Senior Managing Director of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, Cbre
Search every verified Steven Iaco interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2021 CNBC appearance, CBRE CEO Bob Sulentic discussed the company's performance and outlook for commercial real estate. Sulentic stated that CBRE's earnings stream had been "far more resilient than people expected," attributing this to the company's diversification across asset types including data centers, industrial and distribution centers, and multi-family financing, which he said "held up quite well" during the pandemic. He noted that asset classes under pressure, such as office buildings, retail centers, and hotels, would "start to clearly come back meaningfully after we get a vaccine," while predicting "stress for two or three years" before a different picture emerges. Sulentic said he expects a "hybrid scenario" for office space, with "80 plus percent of that occupancy, if not more" returning, alongside remote working, flex space, and new uses of office space. He indicated that by the second half of 2022, there would be "much more activity in office buildings," followed by hotels and retail the next year. For warehouses and data centers, Sulentic described "continued strength" rather than a comeback, noting record activity levels in warehousing throughout the COVID period.
“CBRE is a very diversified commercial real estate services and investment company. Yes, we're exposed to office buildings, retail centers, and hotels to a degree, but we also have big exposure to data centers, industrial and distribution centers, multi-family financing, project management—lots of things that have held...”
“Our earnings stream has been far more resilient than people expected and that's really what you're seeing in our stock.”
“Some of these asset types that are under pressure will start to clearly come back meaningfully after we get a vaccine and see the effects of that. Office buildings, people will go back to work; retail centers, retail buildings will start to see better occupancy.”
“There's going to be stress for two or three years but a very, very different picture after we have a vaccine.”
“The office centers, the retail, the hotels may come back a little bit slower than the multi-family part of your business and the industrial part which would be not only data centers but I'm sure some manufacturing but a lot of warehousing, a lot of warehouse.”
“There's no comeback on warehouse; it's been a record activity level on that throughout the COVID period for the most part. Data centers are super strong so that you're not talking about comeback in those asset classes, you're talking about continued strength.”
“Comeback in multifamily which has returned pretty significantly but we think by the second half of next year you'll see much more activity in office buildings and then into the next year hotels and retail.”
“You'll see a hybrid scenario, Tyler. Lots of returning to the office. We think 80 plus percent of that occupancy, if not more, will come back but they'll be remote working, flex space, they'll be working from home, and there'll be new and creative things happen in the use of office space.”
Bob Sulentic, CBRE Group CEO and president, joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss his outlook for 2021 and how they blunted the ...
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