"People are a lot more optimistic and Boston seems to be weathering the storm pretty well," reports Richard Kelley, director for the Real Estate Media conference series that now reaches 30 cities. Among the goals for the half-day program on May 28th, at the Boston Hyatt Regency, will be to drill down and see just where New England is on the commercial real estate front, explains Kelley. That effort will be evident at a morning panel entitled, "Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty in the Boston Market?"; a program featuring National Development founder Thomas Alperin and Taurus Investment Holdings chief Peter Merrigan, along with Paradigm Properties principal Kevin McCall and industry veteran William McCall Jr.

Considered the dean of Boston's brokerage community--with a career dating to the mid-1960s--William McCall is among those upbeat about the local scene. "I think Boston is actually pretty good in that demand has slowed down a little bit, but we don't have a big overhang of space," he tells GlobeSt.com. A surge of rental rates during 2007 has eased off, but he maintains rates are unlikely to erode given the lack of new construction underway.

Kelley says he is getting similar feedback from others, but stresses the panel was selected to allow for a range of opinions regardless of the message. "Some people say that when it rains you get wet," he notes, and RealShare sought to assemble speakers whose views are valued by attendees. "Their words and their thoughts really carry weight," he says, adding, "It should be a lot of fun."