Real Estate New York

RENY: In terms of its intended reach, is the New York conference different from the conferences you've done earlier this year and in years past?

Marwaha: Yes. We run 12 major events globally, and the emphasis up until now has been very much on the emerging markets. What's happened recently, with the credit crisis and liquidity crisis here in the US, is that investors in the US are more proactively looking for opportunities outside the US and predominantly in emerging markets such as China, India, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. So we've really capitalized on this trend. We are now organizing Cityscape USA for two reasons: for US investors to look at opportunities in the emerging markets, and for emerging market investors to look at depressed US real estate assets, projects and vehicles as investment opportunities here.

RENY: The most recent survey by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate found that investors overseas are more confident in the US than any other market. Obviously, the very favorable exchange rate is one factor; what are some of the other long-term attractions?