BlackRock Managing Director Headlines VCU Real Estate Conference

By Tom Gresham

Sally Gordon, managing director of BlackRock, will be the opening speaker at the 19th annual Virginia Commonwealth University Real Estate Trends Conference on Oct. 13 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

Gordon, who has done research on commercial real estate property markets and capital markets for nearly 20 years, will provide an overview of national and regional housing market conditions. The conference, which is organized by the Real Estate Program in the VCU School of Business, has sold out the past 14 years and will attract more than 800 people from both the academic and professional ranks, representing segments such as banking, engineering, investments, consulting, valuation, government and brokerage.

“The real estate market remains a difficult one to forecast, but this conference brings together some of the best minds in the business to explore what the future holds,” said Gloria Freye, partner with McGuire Woods and 2009 conference chair. “The conference’s speakers will help attendees better understand the relevant economic conditions, market cycles and their effect on commercial and residential real estate.”

Gordon, who also was the opening speaker at the 2008 conference, has focused her work in recent years on commercial mortgage backed securities. Prior to joining BlackRock, she conducted research for Credit Suisse First Boston and Citicorp, served as national director of Real Estate Research and Economics in the Management Consulting Group of KPMG Peat Marwick and served as senior vice president of Moody’s Investor Services.

In addition, Stephen R. Blank, senior resident fellow, finance, at the Urban Land Institute, and David Lereah, president of Reecon Advisors, will examine “Hot Topics in Real Estate,” discussing real estate finance and housing markets.

Rounding out the conference is Jeffrey DeBoer, president and chief executive officer of the Real Estate Roundtable, who will discuss national policies and their impact on real estate and the economy.

The conference opens at 8:30 a.m. and continues until 12:30 p.m. Registration and a continental breakfast begin at 7:30 a.m. For more information and online registration, visit http://www.realestate.vcu.edu/.