When watching how the real estate market will shape up in the greater Bay Area this year, the advice is to exercise caution while staying open to opportunities. “Be cautious, but not paralyzed,” Loan Oak Fund director of loan acquisition Alexa Mizrahi said. Her advice captured the sentiment of the debt and equity panel at Bisnow’s Capital Markets event held last week at Parc 55 Hotel.
That's Alexa, above right, with panel moderator, Arent Fox partner Rich Brand, and Bradley Ross of Calmwater Capital.
The speakers addressed a crowd of approximately 150 real estate professionals. The panel largely reflected the cautions of the acquisition and development panelists, telling the audience to prepare themselves for headwinds while not shutting their eyes to potential opportunities. Veritas Investments CFO Brian Peay also spoke on the panel.
StoneStep Global principal John Waters started the conversation with a short recap. Calling it a good eight-year run, he said it was possible there was still some more room to run in certain select markets. He cautioned, however, that VCs pulling back in the Bay Area could adversely affect the industry. Waters also pointed to outside economic crises in China, Brazil or Russia as another potential headwind.
Fintech was represented at the event by Bryan Schultz of RealtyShares, a platform that lets accredited investors finance projects through an online marketplace. He said he was bullish on the Bay Area, citing strong growth and demand for the curated funding platform. Here's Bryan, left, with Don Moses of Arena.
Alexa said she was still confident in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. She made a distinction between the coastal and inland regions, remarking how projects in areas such as Sacramento were often subject to too much uncertainty and risk. Traffic patterns also contribute to this dynamic as proximity to BART stations is driving growth across the region. The best prospects, Alexa said, are in vacancy and re-entitlement plays. Renovation and re-tenanting are conservative ways to survive any potential downturn.
