In this COVID-19 social distancing policy compliant remote interview done by TRD’s Amir Korangy, Michael Shvo, CEO of SHVO, a real estate development company based in New York City with additional offices in London and Dubai, and highly active in Miami, discusses the implications of COVID-19 on commercial real estate and lifestyles overall. The core of his message is that this will pass. He notes there was a similar panic after 9-11, but that panic passed, and opportunity was found on the other side. He expects that owners that to this point were hesitant to accept good offers for properties out of a nagging concern that they might get more now or soon might, of a sudden, be more willing to do a deal. This is an excellent and timely interview with a pragmatist already thinking about the opportunity on the other side of all this.
About 2/3 of the way through there is considerable discussion of SHVO’s plans for the Raleigh Hotel and the effects of his Miami hotels having been shut down due to the coronavirus. He notes that, in their case, it means they have to close 4 months earlier than they would have had to otherwise. They go on to discuss hotels as an asset looking forward. Interestingly, for a set of reasons that make sense (listen) he thinks more moderate priced hotels will rebound faster.