The coronavirus pandemic has slowed our economy to a crawl, leading to millions of laid-off or furloughed employees and thousands of shuttered businesses. The commercial real estate industry is not immune to the effects of the pandemic: developers are facing permit challenges and construction delays, and owners and operators have seen reductions in operating income.1
On Wednesday, April 22nd at 12:30 PM ET, we held a webinar to discuss the state of the commercial real estate market. We were joined by two veterans of the commercial real estate industry who provided their insight and answered audience questions about the commercial real estate market.
Specifically, we discussed:
Dennis Bernard is the founder and President of Bernard Financial Group (“BFG”) and Bernard Financial Servicing Group (“BFSG”). Founded in 1991, BFG has grown into the largest commercial mortgage banking firm in Michigan financing on average over $1 billion each year of Michigan Commercial Real Estate. Over the last 33 years, Dennis has specialized in both debt and equity placement with commercial lenders and institutional joint venture participants. Bernard Financial Group has also been involved in commercial mortgage servicing on construction and permanent loan portfolios.
Dennis holds a BA in Finance from Miami University, as well as an MBA in Finance and Strategic Planning from Case Western Reserve University.
Mark is the Chief Operating Officer of Signature Associates, a full-service commercial real estate firm. Mark has 30 years of management and corporate real estate experience—prior to joining Signature Associates in 2005, Mark served as the Managing Director of Cushman & Wakefield’s Detroit office, where he managed all brokerage, asset management, market research, capital markets and client solutions activities.
Mark holds a BA from the University of Michigan. He is a past President of the Commercial Board of Realtors (CBOR), and he is a member of the Board of Counsel Advisors for Michigan Economic Development (MEDC).
1 McKinsey & Company, Commercial real estate must do more than merely adapt to coronavirus