Roundtable group will increase its Washington lobby efforts.

With a Republican in the White House for the first time since 1993, the Real Estate Roundtable is hoping to make great strides in advancing the real estate industry's legislative agenda.

"There's a lot on the table in Washington, a lot of opportunities, but a lot of risks too," said Jeffrey D. DeBoer, president and chief operating officer of the Real Estate Roundtable.

During a presentation at a conference sponsored by Commercial Property News, the roundtable outlined legislative accomplishments for 2000 and new laws the group hopes will get passed in 2001 under President George W. Bush.

The roundtable is a public policy advocate based in Washington, D.C. that addresses issues pertaining to the real estate industry. The group works with major industry trade organizations, like the Building Owners and Managers. Association and the International Council of Shopping Centers, to "brand" the industry and give it a united voice in Washington, DeBoer said.

DeBoer said real estate is a $20 trillion industry, reflecting 15 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. There are nine million workers in the industry.

"I want people to understand that we're talking with one voice," he said.

Among legislative accomplishments last year were the passage of new legislation allowing for real estate transactions to be conducted online with "e-signatures," which will result in less paperwork for common transactions such as leases and mortgages. New brownfields legislation will allow developers that buy contaminated properties to deduct expenses associated with cleaning up the property. Although he noted that the law expires in 2004, he said.

The Federal Communications Commission rejected a push by the telecommunications industry to pass regulations governing the way property owners provide access to their buildings for telecommunications services, he said.

"The marketplace determines when telecommunications companies can come into a building," DeBoer said. "This preserves building owners rights."

Roundtable members also outlined goals for the 2001 legislative session. Gary Stevens, managing director of real estate for the Carlyle Group, is a member of the roundtable's tax policy advisory committee. He said the goal of the panel is to encourage tax policy that "reflects the economics of a transaction." One goal is to reform depreciation law pertaining to commercial buildings. Under current law, depreciation is calculated over a 39-year period, he said.

"The depreciation rates needs to come down," Stevens said. "Almost non one thinks 39 years is the useful life of an office building. It should be more like 20 years."

The group is also pushing for a "low and fair capital gains tax" and for repeal of the estate tax, which Bush has been advocating.

Kevin Fitzpatrick, president of AIG Global Real Estate Investment, is a member of the roundtable's environmental committee. Among issues the company has been addressing are smart growth, brownfields, "green buildings" and wetlands. With the energy crisis in California, he said energy issues are becoming more important. He mentioned the "Energy Star" program, which energy efficiency in commercial buildings.

"I think it's going to be a critical issue in the future," Fitzpatrick said.

The bankruptcy reform proposals currently being considered by Congress could have an impact on the real estate industry because it will give landlords more control with respect to bankruptcy filings by tenants, said Joseph Forte, a partner at Thacher Proffitt.

"Companies will not be able to file Chapter 11 willy-nilly to get out of leases," Forte said.

Roundtable members also briefly mentioned a proposal by the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department that would allow banks to get into the real estate brokerage and property management business.

"This would be catastrophic for the industry," Fitzpatrick said.