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Shorenstein Targets Core Markets
By Daniel D. Williams - GlobeSt.com
February 16, 2005 - Southern California's top real estate professionals were privy to a New York state of mind on Monday as heavy hitter Douglas W. Shorenstein held center stage as keynote speaker at the Real Estate 2005 conference. The day-long event held at the Century Plaza hotel, which was presented by the Real Estate Conference Group and Real Estate Media's RealShare Conference Series, drew more than 1,150 real estate players.
In a Q & A session with Jonathan A. Schein, president and CEO of Real Estate Media Inc., the chairman and CEO of Shorenstein Co. LLC said he considers himself a net seller for the immediate future. However, Shorenstein said markets where he is looking for deals include six key areas across the country--Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington, DC. "We're especially interested in doing more business in the Los Angeles area," Shorenstein said, whose company has sponsored real estate investment funds totaling $2.3 billion since 1992.
He added that while the deals are out there, it takes top dollar to secure them and that investors are overpaying to land wanted property. And there's no shortage of money. "The capital is deep," Shorenstein said. "It's gotten ahead of itself."
Shorenstein also noted that unpredictability in the market comes not from a shift in trends, but rather major catastrophic events such as the collapse of the Russian bond market. During the open commentary, Shorenstein also touched on his firm's shift in philosophy. "In the past we were looking for assets. Now we are looking for relationships," he said.
Shorenstein's firm owns and operates 14 million sf of class A space with a portfolio that includes the John Hancock Center, Prudential Plaza and 500 West Monroe in Chicago, and 450 Lexington Ave. and 125 Park Ave. in New York.
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