EAST GERMAN REALTY GLUT REMINDFUL OF ATLANTA IN MID-70S

WHEN KARL-WERNER SCHULTE, A GERMAN REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL, SPOKE AT A DINNER IN ATLANTA ON SEPT. 5 ABOUT BERLIN AND EAST GERMANY’S CURRENT REAL ESTATE PROBLEMS, IT WAS A CASE OF DEJA VU FOR THOSE WHO RECALL ATLANTA’S REAL ESTATE CRISIS OF THE MID-1970S.

DR. SCHULTE, A PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT AT THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS SCHOOL NEAR WIESBADEN, GERMANY, DESCRIBED OVERENTHUSIASTIC PROPERTY DEVELOPERS RUSHING TO BUILD A GLUT OF EXPENSIVE, UNOCCUPIED APARTMENTS AND COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS.

HE COULD HAVE BEEN SPEAKING ABOUT COLONY SQUARE, THE OMNI (NOW CNN CENTER), TOWER PLACE AND OTHER COMPLEXES WHICH WERE BUILT IN ATLANTA’S “GO-GO BANKING” ERA THAT WAS STOPPED SHORT BY OPEC’S OIL EMBARGO WHICH FUELED ALREADY HIGH INFLATION AND BROUGHT ABOUT A SERIOUS RECESSION.

THE CAUSE OF EAST GERMANY’S CURRENT PROBLEMS WERE DIFFERENT, HAVING BEEN PRIMARILY BROUGHT ABOUT BY GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES THAT LURED DEVELOPERS TO CONSTRUCT MORE UPSCALE BUILDINGS THAN THERE WAS A DEMAND FOR, DR. SCHULTE TOLD THE GUESTS ATTENDING THE DINNER AT THE CAPITAL CITY COUNTRY CLUB INCLUDING RANDY CARDOZA, COMMISSIONER OF THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY TRADE AND TOURISM, AND OTHER OFFICIALS AND LOCAL BUSINESS PEOPLE.

BUT OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS, ESPECIALLY BUILDERS OF AFFORDABLE PROPERTIES, EXIST DESPITE CURRENT MARKET CONDITIONS, HE INSISTED, CITING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTI-USE COMPLEX BY U.S. INVESTORS AT THE INFAMOUS “CHECK-POINT CHARLIE,” WHICH CONTROLLED ACCESS TO EAST BERLIN.

ALSO ATTENDING THE DINNER WERE MORE THAN 40 OTHER ALUMNI, FACULTY AND GRADUATE STUDENTS OF THE REAL ESTATE ACADEMY OF THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS SCHOOL WHO WERE IN ATLANTA AUG. 31-SEPT. 7 FOR A VISIT COORDINATED BY EIKE JORDAN, PRESIDENT OF JORDAN INTER START, INC., AN ATLANTA COMPANY WHICH ASSISTS GERMAN BUSINESSES AND INVESTORS OPERATING IN THE U.S.

DR. JORDAN, THE FOUNDER AND FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE GERMAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE SOUTHERN U.S. INC., TOLD GLOBALFAX THAT THE TRIP WAS DESIGNED TO EDUCATE THE VISITORS ABOUT THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IN THE U.S., ESPECIALLY IN ATLANTA.

HE ADDED THAT THIS WAS THE SECOND MAJOR TOUR HE HAD COORDINATED IN ATLANTA, AND THAT HE FELT THAT THE PARTICIPANTS WOULD HAVE THE SAME SORT OF CONTINUED INTEREST IN THE CITY AS DID THE PARTICIPANTS OF HIS FIRST TRIP, SOME 30% OF WHOM HAVE MAINTAINED SOME SORT OF BUSINESS TIES SINCE THEY WERE HERE IN THE LATE 1970S.