Wayne Gretzky, Hockey, and CRE Trends

One time when the hockey great Wayne Gretzky was asked about his supreme skill on the ice he replied “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” It seems many policy makers, participants, and financiers in our American economy should take that to heart. So much of what we are doing in business and the economy lately is based on “historical models” which is utterly failing us. Unless you’ve been on sabbatical in a sandy hostile desert like I was for the last year you know that we are in a new age. All of us in the business world will join this new world one way or another, some of us under extreme protest, and some of us will skate to where the puck is going to be.
Rumblings at breakfast. So I was at breakfast with a variety of CRE types from attorneys and brokers to investors and the question came up about future puck locations. Some interesting comments followed:
Sovereign Wealth Funds make another appearance in my life. Apparently the momentum is indeed picking up to find and service foreign buyers of American commercial property. Affordable housing was another hot topic. Medical facilities, expansion, and clinics were widely agreed upon to be growing steadily and in a pre-boom phase. One investor at this breakfast was negotiating with strip malls, large mall complexes, and even owners of vacant office properties in suburban locations to place many of his MRI, diagnostics, and “self-health and healing” facilities into a large number of locations and indicated that this was a market that was nascent and ready to grow at leaps and bounds. I was convinced. Some brokers mentioned the new resurgence in “re-industrializing” America and the implications of that within the industrial CRE space. Supporting data from Real Capital Analytics and other predictive indices seem to support this not to mention policy that is being formed as we speak on The Hill in our nation’s capital. What else was hot? Every meeting I’ve had lately has discussed Distressed and Troubled Asset disposition so as the ownership and wealth shifts in these properties much opportunities abound in making this necessary transition happen. Finally the Tech sector drew much attention and conversation. I took copious notes and will share the insights with you all in near future blog posts. NEXT POST: Saved by the Geeks…Again?