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Opportunities Await Those Who Think Ahead

NEW YORK CITY-David C. Djaha, who heads Ropes & Gray's newly established New York-based real estate practice, says fortune favors the brave in this market.

By Paul Bubny | Updated on September 22, 2009

NEW YORK CITY—While under no illusions that the commercial market is on the verge of revving back up to its 2007 velocity, real estate attorney David C. Djaha believes the upcoming opportunities will be enjoyed first by those who think ahead rather than focus on the present. As a case in point, Djaha is heading up Ropes & Gray’s newly established New York real estate practice—in a reversal of the cutbacks seen at some major law firms across the US in recent months.

“We believe there will be many opportunities in distressed real state in the future, and Ropes & Gray definitely want to be a player in this market,” Djaha tells GlobeSt.com. “And the fact that they’re making this investment in the New York office demonstrate their commitment to real estate as a whole.” He adds that the firm has done many New York-based deals, but has not had a real estate practices based here until now.

Djaha, whose 21-year law career overlaps with the last great real estate downturn of the late 1980s and early 1990s, says there’s no doubt that the market will rebound sooner or later; it always does. “No one has a crystal ball as to exactly when that will occur,” he says. “But if you’re just looking at the market as it is this month or last month, you’re going to miss out. You need to be a little more forward thinking and have the courage to say, ‘there is a future of real estate and we want to be in it.’ “

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