The Urban Lab Sam Chandan

Mitch Roschelle, Co-Publisher and Co-Chair of the ULI Emerging Trends in Real Estate report and Partner at PwC and Co-Chair of the firm's Real Estate Practice, joins Sam Chandan to discuss conditions in the commercial real estate market, the outlook for retail and office space demand, the competitive position of core urban areas in a post-pandemic world, and the persistence of historically low interest rates. 

For over 40 years, the Emerging Trends in Real Estate report has been amongst the most respected and widely read global surveys of real estate industry leader sentiment and expectations. According to ULI, the report "includes interviews and survey responses from more than 2,200 leading real estate experts, including investors, fund managers, developers, property companies, lenders, brokers, advisers and consultants."

For more information about the Urban Lab podcast and Dr. Sam Chandan, please visit http://www.samchandan.com/urbanlab.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has played a critical role in the nation’s coronavirus pandemic response and in managing challenges to housing stability for both homeowners and renters impacted by the crisis. That support has taken myriad forms, ranging from forbearance for homeowners with federally backed loans to Ginnie Mae’s interventions to support liquidity in the mortgage-backed securities market.

To discuss HUD's response to the crisis, Sam Chandan is joined by the Honorable Seth Appleton, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development & Research at HUD and head of Ginnie Mae; and Alfonso Costa, Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary Ben Carson and HUD's agency lead for the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. The Council is the oversight body for the Opportunity Zone program, which provides new paths for  investment in historically underserved communities.

Program Notes

Information for homeowners, renters, and housing providers on HUD's pandemic response programs can be found at hud.gov/coronavirus.

Information about the Opportunity Zone program can be found at OpportunityZones.gov.

IRS Notice 2020-39—Relief for Qualified Opportunity Funds and Investors Affected by Ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Few corporate location decisions have generated as much excitement or controversy as Amazon’s search for HQ2. More than 200 cities across North America entered into a frenzied bidding war to become the tech giant’s next home, with New York City and Arlington, Virginia ultimately sharing the prize in late 2018. Just a few months later, Amazon cancelled its plans for New York in the face of a backlash that divided New Yorkers.

To recount the story of HQ2 and the lessons for cities, as well as the recent decision by Sidewalk Labs to abandon its plans for a smart city in Toronto, Sam Chandan is joined by Richard Florida, University Professor at the University of Toronto and Distinguished Fellow at Schack’s Urban Lab, and Matthew Kwatinetz, Director of the Urban Lab. Florida was involved in preparing Toronto's bid for HQ2 while Kwatinetz was Executive Vice President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYC EDC) at the time.

This episode includes excerpts from Sam Chandan's and Richard Florida's NYU class, Global Cities in a Post-Pandemic World, and has been edited for content and length.

For more information about the Urban Lab podcast and Dr. Sam Chandan, please visit http://www.samchandan.com/urbanlab. 

Brian Ward, CEO of Trimont and a member of the Board of Advisors at the NYU Schack Institute and Harvard Business School, joins Sam Chandan to discuss the rise in commercial real estate mortgage delinquencies and what happens when borrowers are unable to make their monthly mortgage payments. They discuss the role of forbearance and the uncertainties confounding the outlook for office, hotel, and retail properties. They conclude the conversation with Ward's observations on the role of industry leaders as mentors for young professionals entering the workforce during a period of crisis.

For more information about the Urban Lab podcast and Dr. Sam Chandan, please visit http://www.samchandan.com/urbanlab.

Renowned urbanist Richard Florida joins Sam Chandan to discuss the future of cities as well as the social and economic forces contributing to protests taking place across the world following the death of George Floyd.

Dr. Richard Florida is Distinguished Fellow at the NYU SPS Schack Institute's Urban Lab, University Professor at the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management, and Founder and Editor-at-Large at CityLab. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling Rise of the Creative Class, as well as The Great Reset and The New Urban Crisis.

This podcast includes excerpts from Sam Chandan's and Richard Florida's NYU class, Global Cities in a Post-Pandemic World, and has been edited for content and length.

For more information about the Urban Lab podcast and Dr. Sam Chandan, please visit http://www.samchandan.com/urbanlab.

Ivan Kaufman, Chairman and CEO of Arbor Realty Trust, joins Sam Chandan to discuss apartment investment and lending during the pandemic, the availability of construction loans, the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, demand for single family rental homes, and Arbor's renter assistance program.

For more information about the Urban Lab podcast and Dr. Sam Chandan, please visit http://www.samchandan.com/urbanlab.