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A whirlwind of actions under the new Obama Administration. In quick succession, in the space of a little more than seven days, we have seen the following developments: (1.) Feb. 10: The announcement by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner of the White House’s financial rescue effort, the Financial Stability Plan, that will involve using the remaining $350 billion from TARP, and the employment of as much as $2.5 trillion in total; (2.) Feb. 17: the signing by President Obama of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; (3.) Feb. 18: President Obama’s announcement of the…

“I’ve learned more in my lifetime, than you’ll probably ever know, because, wait, what were we talking about?”–My Grandfather, 1964 There is a lot of interest in multi-housing for all of the sectors, but lately there have been some great questions on continuing care retirement communities and nursing facilities. The biggest difference, as the claim goes, between market-rate and seniors housing is that teenagers are easier to handle than seniors. A friend of mine, an investor in businesses that serve the multi-housing industry, helped put a movie deal together not too long ago and now, if you happen to live…

For those of you who have never been stuck in a vehicle, whether in mud or, more likely in snow, this concept may be a little hard to grasp. However, anyone who has been through this experience will recognize that astonishingly satisfying moment when your wheels finally grip something with a bit more bite than whatever mush you’ve been digging through, and do the expected job of propelling you forward. I had an indelible traction moment this week, and it has to do with one of my pet interests: the “greening” of multifamily residential projects. This is the same week…

“And now, of course this is another thing I didn’t count on, that now as the Governor of the state of California, I am selling California worldwide. You see that? Selling.” Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, State of California With little fanfare and a huge amount of criticism, the state of California is suffering in an unprecedented way. With budget shortfalls estimated as high as $42 billion dollars, the state announced recently that approximately 20,000 employees could be furloughed and countless other projects in process, including the construction of bridges and roads, will be stopped completely. The unavoidable conclusion from all of…

Because of my friendship with the director of the ULI Los Angeles Chapter, I was invited to the presentation of the executive summary of the ULI National Advisory Panel’s charrette on the Jordan Downs community and greater surrounding area of Watts. Those of you non-Angelenos may recall this storied community as the flashpoint of the 1965 riots in Los Angeles. It is also, incidentally, the birth place of the infamous LA gang known as the “Crips.” In what was ultimately a wonderfully optimistic program, a couple of things struck me. Among the recommendations of the Advisory Panel, which consisted of…

“It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much.” Yogi Berra I’m an average sports fan. I like some sports more than others and for the most part, find fun in just about everything. Even NASCAR ( continuous left turns for 500 miles at Beltway speeds) is a lot more interesting since I found a Chevy hat while recently walking my dog. At least I can sit on the sofa, wear my Chevy hat and call my dog Bo. That’s not her name, but if I’m eating something I’ll call her and she’ll come over to…

Clemenza: You know any good-a spots on the west side? Paulie Gatto: Yeah, I’ll think about it. Clemenza: Well, think about it while you’re driving, will ya? I wanna hit New York sometime this month. (c) The Godfather 1972   The effect of job loss is evident in New York. One friend of mine has a foolproof measure of the economic health of the city; how long does it take to get a taxi in the city. Time was, the streets were jammed with cars, traffic didn’t move and taxis were almost universally full. Now, a simple wave gets you…

Here are some “take away” items from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual commercial real estate financing conference, which I attended this week in San Diego. Yes, financing will be back, within two years. That is the opinion of most of the financing industry members, some of them executives of leading players. We are talking about CMBS-like, securitized, financing in some form or other. Indeed, during the conference Jones Lang LaSalle released its 2009 Loan Production Outlook Survey that showed 67 percent of nationwide commercial real estate lenders expect securitized lending to return to the capital markets by 2011. If some…

As top financial executives come to Washington hat in hand to appear before the House Financial Services Committee, they have some explaining to do. Since taking hold of hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer aid under the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP) last fall, the firms have come under heavy scrutiny for using the funds for purposes other than lending, including junkets and massive bonuses to top brass. Now, before handing out the remainder of the TARP funds, the Treasury is re-jiggering the program strategy and Congress is making banks eat a little crow on behalf of the American…

Governor Le Petomane: ” …We’ve got to protect our phony baloney jobs, gentlemen. We must do something about this, immediately, immediately, immediately!” Blazing Saddles, nominated for an Oscar in 1975 (c) Mel Brooks, Warner Bros. Pictures 1974 The World According to TARP, as it’s now known, has been fraught with an overwhelming sense of failure. One of the key distinctions between how economic stimulus is supposed to work and the reality of its effect is becoming more evident every day. Remembering our earlier example, in the far reaching poppy fields of OZ, Dorothy and her cohorts (ever notice how much…