Covid 19 - The Impact on Commercial Real Estate - Spencer Levy

The CRE Project

Today (3/30/2020) we discuss the impact of Covid 19 on Commercial Real Estate and estimated timelines for recovery. We are speaking with Spencer Levy which is one of the most well known and knowledgeable individuals in the CRE industry when it comes to economics and research.

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.

Mr. Levy is a frequent speaker before industry groups, including NAIOP, ICSC, ULI and CREW. In 2010, he won CBRE’s Gary J. Beban Teamwork Award, which acknowledges professionals who take a multi-disciplinary approach to client service. Mr. Levy currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women.

Prior to joining CBRE, he was a principal at Stifel Nicolaus (formerly Legg Mason Capital Markets), a leading investment bank serving the real estate industry, where he played a significant role in M&A, IPO and private capital-raising activities. Before that, he served as assistant general counsel at the Witkoff Group and was an attorney at Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson and Jones Day Reavis & Pogue.

Resourceful Links

CBRE’s main page for CRE research and content related to COVID-19: https://www.cbre.com/covid-19

CBRE’s revised 2020 outlook for the US hotel industry: https://www.cbrehotels.com/en/research/articles/hotel-viewpoint-an-updated-2020-outlook

CBRE 2019 Green Building Adoption Index for Multifamily Buildings: https://www.cbre.com/research-and-reports/US-Green-Building-Adoption-Index-for-Multifamily-Buildings-2019

CBRE 2019 Green Building Adoption Index for Office Buildings: https://www.cbre.com/research-and-reports/US-Green-Building-Adoption-Index-for-Office-Buildings--2019

CBRE Global Outlook 2030 (i.e. 10 bold predictions for commercial real estate by 2030): https://www.cbre.com/2030