Willy Walker, CEO of Walker & Dunlop, on Capital Markets During COVID-19

In this episode of Real Estate for Breakfast, Willy Walker, chairman and chief executive officer of publicly traded Walker & Dunlop, joins host Phil Coover to discuss the capital markets and the impact of the Great Recession and COVID-19 on that industry, as well as Walker and Dunlop’s explosive growth over the past 12 years. While discussing the evolution and growth of Walker & Dunlop, Mr. Walker and Phil discuss specific industry sectors such as hospitality and retail from both the landlord and tenant perspective. In addition, they dive into office space and how the need for and use of space may change moving forward. This includes a discussion of working from home and the development of corporate culture. Phil also gets the chance to ask Mr. Walker about the decision to take the company public and the ramifications of that decision.

Willy Walker is chairman and chief executive officer of Walker & Dunlop. Under Mr. Walker’s leadership, Walker & Dunlop has grown from a small, family-owned business to become one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the United States. Walker & Dunlop is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and was #17 on Fortune’s 2017 list of “Fastest Growing Public Companies.” The company has also been named a Best Workplace for five of the past six years by the Great Place to Work® Institute. Mr. Walker received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2011 and was named “Financier of the Year” in 2017 by Commercial Mortgage Observer.

Mr. Walker received his master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University. He currently serves on the boards of Children's National Medical Center and the Mortgage Bankers Association, and he is a member of the Real Estate Roundtable. Mr. Walker is an avid runner, skier and cyclist, and has run the Boston Marathon in 2:36.

For more information, visit https://www.walkerdunlop.com/.

COVID-19 and the Impact on Commercial Real Estate Market with Spencer Levy, Chairman of Americas Research for CBRE and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE

In this emergency episode of Real Estate for Breakfast, Phil has Spencer Levy, Chairman of Americas Research and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE, to discuss the imminent recession and COVID-19’s impact on the commercial real estate markets. In the past week, entire cities (San Francisco), bars and restaurants have been shut down across the country, retail companies have voluntarily shuttered (Apple, Nike, Abercrombie and Fitch, etc.), airlines have reduced flights by 40% or more, unemployment is expected to rise, and consumer demand has fallen off a cliff. Spencer comes in to discuss how this will play out on a macroeconomic level, and more specifically, what will happen to the hospitality markets, retail markets, housing markets, senior housing markets, and more. Furthermore, if hospitality and restaurants fail and vacancies rise, will there be a ripple of loan defaults and foreclosures? Spencer also gives us a unique insight on deal flow, the debt and capital markets, and summarizes the COVID-19 impact on commercial real estate.

Spencer Levy is Chairman of Americas Research for CBRE and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE. He plays an integral role in the development and implementation of the global research strategy and business plan. A CBRE veteran of more than 10 years, Spencer had previously served as Executive Managing Director in the company’s Capital Markets division.

Mr. Levy oversees the analytical activities of the CBRE research community within the Americas region and is responsible for the management of hundreds of professionals who are focused on producing market-leading insight and interpretative analysis on the latest real estate trends. Mr. Levy supports CBRE executives in their decision-making by providing insight into the impact of market trends related to strategic business planning, and analyst call preparation. He serves as principal external spokesperson on real estate issues in the Americas region and has considerable media experience, providing market commentary for many national television, newspaper and internet outlets.

Mr. Levy joined CBRE in 2007 to lead the U.S. Eastern Division of the Capital Markets platform. Since then, he has assumed positions of increasing responsibility. As a part of senior management for the Capital Markets platform, Mr. Levy provided leadership for several areas in the United States and Latin America. Mr. Levy provided additional oversight of Retail, Auction and Investment Banking in the United States. He also directly serves a number of major clients.

Learn more at: http://www.cbre.us/people-and-offices/spencer-levy

Washington Post Article on Impending Recession: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/14/recession-economy-coronavirus-jobs/