Last week, hundreds of NAIOP members from the U.S. and Canada attended NAIOP’s Chapter Leadership and Legislative Retreat (CL&LR) in Washington, D.C., with the conference culminating in countless meetings with their elected representatives to advocate on behalf of the commercial real estate industry.
In an information-packed keynote at CL&LR, Rebecca Rockey, deputy chief economist and global head of forecasting at Cushman & Wakefield, highlighted several economic trends that will inform credit liquidity and the capital markets in 2024-2025.
The 2024 presidential election is reminiscent of a classic joke about two guys who are hiking in the woods and come across a grizzly bear, said political commentator and journalist Chris Cillizza during NAIOP’s Chapter Leadership & Legislative Retreat last week. One hiker takes off his hiking shoes, opens his backpack and puts on his running shoes. The other says, “What are you doing? You can’t outrun a bear!” The second hiker replies, “I don’t need to outrun the bear. I only need to outrun you.”
During NAIOP’s Chapter Leadership and Legislative Retreat this week in Washington, D.C., chapter leaders and staff attended a session that recognized the leading role of state governments in establishing a national network of public EV charging stations following the passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.
Commercial real estate developers and owners recognize the important role they must play in combating the effects of climate change. NAIOP New Jersey is resolving to be part of the solution by improving energy policies so they’re workable, achieve tangible improvements in energy efficiency, and lower the use of carbon-based power sources in the commercial real estate sector.
As we start a new year, the office outlook is still mixed. Although more companies are requiring employees to be in the office some days per week, we are far from the high occupancy that many central business districts enjoyed before 2020. Companies are still figuring out their workplace strategies – how often to bring in employees and how to better use their space for the reality of work today.
As the office sector undergoes transformations in response to evolving work trends and the flight-to quality movement, businesses continue to seek the best office spaces that can suit both their needs and their budgets. For most, the perfect choice may lie in a compromise between location clout and asset quality.
In any year with divided government, it is a challenge to achieve agreements on appropriations and tax policy, but this Congress is also faced with challenges of reaching agreements on border security, along with assistance to Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. Margins in both the House and the Senate are narrow and the presidential election year shortens the legislative timeline before congressional re-election campaigns start in earnest.
The potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to transform businesses, industries and society has been mounting for decades, but recent advancements have moved the science from niche to mainstream. The technology’s proficiency in writing, drawing, coding and composing has driven corporate leaders to consider both the opportunities and threats that AI presents for their future. For commercial real estate, it’s clear that strategically embracing AI could transform the sector.
The political battle over the presidency and the control of both chambers on Capitol Hill is expected to garner most of the attention of the national media this year. While the outcome of these campaigns will have significant implications on policy debates at the national level, they should not overshadow or minimize the important political races for control of state legislatures and gubernatorial offices across the country. The outcome of these more-grassroots races in comparison to control of state capitols may be more reflective of the policies of importance to the American people.
