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The Real Estate Roundtable’s membership has re-elected Debra A. Cafaro (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ventas, Inc.) as Chair, while approving five new members for its Board of Directors who will serve during the organization’s 2021 fiscal year (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021).
- Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer presented the election results and the organization’s FY2020 Annual Report, Leading Though Crisis, during The Roundtable’s June 11 Annual Meeting.
- The 24-member FY2021 Board is elected from the membership and includes five elected leaders of national real estate trade organizations from The Roundtable’s 19 partner associations.
- Cafaro, whose three-year term as chair began July 1, 2018, said, “We are delighted to welcome five industry leaders to The Real Estate Roundtable Board. Their outstanding backgrounds, broad industry representation and diverse experiences will enhance our ability to act as the cohesive industry voice addressing key national policy issues relating to real estate and the overall economy. With our existing Board members, we also intend to drive constructive solutions to economic challenges created by the COVID-19 and racial injustice, both of which are crucial to our society, the national economy, local communities and our industry.
- I also sincerely thank our Board members whose terms have expired. They have made significant contributions to the industry and we look forward to their continued engagement with The Roundtable,” Cafaro said.
- DeBoer stated, “Roundtable members are among the most talented and innovative industry leaders. Our Board of Directors represents all major industry activities and is diverse geographically, racially and by gender. The Board’s strategic and organizational decisions are thus sustainable, practical and inclusive. I look forward to continuing to follow the Board’s recommendations as we continue our fact-based analysis of overall economic and industry specific policy issues.”
- Joining The Roundtable’s Board of Directors as of July 1 are:
- Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., Chairman, President & CEO, Park Hotels and Resorts
- Shelby Christensen, Chair and Chief Elected Officer, Building Owners & Managers Association International (BOMA)
- Ken McIntyre, Chief Executive Officer, Real Estate Executive Council
- Brandon Shorenstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Shorenstein Properties
- William Stein, Chief Executive Officer, Digital Realty Trust and Chair, Nareit
- See the complete list of the FY2021 Roundtable’s Board of Directors here.
- The following Roundtable Board members whose terms expired as of July 1 are:
- Dr. Thomas R. Arnold, Global Head of Real Estate, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
- Tim Byrne, President and Chief Executive Officer, Lincoln Property Company
- Scott O. Jones, PE, Principal, Jones Inc. and Immediate Former Chair and CEO, BOMA
- Robert A. Spottswood, President, Spottswood Companies, Inc. and
Chairman, American Resort Development Association
National Recovery & Leading Through Crisis
Jeffrey DeBoer addresses how policymakers and the industry can move forward in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic in a July 10 CBRE podcast with Brian Stoffers, Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association and Global President of Debt & Structured Finance, CBRE.
- DeBoer states in Public Policy in the Age of COVID: Shaping the CRE Recovery, “…look at what Washington has tried to do … building a bridge, in a sense, a bridge to get people and businesses to a point where they return to some semblance of normalcy. And the problem … is the bridge going to get us there as it’s currently constructed? Is it long enough? Is it strong enough?”
- He adds, “…there’s a great deal of concern about that because the PPP – the Paycheck Protection Program – that helped people pay their rent and the unemployment and the supplemental … will it burn off at the same time that the economy regenerates itself? Or will there be this lapse? And if there is a lapse, that’s really the focus, I think, of a great deal of concern right now.”
The Roundtable has also released its FY2020 Annual Report – Leading Though Crisis.
- Chair Cafaro states in the report that as The Real Estate Roundtable beings its 21st year of industry policy work, the nation’s economy is in deep distress due to the COVID-19 health crisis and Americans’ civil protest is a justified expression of anger and frustration around racial injustice.
- “We pledge to take action and be part of the solution,” Cafaro states. She adds that there is much to be done on the policy front ahead: “Although the challenges in these times are unprecedented, our response is based on the same longstanding commitment to sound, evidence-based, nonpartisan policy that undergirds all of our work and success. We know from experience that there is a path to recovery.”
- The 2020 Annual Report covers the following policy issues:
The Roundtable’s Meeting Calendar for FY2021 is now available. The next Fall Roundtable Meeting on September 22 is for Roundtable-level members only. Registration forms for the remote meeting will be sent directly to members.
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