Crescent Real Estate chairman John Goff and his longtime friend and business colleague, Silverstone chairman and CEO Denny Alberts, kicked off Bisnow’s Dallas State of the Market last Thursday with a quick question and answer panel. Here are the highlights.

On Federal Regulations

Based on a lack of performance last year under the Obama administration, Goff is bullish on the U.S. Catalyzed by what Goff calls regulatory terrorism, the U.S. is about $3 trillion behind normal gross domestic product. “Awful tax policies, low interest rates and regulations like Dodd-Frank affect business as small as my family office in Fort Worth,” Goff said. 

On Energy

Goff loves to talk about the Permian Basin, partly because he thinks it is not talked about enough. Goff claimed the Permian Basin is more valuable than the developed island of Manhattan and it will impact everyone in North Texas over the next decade. When everyone thought Denver-based Resolute Energy would go bankrupt and hedge funds were shorting it, Goff got interested. “I took a big position of debt and equity, about 9.9% of the company — not to exceed 10% with all those regulations again.” 

On Canyon Ranch

“I love the Canyon Ranch brand,” Goff said. “I moved its headquarters to my office in Fort Worth because I’m so excited about the brand. I think it can be bigger than Crescent ever was.” Canyon Ranch is a health spa with locations in Arizona, Massachusetts, Nevada and Turkey. Pictured is McKinney & Olive's fitness center designed in partnership with Canyon Ranch.

On Trump

The media has it all wrong when it comes to President Donald Trump, Goff said. “They fall for a strategy he uses to close deals, a strategy where you set the goal posts way outside where you think you can end up.” Goff said that though Trump loves to talk extremes, Goff thinks he is moderate and the smart people he has in his administration are unlike any others Goff has witnessed.