Woodmont Properties' Santola

With financing for new commercial construction nearly nonexistent, developers find themselves with nothing much to do. In some cases, that has had disastrous consequences: Just recently, three of the six operating units of development giant Opus Corp. filed for bankruptcy.

A recent Quick Poll on GlobeSt.com asked: “What Are Developers Doing With Their Down Time?” Of the three choices, “Managing the Assets They Have” garnered the overwhelming majority of votes, at 73%. Waiting for the Upturn–23%–and Doing Build-To-Suits–5%–followed.Stephen A. Santola, executive vice president and general counsel of Parsippany, NJ-based developer Woodmont Properties, agrees that now is the time for developers to focus on what they have, and possibly pick up some stalled projects.

“Woodmont is a full-service real estate company, so we own, manage, operate, develop and build. We are definitely managing our existing assets, working with our existing tenants, and leasing any vacant space that we have. Internally, we are working on our own projects that are on hold to see if they can be repositioned in order to be more finance-able and more profitable in this market. Taking care of your own house is certainly a top priority.