                         |
 | |||||||
Wharton News
Professor Joseph Gyourko Interviewed for REISProfessor Joseph Gyourko recently gave an interview to Sam Truitt, senior editor of REIS, on the commercial real estate response to the 9/11 disaster. Asked whether downtown Manhattan will continue to be the physical capital of the financial world, Gyourko said that although ultimately the area will be rebuilt it won’t be as big. "The physical focus of America’s financial capital will continue to be Manhattan, though less centered in downtown." Drawing historical parallels, Gyourko referred to Japan after World War II. "Japan is the most recent example of an urban complex that was utterly destroyed and yet was rebuilt pretty much on the same sites." Gyourko did not agree that security in America would be enhanced through centralization. "As big a center as New York is, it is still not what London is to England or Paris to France" Quite the opposite" Companies will no longer want to put very large portions of their senior management into one place " we’re also a much bigger country - it is easier to spread out. " Gyourko maintained that skyscrapers would continue to be built where land is valuable and dense, but in the near term, there will be a moratorium on trophy buildings like the Sears Tower. In October, Professor Gyourko moderated a panel at an Economics Trends Conference presented by the Urban Land Institute Philadelphia District Council. The panelists discussed how global and national events would impact the Greater Philadelphia real estate market. Earlier in the month, Gyourko was himself a panelist at a session entitled "The Evolving Role of the Commercial Broker" at the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors' (SIOR) national conference in Boston. He discussed the research the Center had done on the implications of new information technology on the brokerage industry.
Witold Rybczynski Discusses the Future of Skyscrapers in AmericaWitold Rybczynski, Professor of Urbanism and Real Estate, participated in a symposium on skyscrapers at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. The New York Times reported that the panelists agreed that skyscrapers are an American symbol. "Skyscrapers are boastful," said Rybczynski. "We’re not a shy people and skyscrapers declare that. They are very self-confident, which is perhaps the most terrible thing about September 11. Our self-confidence has been rocked." Rybczynski went on to say that there has to be a mixture of uses in one very tall building. "I feel the skyscraper does have a future. I think we need to be much more skillful in the way we design tall buildings." Professor Rybczynski was also featured in the November Philadelphia Magazine which profiled what it called the "76 Smartest Philadelphians". A further 18 current and former University of Pennsylvania faculty members were also on the list.
Professor Susan Wachter Speaks at NREF Fall ConferenceProfessor Susan Wachter was a guest speaker at the National Real Estate Forum Fall Meeting in Philadelphia. She spoke on the fortune of cities, addressing the lessons learned in the nineties regarding urban development and housing policy.
Asuka Nakahara Lectures on the Brokerage IndustryZell/Lurie Real Estate Center Associate Director, Asuka Nakahara, gave a talk on Critical Issues and Trends Impacting the Brokerage Industry at the Annual Commercial Real Estate Show in Philadelphia. The event was sponsored by the Tri State Commercial and Industrial Association of Realtors. In December, Nakahara is giving a presentation to the Counselors of Real Estate, Delaware Valley Chapter, entitled The Impact of Technology and the Internet on the Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Industry.
|
