CCIM Institute Global President David Schnitzer, CCIM: “Deals Get Done Face-to-Face”

For the first time, the National Association of Realtors® and its affiliate The CCIM Institute are partnering on a live event: the C5 + CCIM Global Summit, scheduled for Sept. 28-30 in Atlanta. In advance of the 2023 edition of NAR’s annual event for commercial practitioners, Connect CRE spoke with David Schnitzer, CCIM, partner with Ascend Commercial Real Estate in Dallas and president of The CCIM Institute for a preview of the event and why face-to-face interactions are especially important in the current environment.

Q: From your position at Ascend and then also your role as CCIM president, what is your take on the current market conditions?

A: I think the current market conditions vary depending upon the market that you’re in and the side of the business that you’re on, of course. What we have seen nationwide is that overall, as we have all heard, office is down. The return-to-work experiment has not gone as well as both company owners and landlords had hoped. We are seeing a lot of empty space. We are seeing a lot of reduction in space, or at least an attempt at reduction in space.

That being said, everything else for the most part is doing really well. Industrial, despite the fact that some large corporations have given back some industrial product, is still doing incredibly well. Last-mile logistics is still doing incredibly well. Retail has been on fire. It is absolutely off the charts in almost every market, with the exception of some large downtown urban environments. But when you’re talking about office space nationwide, if you look at the north versus the southern Sunbelt states, you’re seeing a very different office environment. A lot of the Sunbelt states have a great return-to-work number. We’re seeing around 60% return to work, sometimes even higher depending upon where you are. In my market, we’re even higher than that now in our suburban and uptown areas.

What’s great about retail overall, and why is it still doing really well? Obviously, consumerism is a big part of the United States. It is a big part of who we are as a country. But also it hasn’t been overbuilt. We have basically built what we have needed for the past 30 to 40 years, and that has really helped the situation that we’re in now and also the situation that we were in even 15 years ago. So I think we’re being smart about our development right now.

Q: Given the current market, is the exchange of ideas and best practices especially important for industry members?

A: Absolutely. In our world, deals get done face-to-face. Deals get done through relationships. I have done more deals and bought more property through personal relationships than anything in the world. Because those personal relationships really create that bond. That is the purpose of what we do; these in-person meetings have enhanced what we do as brokers, as owners, as lenders. You don’t get this through the Internet. You don’t get this through making a phone call generally or sending an email. You get this through relationships. That is what CCIM is based on. That is what many of these organizations are based on.

Q: NAR and The CCIM Institute will partner for the first time on an event with the C5 + CCIM Global Summit. What led to this partnership and why was this an opportune time for it?

Q: While it’s certainly the first conference and summit that we have had together with the National Association of Realtors®. It’s not the first partnership that we’ve had. CCIM is an affiliate and an institute of the National Association of Realtors®. We are super proud to be associated with NAR.

But this summit is going to be incredible, not just for CCIM members, but for the industry as a whole, because we are bringing incredible speakers, we are bringing incredible panels and great keynotes. People can take the information back and utilize it within their own community and for their clients. Beyond that, though, the best thing about this is the face-to-face opportunities that we get with people who are even outside of our immediate area.

Q: Finally, what are some of the benefits of attending the Summit for CCIM Designees, and for industry members in general?

A: One of the great things that we are doing at this summit is the property tours. It’s great to see what is happening in other markets. You can learn a lot about what you can bring back to your area from touring properties and meeting with people in other markets. Also, CCIM has two educational classes that we are going to have before the conference starts that morning. It’s going to be incredible. Bringing what we know from our educational courses and having the attendees be able to leverage CCIM educational opportunities is going to be fantastic.