New York, NY (March 26, 2002) - Larry Feldman, president & CEO of Feldman Equities, recently joined a panel of opportunity fund and investment experts at the 14th Annual Commercial Property World Conference to discuss the state of opportunistic investment and the outlook for the future. The panel, moderated by Russell Appel, president of The Praedium Group, also featured Ezra Katz, chairman of the Aztec Group, Michael Lehrman, managing director of APC Realty Advisors and David Lichtenstein, principal and chairman of ASC/Lightstone.
"The distressed market of a decade ago that gave rise to many opportunity funds does not exist any longer," noted Mr. Feldman. "A recent disposition of ours drew 30 bidders and this is not an uncommon occurrence in today's market. In this climate investors need to look into assets that others may shy away from, possibly in secondary or tertiary markets, and which require less financial engineering to succeed."
The panel members all agreed that there are no shortage of opportunities, but that investors need to know that "attractive" investments will garner tough competition, driving bids higher and therefore excluding most investors as real contenders. The new "opportunities" are the less visible ones, perhaps the not-so-pretty ones, where there is great value and growth potential to be found with the right turnaround strategy.
"Smart investors need to take a sensible bricks-and-mortar approach to buying assets," said Mr. Feldman. "The major source of your overall yield has to be from cash flow as opposed to the projected exit price and investors need to avoid buying above replacement costs with high leverage and lots of creative financing."
Without question, the panelists agreed that the biggest mistake for investors to avoid was doing nothing. The real estate market continually offers opportunities to investors, and those who make sound decisions will consistently see returns, especially in the current state of the market.
Though it is not immune to the cycles of the economy, real estate is a sound, stable alternative to the Nasdaq and to Enron. As a result, there is strong renewed interest in this "old economy" business of real estate.
With REITs here to stay as major players and pension funds poised to allocate more dollars into real estate, this industry could get a major boost in the near future. For example, this year, REIT mutual funds have experienced a positive inflow of capital during every single weekly reporting period through April 2002, and most REIT stocks are hitting or exceeding all time highs.
Feldman Equities, Inc. is the modern business entity that encompasses a century of success in commercial real estate development, management and ownership throughout the United States. In the last 20 years, Feldman Equities has developed or acquired over 10 million square feet of office and retail properties with an aggregate value in excess of $2 billion. Feldman Equities is a standout, recognized for its trademark adept hands-on approach to turning around distressed assets, combined with deep bricks-and-mortar sensibility. Finding success, time and time again, while remaining on the cutting edge of investment and development trends, Feldman Equities is marshaled by its visionary president and CEO, Larry Feldman. Today, Feldman Equities owns a portfolio of office and retail properties and land for development in Arizona and Florida -- and is keenly poised for a period of strong asset growth in these markets and others.
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