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CREFC Welcomes Commercial Real Estate Finance Industry to its Annual Miami Conference on January 12-15, 2025

December 10, 2024

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard and U.S. Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster join as special guests. Industry veterans Barry Sternlicht and Jeffrey DiModica share their views on the 2025 outlook for commercial real estate finance and markets.

NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2024 – The CRE Finance Council (CREFC), the trade association that exclusively represents the nearly $6 trillion commercial and multifamily real estate finance industry, will host its annual Miami Conference on January 12-15, 2025. CREFC's largest event of the year will bring together over 2,200 finance professionals to discuss the latest opportunities and challenges that are top of mind for the industry.

The Miami 2025 Conference serves as a benchmark for the industry, setting the tone for the year ahead. Unique panels staffed by seasoned industry professionals across the spectrum will examine lending for alternative CRE asset classes and explore the promise of AI and other innovations in CRE. The conference will also take a keen focus on how the industry is managing amidst escalating insurance costs, still elevated rates, and the role of strategic debt in CRE finance. A series of CREFC’s Industry Forum meetings will address issues impacting key segments of the market.

Former U.S. National Security Advisor, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster kicks off CREFC Miami’s opening session with his views on current global events and geopolitical risks. A three-star general recognized for his leadership in Afghanistan and Iraq, McMaster will give an informative, in-depth, and refreshingly candid analysis of key geopolitical, technological, and security issues.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard will join Miami 2025 for a luncheon conversation. From the critically acclaimed Oscar-winning dramas A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13 to the hit comedies Parenthood and Splash, Howard has created some of Hollywood’s most memorable films and series.

CREFC's Miami conference draws thousands of industry professionals each year and is viewed as the gold standard of CRE-related conferences. This year, key sessions include:

• The Starwood Conversation: What Lies Ahead in Commercial Real Estate Featuring Starwood Capital Group Chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht and Starwood Property Trust President and Managing Director Jeffrey DiModica
• Reimagining Cities: Innovation at the Intersection of Technology, Mobility and Urban Development
• The State of Housing: Innovations, Alternatives, and Traditional Approaches
• Bid/Ask: Perspectives from the Trading Floor
• Bricks and Bots: AI and Innovation in CRE
• Industry Leaders Roundtable
• Potpourri: Lending on Alternative CRE Asset Classes
• Building on Leverage: Strategic Debt in CRE Financing
• CRE Financing Risk Amidst Skyrocketing Insurance Costs
• The Sunshine State: Opportunities and Challenges in a Booming Market

"We are excited to bring together leading commercial real estate finance industry market participants such as Starwood’s Barry Sternlicht and Jeffrey DiModica at our annual January Conference in Miami," said Lisa Pendergast, Executive Director, CREFC. “Add to that our speakers Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard and former U.S. National Security Advisor, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, and the conference becomes both a learning and entertaining event that helps kickstart the new year.”

"Our timely panel discussions will provide attendees with critical insights into challenges and opportunities facing commercial real estate finance in 2025. Panel speakers will examine new urban development trends and explore the untapped potential of AI and other technology-driven innovations in CRE. Also, industry veterans will focus on how commercial property owners manage escalating insurance costs and the role new sources of capital will play in CRE finance markets in 2025 and beyond.”

To learn more about CREFC’s upcoming conferences and events, please visit: https://www.crefc.org/events

About CREFC

The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) is the trade association for the nearly $6 trillion commercial real estate finance industry with a membership that includes approximately 400 companies and 19,000 individuals. Member firms include balance sheet and securitized lenders, loan and bond investors, private equity firms, servicers, rating agencies, and borrowers. For 30 years, CREFC has promoted liquidity, transparency, and efficiency in the commercial real estate finance markets, and functioned as a legislative and regulatory advocate for the industry, playing a vital role in setting market standards and best practices and providing education for market participants.

Contact:

Aleksandrs Rozens

ARozens@crefc.org

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Highlights from the 57th Annual Conference on Capital Markets in Real Estate

December 10, 2024

At a pivotal moment for commercial real estate markets, NYU's Schack Institute of Real Estate hosted its 57th Annual Conference on Capital Markets in Real Estate at the New York Hilton Midtown on December 5.

• The conference brought together senior CRE owners to debate strategies for navigating historic market headwinds, from rising interest rates to office sector challenges.
• Key discussions centered on debt capital availability, opportunities in residential conversions, and emerging sources of market disruption.

CREFC’s Lisa Pendergast and RXR’s Scott Rechler Talk Market Navigation

In a notable fireside chat, CREFC Executive Director Lisa Pendergast sat down with RXR Chairman and CEO Scott Rechler to discuss how he has led RXR through dramatic market shifts. RXR, a vertically integrated owner/operator with approximately $170 billion in CRE assets under management, is pivoting its strategy to address current challenges.

Rechler noted the mounting pressure many property owners face as low-rate loans mature into a significantly higher-rate environment. He highlighted RXR's foray into the credit side of the business by the:

• Expansion of its credit solutions platform in response to today’s market conditions. The firm expects to close nearly $1 billion in credit transactions by year-end and recently bolstered its team by hiring industry veteran and long-time CREFC member Steve Schwartz to help scale the platform.

This credit push aligns with a broader trend of established real estate participants launching debt vehicles to capitalize on market dislocation.

NYC's Landmark ‘City of Yes’ Housing Initiative Gets Green Light

The conference timing coincided with a watershed moment for New York City real estate: the City Council's 31-20 approval of the "City of Yes" housing proposal. This comprehensive zoning reform package, considered the most significant housing initiative in NYC's history, could reshape the landscape for property owners and developers.

For CRE investors, the proposal's office-to-residential conversion provisions are particularly significant.

• The reforms ease conversion restrictions and create new incentives for adaptive reuse of outdated office buildings.
• The city and state are backing the initiative with substantial funding - NYC Mayor Adams committed $1 billion for housing developments and $2 billion for infrastructure projects, while the state pledged $1 billion in housing capital over five years. Adams commented,

“Today is a historic day in New York City, but, more importantly, for working-class New Yorkers. We showed the nation that government can still be bold and brave by passing the most pro-housing piece of legislation in city history.”

Many conference participants viewed this as a crucial step in addressing both the housing shortage and the oversupply of obsolete office space. However, some developers noted that even with these changes, the economics of office conversions remain challenging in many cases.

Larry Silverstein on Market Resilience

The conference also featured an insightful dialogue with legendary developer Larry Silverstein.

• Silverstein's experience rebuilding downtown Manhattan after September 11 offers relevant lessons for today's market challenges.
• Silverstein, who recently chronicled this journey in his book “The Rising,” emphasized the importance of taking a long-term view during market disruption.

His success in transforming downtown Manhattan into a thriving live-work-play environment demonstrates the potential for reimagining urban spaces. It is a particularly relevant theme as the city again faces the need to adapt its commercial building stock to changing market demands.

Looking Ahead

Conference discussions underscored the challenges faced by the CRE market, while recognizing that periods of disruption often create opportunities for well-positioned investors. The emergence of new credit platforms and policy support for adaptive reuse suggests the market is developing mechanisms to work through current difficulties.

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Trump Nominates Former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins as Next Chair 

December 10, 2024

President-Elect Donald Trump nominated former Securities and Exchange (SEC) Commissioner Paul Atkins on Dec. 4 to replace current SEC Chair Gary Gensler who will step down from the agency on Jan. 20.

• Atkins is the CEO of Patomak Global Partners, a fintech and risk management consultancy he founded in 2009.

Atkins is expected to embrace a deregulatory stance and develop a constructive relationship with the crypto industry.

• This is a sharp reversal from Gensler’s approach, which many market participants characterized as regulatory overreach and unnecessarily combative.
• Not surprisingly, his nomination has been received well by Republican lawmakers, as well as current SEC Republican commissioners.
• Current SEC commissioner Hester Peirce noted on X:

“We have a lot of work to do at the SEC to advance free markets, capital formation, investor choice, and innovation. I’m delighted that Paul Atkins will be returning to lead the effort.”

Atkins has received some bipartisan support. According to Politico, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) indicated she was likely to support Atkins’ nomination:

“He has the right experience, and I think he’s a commissioner that would work well with Congress.”

Yes, but: Not everyone is welcoming the announcement. According to Politico, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who will serve as ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee in the next Congress, stated that she is:

“Concerned about putting at the helm of the SEC a Wall Street lobbyist whose main contribution during the last financial crisis was to protest fines against the giant corporations that defrauded investors.”

What’s next: Atkins is expected to carefully review Gensler-era rulemakings and identify opportunities for potential rollback.

• However to repeal rules, regulatory agencies must use the notice and comment process, which can take several months or even years.
• Agency leadership also can guide staff priorities via enforcement, effectuating practical change outside the rulemaking process.

What's next: The SEC’s climate disclosure requirements, currently stayed by the SEC while the rule is in litigation, are likely in Atkins’ immediate crosshairs. Atkins and other former SEC commissioners wrote during the comment period that the [then] proposal “oversteps the Commission’s congressionally delegated regulatory authority.”

CREFC will monitor closely Atkins’ nomination and keep members apprised of significant regulatory and policy developments at the SEC.

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