Special Guest Speaker: Governor Brian Kemp

No Recession Here: The Georgia Ports Authority and its impact on Commercial Real Estate

Governor Kemp will deliver the Keynote Address that gets straight to our topic – The Intersection of Commercial Real Estate and Georgia Economic Expansion.  

Whether the economic driver is the Hyundai Metaplant, Kia Motors, EV battery factories, the U.S. Soccer headquarters or the Port of Savannah itself, the State of Georgia’s pro-business development outreach has positively impacted all property types across the state.

With Governor Kemp leading us off, REIAC will explore what’s next at the crossroads of our real estate industry and the State of Georgia.

Find out the latest on tap for Georgia’s biggest jobs engine, and how the real estate community can be a part of the big prosperity next year!

The Georgia Port Authority, through its ports and inland terminals supports more than 561,000 jobs throughout the stateannually and retains its title as America’s Fastest Growing Port. 

GPA anticipates investing $4.2 billion in the next ten years as part of its port master plan to expand cargo handling capabilities to support future supply chain requirements.  

So, what resulting opportunities will real estate participants uncover in the next two years:

• More housing?
• More industrial? 
• More infrastructure?
• Retail and hotels?

What can the real estate community do for the Ports?  What and where should we focus for development, financing and ownership?  Where are the real estate “shortages” that can be activated by the private sector?

And how do we do that during oversupply concerns of [ fill in each property type here ] and a capital crunch?   (I’m looking at you, lenders…)       

Battery factories and EV manufacturers aplenty in Georgia – but do we have the people and bricks & mortar infrastructure to keep up?  Where are we lacking? (we’re on board to build more of everything…just sayin’)

Going Long:           It’s not just Savannah.  Inland ports at each corner of Georgia spread the wealth and facilitate large-scale manufacturing and high-quality jobs.  Where should we be concentrating?

Getting Wild:         Any impact that the Middle East (and drone attacks) have on shipping volume at our end? 

Dry January:          (and February and March…)  That Panama Canal – Mother Nature as disruptor?

Our REIAC program will dive deep into the Port Authority’s impact on our economy and our coming real estate development and investment opportunities throughout the state.  Our panelists are the decision-makers for all of the above:

• Dr. Walter Kemmsies | Managing Partner, The Kemmsies Group
• Stacy Watson | Director of Economic and Industrial Development, Georgia Ports Authority
• Eric Howell | CEO, Port City Logistics
• Richard Ross | CEO, Quinn Residences
• Michael Murphy | Chief Development Officer, CenterPoint Properties
• Additional speakers to be named soon

We thank our generous sponsors for their ongoing support: Crown Advisors, Dentons, Frazier & Dieter, LightBox EDR and Stewart Title - Commercial Services.

Best Regards, 

Jerry Monash, CCIM                 Bill Leffler                Bobby Norwood David Meline Phil Canzian

REIAC SE President                   Program Chairman    Program Organizer Program Organizer. Program Organizer