For George Marcus, Co-Founder and Chairman of The Marcus & Millishap Company, the largest commercial investment Real Estate brokerage firm in the nation, the state of the economy “is never as bad as it seems, it’s never as good as it seems.”

In an interview with NEO, after he received the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year 2008 Award at The Metropolitan Club of New York, he said that this recession did not come as a surprise.

“In real estate we had a 10 year actually full market, which was totally unwarranted. We’ve never had 10 years of growth in the history of America. It was three to five years cycles. This was prolonged by false command we should have been ready for it, we shouldn’t be complaining about it.”

Always the optimist, he actually thinks now’s the time to put some order and straighten up things, despite the difficulties. “The rules have changed a little bit we should participate and being careful,” he noted. “Keep a sound balance sheet, keep your data under control. It’s not easy when you think there is no tomorrow and opportunities are galore. We all make stupid decisions in good times. This is a better time for us to make good decisions.”

However, it is a tough path to recovery. “It took us eight to ten years to be here, it’s not going be one month to get out. Calm down everybody, don’t change your lifestyle, be absolutely true to your own business principles and be focused. And it’s gonna be fine, but it’s gonna take a while.”

Since 1971, Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services has been the premier provider of investment real estate brokerage services. In 2007, the company closed more than $20.7 billion of investment transactions for private and institutional investors. Included in these transactions were shopping centers, office and industrial buildings, apartment properties, single-tenant net-lease properties, hotels/motels, senior housing facilities, manufactured home communities, self-storage and land.

The Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce was formed over 50 years ago for the purpose of promoting and strengthening the economic and cultural ties between the United States of America and Greece. Beyond its traditional commercial role, the Chamber administered the "George E. Athans Scholarship Fund" (prior to entrusting it to the Office of Financial Aid at New York University), and continues to assist in the selection of its recipients. The Chamber has co-sponsored investment seminars and hosted political leaders. The Man of the Year Award Gala is the culminating annual event at which a leader in various fields of endeavor, is chosen for his or her contribution to a particular industry and the society in general.

“It’s actually appropriate our honoree this year is a Real Estate guy, George Marcus, and it sort of brings us full circle,” said Chamber’s President John Stratakis. “At the beginning of the years of its existence, the chamber was focused on shipping but the last 10-15 years most of the new members have come from Real Estate.”

On if and how this latest financial crisis has affected membership, Stratakis admitted the obvious. “We’ve been affected like everybody else.” However, “what we take solace in is the fact that we have a community that’s supportive of one another and at the end of the day it’s not just about money, but about supporting the community at staying strong amongst ourselves and being there to support one another.”

The Chamber today is a multifaceted organization that offers different things to different people and provides a network and forum for its members to meet, interact, and exchange ideas. It is a vehicle from which to gain an additional perspective. “We are going full speed,” Stratakis added. “The film festival was a great success this year, the wine and food tasting in November attracts 400 people routinely, we have lectures, we have dances, and we urge people to join the chamber and help promote the mission, which is to strengthen our ties between the US and Greece.”

That’s a goal, which for George Marcus, has been elevated to the status of “passion. In reality we are in risk that we’ve never been before. The waves of the immigrants are now in their last phase and we are talking about inter marriage and the children of our children,” he pointed out. “We have five to 10 years to create a national organization to send our young people back to Greece for three months, six months, to trace their heritage and their traditions. If my children would never break a beautiful, red Easter egg, my mother, my grand mother and I would be totally unhappy!”

DEMETRIOS RHOMPOTIS