PROJECTING
THE STATE OF COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE IN 2025
by Joseph F. Kessler, Esq., Partner, Dilworth Paxson, LLP Projections are made daily in the commercial real estate industry and the everyday world. Projections, not to be confused with predictions, are statements that something will happen in the future if certain conditions develop. Whereas, a prediction generally assumes that future changes in related conditions will not have a significant influence on the statement from becoming reality. The industry of commercial real estate involves predictions, projections and forecasts for which hundreds of billions of dollars of capital are involved. Certain seeds that will grow into the world of commercial real estate in 2025 have already been planted; others have not yet been developed. The question remains, what will germinate? 38 CONSTRUCTION TODAY
On June 25, 1963, President John F. Kennedy addressed German leaders in the Assembly Hall at the Paulskirche in Frankfurt. With World War II in the rearview mirror and the Cuban Missile Crisis still fresh in mind, Kennedy used this opportunity to applaud the new German Constitution and for the United States and the European community to work together as “partners in peace.” Kennedy stated, “for time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” Those companies who view the commercial real estate world through that lens most likely will be the ones whose business succeeds.
Think Globally Emerging markets are not only a local or regional demographic. Technology has shrunk the globe and expansion and growth will be based upon resources and a growing population that will serve institutional-grade real estate wherever located. Economies of scale through consolidation will continue to grow the size of today’s national players into global mega-managers. Think capital. Caution as a global network will not succeed without the strength of the knowledge of the local real estate environment. Joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions will position and maintain these players on the world-stage. Risk and return will be measured on different scales than the past decade.