Cocktails Under the Stars
On May 19, 2010, we held our 3rd annual cocktail party at Cafe Pinot along with 8 other co-hosts as shown to the right. Special guest Councilwoman Jan Perry shared a few words on the importance of sponsoring inner-city kids to summer camp.
Check out some of the photos from the cocktail party below or click here to view more on our website.
Los Angeles Commercial Real Estate On The Rebound?
Or Are We The Next Greece?
Commercial Real Estate: The Worst May Be Over…Or It May Not Be.
The Los Angeles Times has run another article on “Worst may be over for commercial real estate.” Apparently if they run the article enough times, they are bound to be right one of these days!
The article uses the same example that has been used before—the $111 million sale of the 14-story Wilshire-Bundy Plaza in West Los Angeles, a deal that has been tied up in the bankruptcy court. Whether the not quite sale of one building establishes a trend is still open for discussion.
One academic in the article described the market as “bouncing along the bottom, essentially moving sideways” while another concludes that “whether it’s a bottom or not remains to be seen.”
The article notes that the hoped for deluge of distressed properties never happened because the banks have been extending problem loans rather than foreclosing or dumping the loans.
Read the Los Angeles Times Article here.
The Recession is Over! But…
Asian Business League Annual Commercial Real Estate Outlook
The recession is over! The next year may be very good… but. Consumer weakness will reemerge, the housing bounce won’t last, banks are not out of the woods yet, commercial trouble will continue, there is a significant chance of a double dip in the economy, and higher rates are coming.
Those were the conclusions of economist Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics at the 2010 ABL Commercial Real Estate Outlook.
“We are just kicking the can down the road,” meaning that structural problems remain and government is not dealing with the long term issues. While the economic trends may be good right now, the actual fundamentals are bad. Government intervention is preventing fundamental issues from being fixed and the intervention is creating its own set of potentially serious problems for the economy.
Current risks include an overinflated stock market (that contradicts the fundamentals of the economy), the potential for inflation (the government has printed a lot of money, most of which is still being held by banks as reserves but may enter the market), and a federal debt that is skyrocketing.
For more good news, you can view the underlying economic information at www.beaconecon.com.
Donate Now to WLF’s Annual Campaign To Send Kids To Camp
We have kicked off our annual ‘Send Kids To Camp’ campaign. Each year we raise money to send inner-city kids to a week-long summer camp with the Stuart Ketchum Downtown YMCA. The kids go to Camp Whittle in Big Bear where they learn how to swim, mountainbike, play team games, hike and so much more. More importantly they are learning the six pillars of character—trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.
Even the smallest donation will help a kid get out of downtown Los Angeles and learn leadership skills that will last him or her a lifetime.
Visit our website for information on how to give. We will also be sending out flyers with our newsletter next week—please fill out the flyer and send us your donation. Your giving—in whatever amount—will make a huge difference.
At our May 19 cocktail party at Cafe Pinot we kicked off the campaign and raised over $6,000 on the first day. Our goal is $15,000 so your participation is important. The campaign runs until the end of June at which time we will announce the total and honor those who have graciously donated.