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.

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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/