The top players in the Detroit area commercial real estate industry gathered May 15 at The Community House in Birmingham, Michigan, for Michigan Real Estate Journal’s third annual Detroit Suburban State of the Market summit.
And how was the mood? Cautiously optimistic might be the best way to describe it.
Panelists spoke about the challenges posed by high interest rates, rising material costs and the shortage of skilled labor. But they also spoke about the resilience of Detroit’s suburbs, and how these communities continue to attract new development, tenants and sales despite the challenges that the CRE market faces today.
Panelists agreed, too, that better times are on the way for suburban Detroit. Now that the Federal Reserve Board has signaled that it will not raise its benchmark interest rate, a sense of stability is returning to the area commercial real estate market. And that should serve as a springboard for more investment sales and development in the future.
Participating in the summit’s opening session, the State of the Market: Detroit Suburban panel, were industry leaders Andy Gutman, Farbman Group; Emily D’Agostini, D’Agostini Companies; Jared Friedman, Friedman Real Estate; Conrad Schewe, Burton-Katzman LLC; Paul Choukourian, Colliers; and Brendan George, CBRE.
Speaking during the Design, Construction, Property Management, Leasing, Development & Redevelopment panel were CRE veterans Kenneth Clarkson, Taft; Michael Poris, McIntosh Poris Architects; Robert Pliska, SPERRY – Property Investment Counselors; Nick Weise, Rightsize Facility; and Ken Westfall, A.R. Brouwer Company.
Participating in the day’s third panel, Opportunities for Investment & Financing in Suburban Detroit, were Elizabeth Rogers, Taft; Craig Miller, Duffy + Duffy; AJ Weiner, JLL; Andrew Dunlap, REDICO; Jeffrey Schostak, Schostak Brothers & Company Inc.; Dennis Bernard, Bernard Financial Group; and Steven Silverman, Friedman Real Estate.
