This week, I am excited to speak with Ken Franasiak, Chairman & CEO at Calamar Enterprises – a major privately owned full-service, vertically integrated real estate organization comprised of finance, development, construction, and asset management divisions with over 100 separate LLC’s under its umbrella. The topic of our discussion is the current state and likely future of commercial real estate both as an investment asset class and as an operating business sector.

As a third-generation family enterprise leader, 30-year veteran investor and operator in commercial real estate, and former advisor to the New York Federal Reserve Board, Ken brings a unique perspective to this conversation. He shares his views on the economic, demographic, and behavioral trends that are currently reshaping commercial real estate and their effects on investors, developers, and operators.

Ken also offers valuable insights into the impact of these current trends on the financial and operating ecosystem that surrounds commercial real estate, especially the state of the credit markets and the financial institutions that fuel and support the industry.

To his fellow direct-investing families and family offices, who are active investors in real estate as an asset class, Ken extends his views on what to watch out for right now and how to protect their investment portfolios against the adverse trends impacting commercial real estate. But he also makes it clear that not all is doom and gloom and offers his tips on the sub-sectors where he sees bright spots and attractive opportunities for families to invest in commercial real estate – something Ken and his family enterprise, Calamar, have been doing successfully for over three decades.

If you are even remotely interested in commercial real estate, you would not want to miss this enlightening conversation with one of the most experienced and thoughtful family investors in this sector.