Riaz Cassum
Riaz Cassum
Title: Senior Managing Director, HFF, Boston
Age: 53
Experience: 26 years
Riaz Cassum helps investors find opportunities in Greater Boston’s sought-after commercial real estate market. HFF’s Boston office completed sales totaling $2.7 billion during 2014, including the $500-million refinancing of the International Place office towers in downtown Boston. A graduate of the University of Mumbai and Boston University School of Management, Cassum joined the firm in 1989 when it was called Fowler, Goedecke, Ellis & O’Connor Inc. Previously he was a vice president at Wells Fargo Bank.
Q: Do you expect the busy investment sales volume of 2014 to carry over this year?
A: It’s been a slower start. People are taking a breather from the busy fourth quarter last year. For a lot of the capital sources, the owners are busy and understaffed for the amount of capital they have, and the assets they’re trying to manage. The markets have gotten stronger but they haven’t staffed up. That’s been one constraint both by owners and buyers.
Q: What assets types are in the greatest demand this year in Greater Boston?
A: I see office continuing to strengthen as the economy gets stronger and the job market rebounds. Retail is very strong. Everybody’s under-allocated on retail. Industrial is attractive, but it’s a small market up here. Hotels continue to be strong. And multifamily, people are going to wait and see what happens with all the supply that’s going up.
Q: Are investors getting cautious about backing rental projects?
A: There will be a cautious approach to the rental market. A lot of the lenders already have made loans, so they have exposure with the supply coming online. There will be a pause, but with the right sponsorship and the right location, lenders are still willing to make loans against multifamily properties. The good thing is the people developing these are long-term investors as opposed to merchant builders and that’s going to grow as well.
Q: What’s needed to get some of the major mixed-use projects such as North Station and the One Congress/Government Center garage redevelopment going?
A: On the office side, they need some good preleasing. We’ll probably see some big anchor tenants start to make some moves in the next 12 to 18 months for a new building or taking a significant portion. The Seaport is fairly built out now, so locations like North Station and Government Center and even Steve Belkin’s project at 111 Federal St. all will see some activity from major tenants.
The condo component is going to do well. They’re looking at the next cycle of deliveries, which is not going to compete with the supply coming on for the next 24 months.
Q: What’s the biggest risk to the CRE market in 2015?
A: The biggest risk is just the volatility in the global capital markets. Obviously oil, even interest rates, while they’re low and it’s good for real estate, it’s going to cause much concern that we’re entering into a disinflationary environment. The U.S. is in good shape but Europe, Japan and China have problems that could migrate to our shores.
Q: How will the region’s real estate be affected by Boston being named the U.S. bid city for the 2024 Olympics?
A: It’s only positive: the creative thinking that’s going to come out of this process in terms of infrastructure and bringing Boston into the limelight globally. People will come here, know about Boston and want to invest in this market. It puts Boston more on the global stage and there will be some great ideas. Hudson Yards (in New York) is a great example. It was originally going to be a site for the Olympics. The infrastructure that went into that is what’s making Hudson Yards viable as a commercial project.
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- London
