The CBE held its first John Gerro Real Estate Symposium at the JW Marriott in Downtown L.A. on January 19th. Themed, “The Changing Skyline of Downtown,” the event featured speakers and panels covering perspectives of downtown Los Angeles real estate development from prominent city government officials, developers, business coalitions, designers and real estate service firms. The event attracted over 140 attendees from almost 50 businesses and organizations.
The symposium highlighted the recent innovations and forthcoming improvements in the area. Keynote Councilman Jose Huizar led the event discussing his initiatives to promote smart urban growth in a rapidly changing environment. Attendees learned about the innovations developed for the new Wilshire Grand building from Kevin Dow of Turner Construction while Marcelo Spina, Design Principle at P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S, reminded the group how the innovative architectural design of infill projects transforms the existing texture of downtown Los Angeles into sustainable and innovative urban spaces, adaptive to today's technology and lifestyle.
John Zanetos of CBRE and keynote speaker Carol Schatz, President & CEO of the Downtown Center Business Improvement District detailed how existing buildings and spaces are being reinvented to suit the changing demographics of the downtown area. Kevin Keller, Deputy of Planning at the City of L.A. showed how planned developments in transportation for the DTLA support those changing demographic needs.
Many thanks for the success of the event go to sponsor and Cal State LA alumnus John Gerro. The John Gerro Real Estate Symposium was established with a generous contribution to the Finance, Law and Real Estate Department in the College of Business and Economics in order to expand student opportunities, to broaden understanding of the real estate market, and to engage our alumni, academic and professional constituencies. If you are interested in participating or sponsoring next year’s event please contact Denise Gutierrez at [email protected].