Earlier this week, Avi Schick, the recently departed COO of the state’s development agency, penned an op-ed in the Daily News calling for the city and state comptrollers to put $2 billion of their $200 billion or so in pension investments specifically toward the beleaguered commercial real estate sector. Per the op-ed, the pension funds, along with money raised from the private sector, could spark the end of a drought of liquidity in the commercial real estate world.
“By extending financing when traditional lenders are unwilling or unable to, New York will secure its future and that of its retirees,” wrote Mr. Schick, who is chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
Given that the world’s financial institutions don’t seem to have any interest at all in commercial real estate these days, I called Mr. Schick to get a bit more of an explanation. read more »
