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Uplifting mood at retail networking event
Listen to this articleThe first annual Retail VIEWPoint presentation was held this morning in Tyson’s Corner, Va., and man, what a difference a year makes.
According to James Farrell, senior director of leasing and brokerage for Rappaport Companies, which hosted the event, industry gatherings like these were a different story last year.
“A year ago the mood was at the bleakest it’s been a long time in this industry,” he said. “These events were well attended because there was nothing else to do … . Now the mood is considerably better than it was a few months ago and day by day it’s getting better.”
Roughly 500 people attended this morning’s event, which featured a presentation of Delta Associates’ forecast of the state of the Washington metro area real estate market. Rappaport Companies, a D.C. based broker that owns and develops shopping centers, expected about 400 to attend, according to Farrell.
More to come on the details of the report in tomorrow’s paper but I’ll give you a hint: hope may be just around the corner for retail real estate development brokers.
