Hamid Moghadam: Industrial Market Has Turned a Corner - REITs@50 Series

http://www.reit.com After surviving what he considers the most difficult period in the history of industrial REITs, the sector has turned a corner, according to REIT industry pioneer Hamid Moghadam, co-founder, chairman and CEO of AMB Property Corporation (NYSE: AMB).

The industrial sector struggled for two years throughout the global economic slowdown, but Moghadam says the fact that absorption of space turned positive in the middle of the year bodes well for the sector.

"We take that as a very good sign and are optimistic that the next couple of years are going to be much better than the last two," he says. "What happened in the last two years was simply unprecedented."

Looking abroad, AMB is pursuing different growth strategies suited to specific categories of markets.

"In the developed economies where economic growth is slower and property development opportunities are more limited, we see better opportunities in buying existing assets at a discount to replacement cost," Moghadam says.

In contrast, emerging economies have fewer existing assets, Moghadam notes. Therefore, AMB is devoting more assets and resources to new development projects, according to Moghadam.

Moghadam cites China and Brazil as two of the developing markets that have piqued his company's interest.

"Those two economies pretty much went through this downturn without feeling much of it and continue to be very strong in the aftermath," Moghadam says.

Based in San Francisco, AMB owns, operates and develops industrial facilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia. In total, the company's portfolio consists of 158.4 million square feet in 49 markets in 15 markets around the world.

Moghadam founded AMB along with Douglas Abbey and T. Robert Burke in 1983. The company went public in 1997.

For more videos, information and constant updates from REITWorld 2010: NAREIT's Annual Convention for All Things REIT, visit REIT.com.

By Matt Bechard

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• REIT
• NAREIT
• Hamid Moghadam
• AMB Property Corporation
• industrial REITs
• commercial real estate market
• finance
• corporate finance
• property development
• global economy
• global real estate
• developing markets
• real estate investment trusts
• real estate
• real estate investment
• REIT industry
• REIT performance
• investment
• REITWorld 2010
• Matt Bechard