JUNE 14-15: GOV. CHRISTIE AND LT. GOV. GUADAGNO SET TO ADDRESS I.CON-THE INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE
Event Co-produced by NAIOP Corporate will bring Industry Decision-makers to New Jersey from Across North America
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – June 8, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — I.con-The Industrial Conference, slated for June 14-15, 2012, at the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City, is expected to attract nearly 400 senior real estate professionals from across North America. The annual event, produced by NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, and held in partnership with NAIOP New Jersey and SIOR, will be highlighted by addresses from Gov. Chris Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.
“As global markets continue to recover, how will increasing demand for consumer goods affect the logistics supply chain, the demand for industrial development and trends in current and future facilities?” said Thomas Bisacquino, President and CEO of the 15,000-member NAIOP. “These are just a few of the topics to be discussed in-depth at the only national conference for industrial real estate.”
“The U.S. industrial market is operating within a highly dynamic global economy,” said Anne Strauss-Wieder, President of Westfield, N.J.-based consulting firm A. Strauss-Wieder, Inc., and this year’s I.con chairman. “I.con will highlight these important trends, best practices and considerations, all of which are immediately useful to your business.”
This marks the second time New Jersey has hosted this prestigious national event. “New Jersey’s selection is a huge win for our state, and hundreds of high-level decision-makers coming here from across North America will learn about the good things happening in New Jersey,” said Michael G. McGuinness, CEO of NAIOP New Jersey, the leading commercial real estate association in the Garden State.
“Transportation, warehousing and logistics have been targeted as a priority growth sector by the Christie administration’s State Strategic Plan,” said McGuinness. “Attendees will include real estate investors, developers, property owners, brokers, financiers, asset managers, shippers, and business executives that are seriously considering investing and locating in New Jersey. They will learn that doing business in New Jersey is cost-effective, and that the state’s regulatory and tax climate is getting more business-friendly each day. Who better to deliver that important message than Gov. Christie and Lt. Gov. Guadagno?”
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno will address attendees at 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, and Gov. Christie will offer his remarks at 11 a.m, Friday morning.
Thursday, June 14
The event, beginning on Thursday, June 14, will include two tours of the New Jersey market, including a bus tour of the Port of New York and New Jersey, which generates $11.6 billion in personal income and $37.1 billion in business income annually and is taking steps to accommodate the post-Panamax ships enabled by the widening of the Panama Canal. Also, a walking tour of the DRT Data Center will provide an inside look at the tri-state area’s growing high-security data facility market.
“The quickly expanding data center market is creating opportunity in industrial real estate markets across the country,” said Jeff Hipschman, senior managing director of CBRE in Saddle Brook, N.J., who will moderate a panel discussion, “Industrial to Data Centers—A Hot Trend.” “Our panel comprised of data center developers and occupiers will focus on the latest trends and opportunities in the data center sector.”
Also, a number of industry professionals from the metropolitan region will headline the two-day event’s panels and presentations, beginning with welcoming remarks on June 14 by Janice Stanton of Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Group. Other metropolitan region speakers will include William Beck of Credit Suisse, Michael Bucheit of FiberMedia Group and Edward Russo of Russo Development.
Friday, June 15
The June 15 schedule will kick off with a program titled “Understanding and Navigating State Incentives.” Among panelists will be Jay Biggins of Princeton, N.J.-based Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Company, a corporate site selection advisory firm. Next, event chairman Anne Strauss-Wieder will head a panel addressing the question, “What Are the Channel Masters Thinking about the Supply Chain?” Panelists include Michael J. Landsburg of NFI Real Estate and Gary Brayman of Phoenix Beverages.
Next on the agenda is the topic, “Investment Strategies: Public vs. Private.” Mark G. Levy of Prologis-East Region will moderate a panel that will include Don Chase of KTR Capital Partners, Nick Anthony of Duke Realty Corporation, and Stanley Alterman of USAA Real Estate Company. A lunch presentation titled “Art of the Deal – ‘Shark Tank’,” pitting developer/operators vs. institutional equity “sharks,” will feature Peter Sibilia of J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Alexander Taylor of Matrix Development Group.
I.con will conclude with a Panama Canal Presentation by Bisacquino who will share his experiences gained from a recent real estate tour of Panama. The Panama Canal expansion resonates in the New Jersey/New York region in the form of the project to raise the Bayonne Bridge to permit passage into the port by those larger vessels enabled by the canal’s expansion. Raising the Bayonne Bridge has been a key advocacy issue for NAIOP New Jersey and its members. Six continuing education credits (CEUs) are pending approval for NJ Licensed Real Estate Brokers.
For more information or to register for I.con — The Industrial Conference, call (800) 666-6780, or visit www.naiop.org/icon12.
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Media Contact:
Evelyn Weiss Francisco: evelyn (at) caryl (dot) com, (201) 796-7788, www.twitter.com/carylcomm
