Harbus

Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Angelina Santana Symposium Leaders Thank Keynote Speakers Donna Arp and Barry Sternlicht. From left: Helen Trapp, Griffin James, Donna Arp, Barry Sternlicht, Marc Hoecker

The Real Estate Club hosted over 300 attendees at the 3rd Annual Real Estate Symposium on Saturday, February 9th. With a theme entitled "Making Connections," the conference focused on topics in which real estate helps solve societal problems including energy, environment, transportation, caring for aging populations, capital liquidity, and the global economy.

Barry Sternlicht, Chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital and Donna Arp, Co-CEO of Realty Capital Partners, were keynote speakers. They were complemented by seven panels that enabled discussions between industry leaders, professionals, faculty, and students.

Donna Arp, a former three-term elected Mayor of Colleyville, Texas, emphasized the opportunities that real estate investors with strong balance sheets will have in the coming years. She also pointed out how energy efficient development can reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Barry Sternlicht, an HBS alumus, explained how faulty real estate underwriting caused the turmoil in the credit markets. He discussed how his investment firm will benefit when over-leveraged companies and banks with outstanding loans write down their assets. Sternlicht also offered frank career advice to graduates, and shared insights into decisions that shaped his career.

The Transit-Oriented Development panel discussed how public-sector investment in transit, commuter rail, and intercity rail creates opportunities for private-sector developers to create value and new communities that are in high demand because of the efficient access they provide.

Similarly, the infrastructure privatization panel examined how monetizing publicly-owned assets through large-scale buyouts can create market-based solutions that help control demand while serving as a source of capital for infrastructure projects and yielding consistent, reasonable returns to fund investors.

Other financially focused discussions came from the Real Estate Private Equity in Emerging Markets panel, which explored the opportunities for investors in less mature markets. Similarly, the Panel on Real Estate Derivatives pushed the audience's understanding of how this emerging financial instrument is evolving and finding a niche.

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