Throughout the course of the events, heavy-hitter executives from the likes of Boston Properties, Crescent Real Estate Equities, Reckson Associates, SL Green presented short speeches profiling the given company and the market. Insiders continually said that the advances made over the past eight years will continue, but at a more steady pace. The gains will still be there, but they won't be as hefty as they have been.

"New York benefits a great deal from in-migration," commented Richard Hokenson, director of CSFB. "This area remains the place to be, and more people will want to flock here even in bad times."

The final day of the conference brought the major firms together to talk about the market in panels of three to five members. The issues ranged from a general market outlook to more topical subjects like retail and the dot-com fallout. "Caution" and "smart growth" were phrases thrown around often, but the words "concern" and "recession" were never used.

"From an owner's perspective, I've had tenants that are weak and those that continually reinvent themselves and go on to build their own space," said Ray Torto, principal of Torto-Wheaton Research. "Companies just have to be inventive to survive because of the level of competition out there, but there will always be another user out there to take the space vacated."