Rusty & Crumbling Infrastructure
If you visit New York City take the time to tour 2nd Avenue between 68th Street and 74th Street. You will see your tax dollars at work building a shiny new subway line that will (supposedly) relieve congestion on the East Side. Problem is that it’s like London in 1940, a war zone with kegs of dynamite blasting away. It’s a folly that has already cost billions. The bad news is that I’ve learned that there is not adequate funding in place to complete the project. Infrastructure in the US is a mess. New projects such as the 2nd Avenue subway are ill conceived by a bunch of bureaucrats, and the water, sewer, electric and other essential services—along with bridges, tunnels, roadways—and every other critical system, is rusting or crumbling away. Real estate is a close cousin to infrastructure and I suggest that the leadership of our industry turn their attention to the situation and aggressively lobby for federal, state and local governments to address this situation. Frankly, the most efficient step would be to privatize many of these systems, like many cities and municipalities are privatizing parking. Private enterprise is the only solution.

Tony LoPinto is a senior client partner and head of Korn//Ferry International’s Real Estate Practice and founder of SelectLeaders. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.

HOLLIDAY FENOGLIO FOWLER, L.P.
Producer Investment Sales
(ORANGE COUNTY, CA) The producer will be responsible for originating, directing the marketing, negotiating and closing commercial real estate loans, and/or equity joint ventures for office, industrial and retail commercial properties; and working closely with the local markets, borrowers and lending customers of commercial real estate, and develop significant long term relationships with the borrowers and service providers to promote those markets; among other duties.