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Grubb & Ellis Wilson Kibler holds annual symposium
The host was the Columbia office of Grubb & Ellis Wilson Kibler. Principals in the firm are Jeremy Wilson and Marshall Kibler. The keynote speakers were Robert Bach, the chief economist and senior vice president at Grubb & Ellis Company, and Ben Johnson, the research manager at Columbia's Grubb & Ellis Wilson Kibler. Bach prepares Grubb & Ellis' national market publications covering the office, industrial, retail, and investment markets. Bach oversees the preparation of approximately 90 "Metro Trends" reports covering quarterly market conditions in metropolitan office and industrial markets across the country. His extensive background in real estate market research and analysis includes employment as the Regional Research Director of the Pacific Southwest Region for Grubb & Ellis Company; Manager of Market Research for Union Pacific Realty Company; Senior Market Analyst for Osgood Urban Research; and Senior Planner for the Dallas Department of Planning and Development.
Johnson graduated magna cum laude from the USC Honors College with a double major in finance and marketing. Bach reminded the audience a recession was looming. Conditions this year are much worse than at the time of last year's symposium. Just the other night, Bach noted, former Fed Chief Greenspan said to him in Las Vegas the odds are better than 50- 50 the country was headed into a serious recession. Wall Street agreed Tuesday when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 370 points.
Johnson observed the state's job growth and job losses numbers were somewhat stable for the outset of a recession. The capitalization rates in Columbia, the local opportunities for a reasonable rate of return on real estate investments, looked pretty good relative to the rest of the country, which should invite more institutional investors than before. Bach picked up the conversation when he said no one could honestly declare a recession for at least another month. The national vacancy rate has held at 13 percent for the last three quarters. Columbia, on the other hand, can claim the highest vacancy rate in the Southeast, about 15 percent. Dallas builds at 15 percent, while Manhattan gets worried even with its current vacancy rate of 4 percent.
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