CRE® Specialty Interest Groups - Counselors of Real Estate

CRE Specialty Interest Groups are interactive Business Forums providing Counselors invaluable opportunities to regularly collaborate, exchange information, offer perspective, and pose questions to CREs of similar specialty in an atmosphere of trust and cooperation.

For information on upcoming virtual meetings, please visit Webinars & Virtual Events.
Continue discussions in the members-only Specialty Interest Group discussion board

Asset and Property Management

An interactive discussion of asset and property management issues. What are we up against? What are the possibilities and concerns that characterize today's marketplace and how do we address them?

John Viggers, CRE
Regional Vice President, Cushman & Wakefield Iowa Commercial Advisors

Jill Hatton, CRE
Chair and Committee Member, Mass PRIM Real Estate & Timber Committee

Counselors in the Classroom

This Interest Group will actively explore opportunities and initiatives Counselors of Real Estate might pursue to contribute to the academic community in ways that particularly resonate with today's real estate professors and students.

Tino Korologos, CRE
Clinical Assistant Professor, New York University
Principal, Leonidas Partners, LLC

Mark Levine, Ph.D., CRE
Professor, Past Director, Chair Holder, University of Denver

Commercial Development

Whether you spearhead development using your own capital or work with an institutional investor, there are multiple challenges and opportunities in the post Covid Era.

What asset classes are most profitable?
What markets are most appealing and WHY?
How do you compete?
How are you, or your client addressing ESG compliances and DEI concerns related to your project? How is your product changing?
How do you counsel clients to identify the next best project and grab it ahead of the competition?

The "Development Specialty Interest Group" will talk though what it takes to "Spot the Deal and Get it Done."

Christine Camp, CRE
President, CEO, Avalon Development Company LLC

Finance/Investment

Borrowers are seeking debt restructure. Funds in distressed arenas are actively raising money. Where is future capital going to come from? What is the situation if you're a borrower or lender today and down the road?

Tom Fink, CRE
Senior Vice President, Managing Director, Trepp, LLC

Cate Agnew, CRE
Head of Valuation, Natixis Corporate and Investment Banking

Housing

Join fellow Counselors at the Housing Interest Group Meeting for fresh data on rent payments, vacancy rates, and revenues, as well as updates on federal housing policy. Update your colleagues on what you are seeing. Bring your questions and experiences.

Brad Weinberg, CRE
Partner, Novogradac & Company LLP

Kim Betancourt, CRE
Director of Economics and Multifamily Research, Fannie Mae

Infrastructure

Counselors play an important role advising on public sector infrastructure projects, designing solutions for complex problems, and often assembling public private partnerships on everything from roads to utilities to structures and more. How are these deals coming together? What is state-of-the-art? How do we overcome the unique challenges of these projects?

Korin Crawford, CRE
Executive Vice President, Griffin|Swinerton

Orion Fulton, CRE
Advisory Services Business Leader, Arup

Institutional Investment

Institutional investment in commercial real estate continues to evolve, especially over the past two years due to the pandemic. Asset selection, as well as demographics, are redefining the criteria pension funds, endowments, foundations, and high net worth families look for in this investment class. Join us to discuss the latest issues in institutional investment in real estate including asset allocation, return horizons, changing demographics, and many other aspects in this ever-changing landscape.

Jonathan Schein, CRE
CEO & Executive Director, Real Estate Limited Partner Institute

Lori Mason Curran, CRE
Investment Strategy Director, Vulcan, Inc.

Leasing: Tenant Rep and General

CREs create solutions, especially in adverse situations. How are market participants reacting to market disruptions?

Robert Nahigian, CRE
Principal, Auburndale Realty Co.

Justin Landry, CRE
Vice President of Finance and Capital Markets, Stirling Properties, LLC

Legal and Insurance

So much has happened so quickly in today's convoluted and uncertain world that it is difficult to fully analyze and digest the vast number of issues relating to property rights and individual liberties that surface on a daily basis. Let's Talk.

Mark Murakami, Esq., CRE
Director/Shareholder/Attorney, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert

Mikaela Rivera, CRE
Attorney, Waas Campbell Rivera Johnson & Velasquez LLP

Prop Tech and Technology

An ongoing discussion of the foundational role of technology in real estate: transacting deals, making decisions, and operational risk management.

Demetrios Louziotis, Jr., CRE
Partner, Pavonis Group

Judith Amoils, CRE
President, Thinking Strategy: New Paradigms, Inc.

SALT: State and Local Taxes

The news headlines in 2022 continue to be dominated by the continued impact of the pandemic on commercial real estate, notably the unanticipated increase in the transaction prices for certain asset classes coupled with significant declines in others. The domino effect continues, impacting property tax assessments, appeals, litigation and overall policy. With the continued impact on demand and pricing, assessors and property owners alike continue to wrestle with the unprecedented impact on assessed values, creating new interpretation of methodology, policy and legal parameters. The Top 10 SALT issues of 2021/22 include the impact of on the market value of real property, particularly the new remote workplace versus in-office work, significant change in value for asset classes that both benefitted and suffered from the pandemic and resulting the impact on the owner’s property tax liability. These unprecedented issues will work their way through the local and state appeals processes, setting new precedents for years to come.

Todd Jones, CRE
Principal, RealAdvice

Anne Joyner Sheehan, CRE
Chief Executive Officer, Real Property Tax Advisors

Valuation/Appraisal

In this unusual time, how do you appraise commercial real estate properties? A new set of assumptions have emerged - and uncertainties abound. What will be the (new) normal now and in the future?

Anthony Graziano, CRE
CEO, Integra Realty Resources

Robby Tandjung, CRE
Executive Vice President, Altus Group

For more information, please contact Samantha DeKoven (Sdekoven@cre.org) or Larisa Phillips (Lphillips@cre.org).