Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. So a story
Speaker 1: and Business Week magazine this week, it's about how landlords
Speaker 1: from Tampa, Florida, to Memphis, Tennessee in Riverside, California have
Speaker 1: been jacking up runts at record speeds. And they just
Speaker 1: talk about multiple people applying, some renters forced to check
Speaker 1: into hotels while they hunt after losing out too many times.
Speaker 1: It's just one part of the massive real estate market
Speaker 1: that we like to follow at Bloomberg. So too does
Speaker 1: our next guest, and back with him, certainly a friend
Speaker 1: of the show, Ketswig, president at s WWIG Equities of
Speaker 1: real estate development and investment firm. They focus on commercial
Speaker 1: and residential properties here on the East coast, on the
Speaker 1: West coast, and Kent back with us on the phone
Speaker 1: in New York. How are you? I am good, I'm good.
Speaker 1: How are you doing? I'm doing well, trying to make
Speaker 1: sense of you know, once again, I feel like I've
Speaker 1: seen this movie before, and I know you and I
Speaker 1: talk about it every time that there's a little bit
Speaker 1: of a spike in numbers or a hotspot. When it
Speaker 1: comes to COVID, we see IBM closing New York City
Speaker 1: offices amid rosings in COVID nineteen cases. We see a
Speaker 1: lot of companies rolling back bringing back workers to their offices.
Speaker 1: What are you seeing and what are maybe the implications
Speaker 1: kent when it comes to commercial real estate, Well, you
Speaker 1: said it perfectly, you know, I feel like we're back
Speaker 1: on the merry ground. Um. I thought we were coming
Speaker 1: out of this certainly by labor Day. I thought that
Speaker 1: the office population would be you know, very much filled
Speaker 1: back in New York City. Um. I think what's happening
Speaker 1: is it's just it's a slow entry back. Um, we're
Speaker 1: certainly seeing rising occupancy. Um. New York is you know,
Speaker 1: well over with one vaccine and and we're we're getting
Speaker 1: more that way. So UM, you know it, this really,
Speaker 1: this whole variant is a result, frankly, of the fact
Speaker 1: that people aren't getting their vaccines. Um. And those people
Speaker 1: who are not getting vaccines really are are are walking
Speaker 1: weapons against you know, all of those who have been vaccinated,
Speaker 1: all of humanity and against them selves. So it's incumbent
Speaker 1: upon us as Americans, as a patriotic thing to do
Speaker 1: is to get vaccinated, and that would put us in
Speaker 1: a position where we can reopen in a much safer way. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, when you talk about you know, we're seeing
Speaker 1: people come back though in terms of rising office vacancy.
Speaker 1: How many offices there are still wide open? Nobody's there? Well,
Speaker 1: I meant rising off the office occupancy if I if
Speaker 1: I said it wrong, I heard that we're still there.
Speaker 1: But it's um, you know, we the occupancy is slowly rising,
Speaker 1: is what I was trying to say. The look I
Speaker 1: thought we would have been, you know, fifty six by now,
Speaker 1: we're not. Um, it is getting that way, I think.
Speaker 1: You know, we're sitting also in the last two weeks
Speaker 1: of August going into Labor Day, so people are saying,
Speaker 1: you know, there's a variant out there. The weather's you know,
Speaker 1: still hot. I might as well wait till after Labor Day.
Speaker 1: We're going to go into the Jewish holidays at that point,
Speaker 1: and there'll be another reason not to come back. So, um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's not moving as quickly certainly as we thought.
Speaker 1: You know, masking is starting to become more prevalent again. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, temperature readers are out there, washing hands is certainly,
Speaker 1: you know in Vogue again more so than it was. UM.
Speaker 1: And I think this is all all within our control
Speaker 1: this time. The virus is the virus, and it's up
Speaker 1: to us, as the citizens of America to become vaccinated. No,
Speaker 1: that is how we will deal with the virus. And
Speaker 1: it's a pretty simple thing, um. And it's and that's
Speaker 1: that's what's going on right now is those who have
Speaker 1: not are putting both the economy and human other humans
Speaker 1: at risk. Well, Ken, and forgive me, you did say
Speaker 1: slowly rising office occupancy. I just wrote it down wrong,
Speaker 1: so you're you're spot on. I just want to give
Speaker 1: credit where it's due, Um, present button did did um
Speaker 1: call out the private sector and thank them for what
Speaker 1: they are doing? Do you think the private sector heads
Speaker 1: of companies are doing enough in terms of saying you
Speaker 1: want to come more, or you're gonna be a customer,
Speaker 1: this is what you need to do. Um? Yes, I
Speaker 1: could we do more always, But I think that the
Speaker 1: private sector has responded very very intelligently and quickly and
Speaker 1: rather boldly. You know, UM, I know for our companies,
Speaker 1: we've required a vaccine absolutely or you have to take
Speaker 1: a COVID test at least twice a week within twenty
Speaker 1: four hours and show UM that you have a negative test. UM.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm pushing towards not even allowing that and just
Speaker 1: saying if you're not vaccinated, you just can't come into
Speaker 1: the office. UM. Fortunately for most of my companies, everybody
Speaker 1: has been vaccinated UM. And I commend those people and
Speaker 1: they're honoring themselves as well as as the rest of
Speaker 1: our humanity in America. UM. But I think I do
Speaker 1: think the businesses have responded quite well to that. And
Speaker 1: that's what it takes, you know, it's if we need
Speaker 1: to implore and to all the people to get this vaccine.
Speaker 1: Is there a dislocation? I think you and I have
Speaker 1: talked about this before, and I think one of the
Speaker 1: things that has been so surprising is that we haven't
Speaker 1: seen more problems in the commercial real estate as more,
Speaker 1: you know, as people have stayed home. Is there some
Speaker 1: dislocation coming UH on a larger scale. Kent that that
Speaker 1: you're anticipating and just got about forty five and then
Speaker 1: we'll come back and talk some more perfect question. UM.
Speaker 1: The answer is possibly yes, UM. And and the reason
Speaker 1: is is because for the first time really UM in
Speaker 1: our country's history. Potentially, we have a we have a
Speaker 1: we have a shortage of workers. Um people are finding
Speaker 1: some people are finding that they'd rather take a lot
Speaker 1: less pay and sit at home, not have to commute,
Speaker 1: not have to buy clothing for work, and they think
Speaker 1: that they can work for home. That potentially portends a
Speaker 1: a a slowdown maybe in some of the office uh
Speaker 1: leasing that has occurred in the past. But I would
Speaker 1: say that's more Class B and C space than it
Speaker 1: would be Class A space. Alright, great, great response. Hey,
Speaker 1: sit tight, Kent. We're gonna come back and talk some more.
Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about crypto the
Speaker 1: ald because I know you guys have been moving into
Speaker 1: that and with a stable coin specifically. And I also
Speaker 1: want to talk a little bit about maybe local politics.
Speaker 1: We are talking about Ken Swig, he is president of
Speaker 1: Swig Equities with us on the phone from New York City.
Speaker 1: Will continue that conversation in just a moment. Let's get
Speaker 1: back to our guest. Ken Swig, president at Swig Equity,
Speaker 1: is a real estate development and investment firm. They've got
Speaker 1: properties on the eastern West Coast. He's still with us
Speaker 1: on the phone in New York City. Hey, hey Ken,
Speaker 1: when you hear like Macy's, I mean they're on a
Speaker 1: tear this year at least the equity trade here. How
Speaker 1: do you think about retail going forward? What really stays
Speaker 1: with us? Especially after a year and a half or
Speaker 1: we've seen so much of a move to the upside
Speaker 1: in e commerce, Yet you still have somebody like Amazon
Speaker 1: who says, wait a minute, we still need also we're
Speaker 1: interested in opening up large retail. Well, it's it's interesting
Speaker 1: retail itself. Um, you know, I like to say it's
Speaker 1: you know what what Einstein said about matter, right, It's
Speaker 1: it's neither created nor destroyed. It's merely changes its form.
Speaker 1: So retail is clearly changing its form. But in terms
Speaker 1: of popularity, um, you know, people are still buying things
Speaker 1: um all over I think that, Um, it's just you
Speaker 1: know it, the big box users have such realized that
Speaker 1: they don't need to have that kind of space in
Speaker 1: you know, very very expensive locations in order to perform
Speaker 1: well and sell their goods and services. So, um, you
Speaker 1: know there are form changes. You know, industrial was used
Speaker 1: to be we used to call industrials really now just
Speaker 1: an extension of retail. Um. So people are still shoppings,
Speaker 1: people are still buying. I was talking to UM, a
Speaker 1: company of Vashon Constantine the other day and and unbelievable,
Speaker 1: their sales are so dramatically better over in the middle
Speaker 1: of COVID. So um, you know, people are buying very
Speaker 1: very expensive watches to wear at home. But but nonetheless
Speaker 1: they were so UM. It's it's it's an interesting period
Speaker 1: of time. Yeah, it's interesting in the luxury space are
Speaker 1: We talked to a watchmaker, to a seller of watches,
Speaker 1: one of the luxury, the high end too, and they said,
Speaker 1: you know, basically you'd get into a virtual store and
Speaker 1: you would be showing watches a seller to some customer.
Speaker 1: And that's how they did it, and it worked. And
Speaker 1: who would have thought a few years ago that they
Speaker 1: would do and be able to sell something that sells
Speaker 1: for thousands of dollars, you know, virtually, but they did it. Hey,
Speaker 1: I want to switch gears a little bit if I can. UM,
Speaker 1: Let's talk a little bit about the crypto world, because
Speaker 1: you guys are developing a new cryptocurrencies. It's a stable coin,
Speaker 1: it's backed by a physical asset. We're talking about gold.
Speaker 1: How is that going and where are you in that process. Um,
Speaker 1: it's not. While it appears a lot like a stable coin,
Speaker 1: we cannot define ourselves quite that way. Okay, don't um,
Speaker 1: But how is it going? It's going very well? We
Speaker 1: um we uh. We actually have a coin that we
Speaker 1: took over and the coin had some problems and trading discrepancy,
Speaker 1: so we basically closed it down and we're re issuing
Speaker 1: a brand new cone with gold backing and giving a
Speaker 1: free coin to everybody who had a legitimate coin ownership
Speaker 1: prior to the trading this proprieties um, and it's going well.
Speaker 1: Where One of the unique things about us is that
Speaker 1: we're based in the United States and the coin is
Speaker 1: Dignity Gold UM. But we're basing the United States. We're
Speaker 1: open and transparent of who owns it. Our attorneys are
Speaker 1: in the United States, the gold is in the United States.
Speaker 1: We've got gold backing, um, you know, with a lean
Speaker 1: on on on the mind where the gold rests. UM.
Speaker 1: We're voluntarily going in and filing with the SEC for us.
Speaker 1: So it's it's a very different way of going about
Speaker 1: doing it. And in fact, we will also be paying
Speaker 1: a dividend because we're setting up an investment fund that
Speaker 1: that is linked with with the coin and pledging some
Speaker 1: of the dividends UM that are you know, profits will
Speaker 1: be paid at a dividend to the coin holder. So
Speaker 1: help me out here, because it is it is so
Speaker 1: different from like the other cryptocurrencies that are out there.
Speaker 1: So who do you see actually buying it? Is? Is
Speaker 1: it correct and that it's going to be available at
Speaker 1: the end of the year or what's the timeline on
Speaker 1: this UM, Well, it'll it should be publicly traded, you know,
Speaker 1: at the end of the year. It's not an initial
Speaker 1: coin offering because it's just we're issuing coins to people
Speaker 1: who had a previous one. UM. But the part of
Speaker 1: what I think we're looking at is the different thing
Speaker 1: that the dig the digital currency is in fact the
Speaker 1: digital currency. I think what we're doing is we're taking
Speaker 1: business practices that make sense UM in terms of governance,
Speaker 1: in terms of SEC regulation and and and review uh
Speaker 1: in terms of real backing attorneys, etcetera, and then applying
Speaker 1: it into the digital currency world because frankly, you know,
Speaker 1: there some two eight digital currencies that are out there.
Speaker 1: A lot of it, you know, are out there in
Speaker 1: the wild wild west of the world. UM where you
Speaker 1: don't know who owns them. You don't know the trading platforms,
Speaker 1: you can't find anybody around. They're they're all decentralized. Um
Speaker 1: and and you know, it's it's an odd thing to
Speaker 1: go buy a company that you don't really know what
Speaker 1: it does. It doesn't perform, it doesn't make money, etcetera.
Speaker 1: And it's the greater fool theory that if you you
Speaker 1: buy it and somebody else will pay more. This this
Speaker 1: has business practices with gold backing and and procedures and policies,
Speaker 1: and it will be linked to a fund with dividends
Speaker 1: being paid. So it's kind of blending good business, you know,
Speaker 1: from from the old world, if you will, into the
Speaker 1: digital currency world. We've learned a lot since you learned
Speaker 1: about cryptocurrencies from your son. No, seriously, it's a lot. Um. Hey,
Speaker 1: you just got a couple of minutes left. Here are
Speaker 1: a little bit under that New York politics. I know
Speaker 1: you're backing Eric Adams. You are all in on him.
Speaker 1: Tell us about what you think the city needs right
Speaker 1: now as a leader. Well, we need leadership and and
Speaker 1: and and one of the reasons I'm backing Erica Adams
Speaker 1: is is he happened to be, in my opinion, the
Speaker 1: right person certainly at the right time. Um. He could
Speaker 1: walk into the police force, um having been there for
Speaker 1: twenty two years as a captain, and talk to the
Speaker 1: police as one of them, and and and be able
Speaker 1: to look and say, you know, nobody's there's no human
Speaker 1: group on earth that's perfect. So we have to recognize
Speaker 1: our weaknesses and we have to you know, overcome them, etcetera.
Speaker 1: And he's doing it with respect and understanding. At the
Speaker 1: same time, he can walk into the black community and
Speaker 1: other communities here and say, look, you know, not only
Speaker 1: do I understand the community, and I have grown up
Speaker 1: in New York and I understand your issues. I was
Speaker 1: also beaten up by the police at one point in
Speaker 1: my life, and I joined them to make changes. So
Speaker 1: I'm not looking to ostracize people. I'm looking to, you know,
Speaker 1: to to to work from within. And I think that's
Speaker 1: a very unique plant. He knows where all the street
Speaker 1: corners are, he knows where all where people live, he
Speaker 1: knows where the communities are, he knows and he takes
Speaker 1: a very logical business practice, you know, uh viewpoint of
Speaker 1: of how to run the city, which through a business
Speaker 1: point of view. Well, that's gonna ask you just thirty
Speaker 1: seconds quick. I mean, this is a city, the Wall
Speaker 1: Street community, the financial community, the business community. Is he
Speaker 1: going to be sympathetic to it in your view, the
Speaker 1: investment community, just quickly, quickly. The answer is yes, but
Speaker 1: I'm saying it in a different way. He's going to
Speaker 1: be sensitive to the New York City population as a whole,
Speaker 1: which is a blend of all of the component parts
Speaker 1: of us. So he's leading all of us, he's not
Speaker 1: leading fractions of us. And he can walk in and
Speaker 1: people and will listen to him. They don't have to
Speaker 1: agree with him all the time, but they'll listen because
Speaker 1: he is one of us in so many different ways.
Speaker 1: And that is leadership with an understanding, and that's what
Speaker 1: we need. All right. On that note, we're going to
Speaker 1: say goodbye, Kent, thank you so much. To be well.
Speaker 1: Ket Swigg, he is president of Swig Equities. On the
Speaker 1: phone from New York City,