During a recent meeting here with the Building Owners and Managers Association, Mirante noted that "our world economy is weathering a major storm," which he believes was generated by numerous factors, such as: the US recession, the Sept. 11 tragedy, the Wall Street scandals, the collapse of the Argentine economy, the stall in the Japanese and German economies, and the recent elections in Brazil.

All of these factors built up a state of "irrational negativism," he said, explaining that the recent approximate 4 % growth in GDP suggests the US economy may already be in recovery. "Ironically, just as people lost their bearings with irrational exuberance and over confidence in the 1990s, now the converse is true and it's the exact same pattern in reverse," he stated.

With executives growing increasingly afraid of taking risks and growing operations, the real estate industry has taken a huge hit, evident in the eight-quarter climb in office and industrial vacancies. Regardless, Mirante expects to see the industry improve this year along with the overall economy, because "even with the lack of demand, most of our major world office and industrial markets have remained stable."