Industry leaders to discuss real estate crisis at UF conference

October 23, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Nationally known industry leaders, including a policy adviser to the Federal Reserve Board, will discuss the real estate crisis Nov. 14 at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center.

The Real Estate Trends and Strategies Conference will include a discussion on retail property in Florida and break-out sessions on topics such as sustainability, legal issues in troubled real estate and the availability of real estate jobs.

A panel discussion on the current financial crisis will feature Scott Frame, a financial economist and policy adviser for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, who recently spent 12 weeks in Washington, D.C., as a mortgage-crisis adviser to the Federal Reserve Board, and Mark Flannery, eminent scholar at UF and a world-class expert on financial regulation.

“These leading experts will be able to share timely insight” after the election, said Wayne Archer, executive director of the University of Florida’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies.

UF experts participating in the conference also include Bahar Armaghani, assistant director of UF Facilities Planning.

The conference attracts veteran real estate professionals and recent graduates but is open to anyone.

Registration ends Nov. 3, but last year’s conference sold out early. The conference Web site, http://www.cba.ufl.edu/fire/realestate/cres/conference.asp, has online sign-up and a schedule of events.

Those who cannot attend will be able to listen to podcasts of discussions after the conference at www.realestate.ufl.edu.