Sunday, April 21, 2013

Hot Air or Helium? / "No Limits" Real Estate Sculptures / Over-thinking / Five Fruit Feedback


Hot Air or Helium?

From far and wide capital is flowing into U.S. commercial real estate. My long-time friend, Ed LaGrassa, of Chilton Realty in New York said, “I’m concerned that a bubble is once again forming. Prices for individual properties are really heating up.”  

Whether it’s hot air or a helium bubble really makes no difference.  Prices for prime properties in gateway cities are pushing cap rates down.  Availability of cheap debt is also contributing to the current state of affairs.  Many people I speak with are looking deeper into secondary and even tertiary markets for ‘sensible’ deals and those areas are benefiting from the appearance of previously absent brand names in real estate. As a result, these markets may experience a bonus of new job creation and the reestablishment of their economic foundation. ‘Wouldn’t that be loverly?’ (From Wouldn't It Be Loverly by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, written for the 1956 Broadway play My Fair Lady).

“No Limits” Real Estate Sculptures

While walking down Park Avenue this week I was stopped dead in my tracks by a unique structure; I paused for a moment to figure out exactly what I was looking at.  There was a building incorporated into a piece of art.  Once home I did an Internet search and must share the results with my real estate community.

The “No Limits” exhibit is found on Manhattan’s Park Avenue, between 53 and 67 streets and is totally mesmerizing. Ten sculptures are based on well-known NYC buildings.  I shot the photo below on Wednesday, April 17 and plan to walk the entire ‘show’ very soon.  

The artist is Alexandre Arrchea.  Mr. Arrechea says he's tried to position his representations as close as possible to the actual building.  Taken from his website, “The Seagram Building sculpture, like the Chrysler one, appears to unravel from a giant coil, a fire hose with sinuous lines, and looks like it's almost dancing in front of the building itself.”

If you are in the New York area, and especially if you are in the real estate industry, this is a ‘must see.’   The exhibit runs through Sunday, June 10.  Hey, if you’re going to do the tour - let me know…I’d love to walk it with you!



Over-Thinking

Dr. Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, a psychologist and writer, died at 53 on January 2, 2013.  She conducted work that helped explain why women are twice as prone to depression as men.  This resonated with me. 

Her studies, first in children and later in adults, exposed a pattern of rumination - the natural instinct to dwell on the sources of problems rather than their possible solutions. “The way I think she’d put it is that, when bad things happen, women brood — they’re cerebral, which can feed into the depression,” said Martin Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, who oversaw her doctoral work. “Men are more inclined to act, to do something, plan, beat someone up, play basketball.”

“We are suffering from an epidemic of over-thinking,” Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema wrote in 2003. 

As a man, I can relate to the concept of 'over-thinking.'  I’ve seen this in myself at times. Sometimes it drives me crazy.  I’ve found it helpful to go out and play – tennis, music, take a walk. These things feel good and help get my mind off thinking for a while.  I can then refocus brain activity with a healthier outlook later. I’m wondering if anyone else uses a different technique of distracting your mind from over-thinking…

Five fruit feedback

Many thanks to those who sent me helpful suggestions for increasing my daily fruit intake. The most popular suggestion was, by far, the fruit smoothie.  Now that I own a serious blender, I will be experimenting with this drink (or is it a food?). This is just one facet of me taking better care of myself.  I believe you will agree that knowing what to do - and actually doing it - are two completely different things.   But, I’m working at it.  As I like to say, we are all works in progress.

On The Road…

April 27:  Noon to midnight jam session with Sound Counsel comprised of fellow Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) members, New York, NY

May 16:  Annual meeting of The Hoyt Fellows, North Palm Beach, FL

May 29 – 30:  IMN (Information Management Network) U.S. Real Estate Opportunity Fund and Private Fund Investing Forum, New York, NY 

June 4 – 5:  PERE Summit (Private Equity Real Estate Magazine), London, UK 




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1 comment:

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