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After observing a moment of silence in remembrance of the passing of industry veteran Wayne D’Amico, CCIM, Chair Alex Ruggieri, CCIM, CIPS, CRE, GRI, led the Commercial Leadership Forum in an intriguing look at the commercial real estate ecosystem.
Xceligent™ VP of Marketing Sam Lewis updated the forum on reaching major offerings milestones. The New York City market has gone live on the site and Chicago is currently mid-launch, expected to finalize in May ‘18. Close to 250 company subscribers, Lewis noted, now enjoy a free national alternative to other “expensive” listing platforms.
RPR® Director of Commercial Services Nathan Graham delivered a use case scenario revealing RPR® Commercial’s newest features, including the addition of tenant records in select markets.
The session’s biggest chuckle came at a disclaimer slide presented by K.C. Conway, CRE, CCIM’s Chief Economist. Conway, having compiled a storied career in and out of government, academia, and industry, humorously assured the forum his background was at least somewhat selective: “I have not met with or spoken to any Russian authorities in advance of this presentation.”
In characterizing how REALTORS® think of commercial tenants, Conway cited the “unicorn” company as one with a $1B valuation. He took it one step further and introduced new vocabulary for describing successful tech startups with the term “decacorn”, meaning a company with a $10B valuation.
Conway was unabashedly bullish on economic recovery. “We’re celebrating one hundred months of recovery. Isn’t that incredible?” Conway asked. “I think we can go for a hundred more months.” He did, however, sound a note of caution against the current Congressional tax plan to eliminate the FDIC premium write-off for sub-$50B banks.
