LONG BEACH, CA-Real estate will return to its glory days, it's just a question of when. So said economist Ben Stein to nearly 3,000 building owners and managers at the Building Owners and Managers Association 2010 International Conference & the Every Building Trade Show. The lawyer, columnist, author, professor and humorist served as keynote session speaker Monday morning at the three-day event at the Long Beach Convention Center.
"The time will come when real estate is a glorious subject again rather than a dismal subject," Stein assured the audience. "It always comes back.”
Stein pointed out that building owners and managers fight struggles with banks, fight with difficulties such as trying to get a tenant, then trying to collect rent from that tenant, then trying to resolve complaints, lawsuits and other difficulties on a day-to-day basis. “You have every conceivable roadblock in your path. You face an uphill battle every day. But things will get better.”
Stein encouraged the BOMA attendees to take heart in how they have lasted despite the difficulty of the job. "You have lasted. You have persevered. And the fact that you have persevered, is in and of itself, a miracle,” he said.
When people go to Egypt, they want to see the pyramids. When people go to Rome, they want to see the Coliseum, Stein said. “It is the real estate, the shopping malls, and the buildings that carry over our culture from each decade to the next. It is these buildings that people will look back on and learn about 21st Century commerce and behavior.”
The challenge of being a building owner and manager is harder today than ever, Stein pointed out. In 1933 for example, “If you wanted to buy a building, no one cared about environmental leadership, or LEED ratings, or the right greenness,” he said. “Now, God forbid if there are any Indian artifacts near your site"
Stein pointed out that there is no such thing as a recession that goes along forever and ever. “All recessions end,” he said, “It is already happening even if it is not as fast as we would like.”
The bedrock of getting through the recession? The “watch words” according to Stein, are patience, frugality and trust. “Your career is not defined by one year or two years. There will be a few 2005s in everyone’s career. Money will still be snowing out of the sky once again someday, but it takes patience to get there.”
He continued: “You have to trust also that there are certain basics in life. Everyone needs space. You can sell or lease anything. Everything has a price,” he said. “Meet the market in price and everything will start flowing."
Stein added that the job of a building owner and managers is to be responsible to themselves. "You cannot count on the government or rating agencies or investment banks to bail you out,” he said, “you have to count on yourselves.”
Stein took a step back and looked back at his childhood, growing up in Silver Spring, MD to put “where we are now” into perspective. Back then, he said, “the world was segregated, Hitler was still in power in Germany, a woman being the head of a giant corporation was unheard of, and terrible, horrific events were happening.” Now, things have changed dramatically he said. “Where we are now is serious progress.”
He pointed out that “yes, this is a serious recession, but things have been worse.” But he said that if you look back, and think about the poverty that we used to have in the US, the conditions have changed dramatically for the better. “If you look at some of these old houses with the tiny closets, it is because people didn’t have rooms and rooms of clothing.” He also pointed out that there is a greatly more civilized discourse in Congress and that medicine has registered unbelievable progress.
In addition to Stein’s keynote, five educational tracks at the event offered more than 40 sessions over the three-day event and were presented by top industry experts. Tracks include: Achieving High Asset Value in a Down Market; Assessing Operational Efficiencies and Savings; Tackling Today’s Leadership Challenges; Equipping Building Engineers for Greater Operational Efficiency; and Going for Gold: Leadership and Lessons from California.
In a session, titled: “Do Green Buildings Perform,” panelists pointed out that the mere presence of a LEED certification, particularly LEED for new construction, does not necessarily ensure performance. “It isn’t enough,” said Brenna Walraven, managing director of national property management at USAA Real Estate Co., who is based in Irvine, CA. “It does not guarantee performance.”
Walraven said that LEED certification is about how the building is built, not how it operates, but that being a green building is really about how it operates. She added that the key to making any green building perform is first to focus on energy. “Don’t just think about a plaque on the wall. Think about how the building can become more efficient,” she said.
Craig Sheehy, president and CEO of Envision Realty Services LLC, who is based in Folsom, CA, explained that 10 years ago, he didn’t have a clue what a green building was, but now he is in the holy grail of property management. “It is amazing how far we have come. Everyone is focused on the green building movement. And you can build the greenest building in the world, but if we don’t have it operating green, what is the point?”
