09/29/2026
Bill Boben , Jeff Kurtz, Mike Lorelli and Chad Royer participated in the SIOR Philadelphia Chapter - Fall Office and Industrial Property Summit at the ArtQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, PA earlier this morning. The event drew over 250 commercial real estate professionals and industry sponsors, including Minnesota resident and SIOR Global President- Elect, Aaron Barnard. Thomas LaSalvia, PhD from Moody's kicked off the program with a presentation on the structural shifts and growing divide in commercial real estate performance. The U.S. office market continues to improve with net absorption still growing, despite unemployment growth. The Industrial Market remains healthy on a national level, but rent growth has not met investor's expectations and has been outpaced recently by inflation.
Margo Mocarski, Principle at Lee & Associates served as Moderator for the office market: Investment, transformation, and next chapter session which focused on the Philadelphia market. Panelists Brian Berson, CEO at Shepherd Real Estate and Greg Webster discussed acquisition strategies in purchasing underperforming office assets with $100M in debt for $30M and transforming buildings by dropping floors, reshaping interior spaces, adding amenities, and converting space to residential. Finally, Colin Flynn, Broker at the Flynn Company drilled down on one of Philadelphia's most exciting redevelopment stories in the $4 billon adaptive re-use of the former Atlantic Richfield refinery site into the Bellwether District, a 1,300-acre industrial and manufacturing center near the heart of the City. HRP Group, panelists Sam Browne, Andrew Chused and John Tschantz discussed the environmental recovery efforts that have included the removal of 634,000 gallons of spilled oil and 950 miles of pipeline. The team has successfully delivered 2 new buildings of 325,000 sf and 734,000 sf. The Project is anticipated to take 10-15 years to complete.
It was a great morning for the High team, meeting lots of old industry friends and making new ones. The event discussion topics were timely and the panelist's provided lots of insight and experience in their presentations. The SteelStacks venue provides an inspiring backdrop, adding additional character to one of the top commercial real estate events in the Mid-Atlantic region. High Associates Ltd. is pleased to support our membership for over 30 years of participating in the SIOR Philadelphia Chapter.
