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By JILL ESTERBROOKS, Special to the Daily Transcript
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
"The impact of Sept. 11 on our business and on the real estate business in the country in general, was part of the overall weakening of corporate growth," said Rob Lankford, president of Lankford & Associates Inc.
"Corporate growth in the business world is, obviously, what drives the need for additional and renovated office spaces and other employment work spaces. The capital finance markets are now extremely sensitive and careful with regard to new major real estate investments."
According to Lankford, "Sept. 11 actually occurred after the general economic downturn had begun, and the effect of the terrorist attacks was to, if anything, slightly lengthen the time needed to recover from such a downturn, which is a process we're still in."
The direct effect of that, said Lankford, is the existence of vacancies in business facilities that would then preclude the need for development of new facilities at least until those vacancies are absorbed.
"Having said that, San Diego appears to be uniquely one of few cities in the country that has a series of bright spots in spite of the economic downturn and Sept. 11. Given its locale, its strong biomedical and defense industry backbone, together with a growing interest in a revitalized downtown, San Diego has a lot more going for it than many other major cities."
Esterbrooks is a free-lance writer based in San Diego.
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