NEW YORK CITY-Real estate values in Lower Manhattan are permanently damaged, according to three industry experts speaking at an Appraisal Institute seminar held here late last week. Given the catastrophic loss of office space, the drop off in foot traffic and the eventual stigma to be associated with whatever is redeveloped at the site, it was determined that the negative impact on building values Downtown will likely be unending.

The seminar expanded on a recently completed report, “The Impact of the World Trade Center Disaster on Real Property Values Temporary or Permanent Impairment for Financial Reporting Purposes,” written by James MacCrate, principal of MacCrate Associates LLC; Terry Vaughn Grissom, professor of real estate at Georgia State University; and Dominick Pompeo, president of the Diversified Valuation Group based here. MacCrate, Grissom and Pompeo made up the evening's panel.

Designed to determine the mathematical value of Lower Manhattan properties before and after Sept. 11 for the purpose of reporting losses to the IRS, the report cites several research sources, including newspaper reports, industry and union reps, expert knowledge, tax receipts and government findings.