13. Millennials are hitting milestones about 5 years later than other generations.
14. Millennials are now moving to the suburbs and having children.
15. Young families with school-age children prefer suburbs because of school systems
16. 7 years ago, Fulton Market was a meatpacking district. An “L” stop was added, catalyzing the whole neighborhood
17. Google entering the market was a second catalyst to the neighborhood.
18. “We were 7 people 7 years ago and over 200 employees now” @sterlingbay at Fulton Market
19. As in prior years, the Counselors of Real Estate will release its annual Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate in June after a detailed analysis by the Counselors at this meeting with live voting. Disruptions in the world lead to disruptions in real estate.
20. The new tax act will have an impact on commercial real estate decisions – bonus depreciation, qualified improvement property, Section 179 expensing, etc
21. Transportation systems must be nimble and quick while taking into consideration costs, traffic and timing.
22. Distribution and logistics have gone through tremendous transformation over the past 30 years. To succeed, a service provider must improve supply chain infrastructure, locally and global.
23. The data age is disrupting daily life and is having profound effects on reshaping our cities.
24. The 2 hour Chicago architectural boat tour by Mary Ludgin, PhD showed Chicago’s history and architectural marvels.
25. Disruptive forces are truly impacting commercial real estate!
For further information:
Robert J. Pliska, CRE, CPA, MBA
SVN Property Investment Associates, LLC
400 W. Maple Road, Suite 150
Birmingham, MI 48009
Email: robert.pliska@svn.com
Phone: 248-433-1400