| Distressed investment is the new pot of gold for the industry, judging from 80 attendees who packed the Williams Club for the National Realty's Club bi-weekly luncheon. (An open bar of Jameson, Bushmill, and Guinness served with corned beef and cabbage didn't hurt either.) Eastern Consolidated's David Schechtman, who foresaw the trend three years ago, keynoted. |
| David thanked the NRC for the closed-off streets and parade to herald his arrival; he only got a chicken lunch from his last speaking engagement, he joked. There's no one to blame for the real estate market, he says, but cracks began to show in '05-'06, and it was apparent banks were going to become more involved. In the past 12 weeks, we've seen an uptick in activity; he has 72 income-producing loans on his desk and banks ready to discount them. |
| Eastern Consolidated co-founders Daun Paris and Peter Hauspurg with David, who also says there are many investors in NYC who can write checks, but we have to get back to reality with pricing. Banks don't want the REO office of the '80s, so they want to sell instead of owning and managing the properties. Although the fervor hasn't returned to the market yet, new deals are coming, he predicts. |
| Eastern's Brian Ezratty, NRC president Tom Graf of NorthMarq Capital, and Massey Knakal co-founder Paul Massey. Paul's firm is also starting work with the distress coming down the pike, which he refers to as the more positive-sounding "special assets." It's involved in note sales and early foreclosures, with work from local institutions and mezz lenders, he says. |
| Count in Zenith Capital Group's Stephen Gorray (right), who's exploring the distressed acquisition market for his business, calling it "challenging and interesting." With him: Block Buildings' Thomas Block and Eastern's Alan Miller. |
| Menaker & Herrmann's Yao Fu Bailey, Pergolis Swartz's Norm Schoenfeld, and Donovan Communications' Gail Donovan. Norm's been busy with pricing and refinancing of existing property, particularly in the apartment and office sectors. Although the market is slower than usual, he says it's a great time for new brokers to learn the ropes and become the top performers when the market trends up again. |
| Looks like Massey Knakal's Rob Shapiro (yes, another one!) and Empire Capital's Adam Marsh have a case of spring fever: Rob tells us he's getting ready to hit the greens, making sure to visit all of Westchester's golf courses, while Adam's looking forward to outdoor cigar-smoking season. |
| Eastern's Jerome Benayoun, David Johnson, Harrison Douglas,Anthony Finno, and Gregory Struck. Gregory spent last weekend participating in a bar crawl of the Financial District; he tells us he made only 5 out of the 13 stops, and particularly enjoyed Hook & Ladder II. |
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