CREFW-Fall2015

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CRE Finance World Autumn 2015
3
he commercial real estate industry is in the midst of a
very good run, but there are a lot of unknowns that can
change that. The impact of regulatory changes (and in
many cases, the shape of the regulations themselves)
is still unknown and the market is still holding its breath
awaiting the impending interest rate increase. Despite the uncertainty,
there are a host of new opportunities and innovations pushing the
industry forward.
CRE Finance World’sfall electronic issue sheds a spotlight on the
evolving landscape and highlights a range of forecasts. There is
optimism associated with the new opportunities emerging from the
retirement and aging of the Baby Boomer generation, the growth
of the single-family rental market and the unlocked potential of
the European real estate market. There is skepticism that new
regulatory initiatives will meet their stated objectives (such as
achieving better underwriting outcomes) and concern that such
initiatives will likely result in reduced leverage and liquidity with an
ambiguous (at best) impact on overall loan quality and systemic
risk and apprehension over the looming maturity crisis.
Echoing the continuous trend of globalization, the magazine
includes two articles centered on the European real estate market.
We also feature three articles focused on different aspects of
risk management, one detailing the impact of new regulatory
initiatives emerging from the financial crisis and their impact on
today’s marketplace, another focused on Basel III’s recent liquidity
guidelines and the possible effect on the availability and demand
for global securitization, and the last providing insights into expected
regulations’ impact on construction lending.
As always, the magazine includes several articles spotlighting more
technical aspects of the market, including: a piece on Historic Tax
Credit Projects by Lance Levine of Kaye Scholer, LLP; a description
of credit bar-belling and its impact on transactions’ overall credit
quality by Paul J. Fitzsimmons, Eric Thompson and Larry Kay at
Kroll Bond Rating Agency; an overview of the opportunities arising
out of the retirement and aging of the baby boom generation by
Jay Rollins of JCR Capital; an update (and reminder) of the looming
“wall” by Ann Hambly of 1st Service Solutions; and an introspective
and prospective look at the single-family rental asset class by
Wonju Sul of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP.
T
Editor’s Page
Letter from the Editor
Krystyna M. Blakeslee
Associate
Dechert LLP