The event was the Transwestern/Real Estate Forum Twelfth Institutional Investor Symposium. Steve Pumper, Transwestern's executive managing director of investment services, and Michael Desiato, Real Estate Media's group publisher, moderated the panel. Real Estate Forum is published by Real Estate Media, which also publishes GlobeSt.com.

"It makes a lot of sense to be close to the metro," said Michael Zammitti, managing director of Hartford-based Cornerstone Advisors, pointing out that more and more people will try to live or work around such developments in order to drive less.

Just as enormous gas prices have impacted the consumer, so have, of course, plummeting housing costs, which have brought about other opportunities for investors. "We're doing a lot of apartment development," said Pat Duncan, president and CEO of USSA Real Estate Co., based in San Antonio. "That's a great market to get into."