NEW YORK CITY—With the Trump administration's plans for a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal to follow its tax bill, the idea is heating up as a probable next topic of national debate and concern. Although the panel at NYU's Schack Institute of Real Estate did not discuss the idea of tax incentives to assist with private ownership of public infrastructure, they all agreed that cities have a critical need for safe, reliable and effective infrastructure.

Sam Chandan, the associate dean of the Schack Institute, moderated a panel discussion on global equity and infrastructure funding on Thursday. The speakers discussed how much the returns on real estate investments rely on infrastructure.

Panelist Paul Galiano, senior managing director and co-head of US acquisitions and global dispositions, equity capital, and joint venture programs at Tishman Speyer, pointed out that New York City's average stock of office buildings is now 75 years old. Developers can renovate but certain features such as 20 x 20 column spacing cannot be reworked to accommodate today's design choices (such as 60,000 square feet of column-free space).