The 2015 mid-year meetings of the Counselors of Real Estate took place in Denver, Colorado from April 19-23. As is typical, the programs were excellent and addressed such diverse issues as Capital Markets involving US Healthcare properties, the US residential sector and the and forecasted current demand and supply cycle as well as trends impacting office, industrial, retail multi-family and hospitality sectors.
Some of the takeaways from the conference, as presented by two economists, is that there is minimal likelihood of imminent interest rate increases over the remainder of the year. They also suggest that even if the Federal Reserve does act to increase rates, the impact will be quite moderate and unlikely to derail the bullish capital markets environment.
On the energy front, there was an excellent presentation by several individuals from the Rocky Mountain Institute that illustrated the sea-change that is ongoing in the real estate industry with respect to the prudent use of total energy. There are transformational shifts ongoing in the production and use of energy that will impact buildings, transportation and communities as a whole. Institutional property owners are leading the way in the assessment and use of energy and in the development of new structures that can approach energy neutral status.
Finally, Dr. Glen Mueller, a professor of real estate and construction management at the University of Denver provided important insight into the cycles for office, industrial, retail, multi-family and hospitality properties across 54 major US markets.
The annual meeting of the Counselors of Real Estate will take place in October in Charlotte, North Carolina. Consider attending to learn and take advantage of cutting edge views on the real estate sector. See you there.

Donald Bouchard, CRE, senior vice president at Lincoln Property Company, Boston and is the 2015 chair of the New England Chapter of the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE).