Orchard Update - Tony Thompson
I went to the Orchard Conference late last week. Orchard puts on a good meeting. I did not learn much from keynote speaker Tony Thompson. His speech was a ramble, with references to Martin Luther King, Thomas Edison, The Beatles and George Washington. (I wondered whether he secretly pictures himself with this pantheon.) I guess he is doing some sort of vulture fund, but more for troubled sponsors. Most real estate is not yet troubled (unless purchased in a frenzy in early 2007) and thinly capitalized sponsors are feeling the pinch more so than their deals. Development deals caught in the midst of the credit crisis are the exception and he has hired a development expert. I suspect the broker / dealer community will be hearing more detail from Tony's extensive organization soon.