PG&E CEO Patti Poppe speaks at the 2023 World Economic Forum annual meeting. Cropped photo by World Economic Forum/Manuel Lopez via Creative Commons license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en

The Fresno County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) will host its 20th annual Real Estate Forecast tonight at the DoubleTree in Downtown Fresno.

Several prominent members of Fresno County’s real estate community will host panels discussing their sector.

In addition to the panelists, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and PG&E CEO Patti Poppe will have a fireside chat, which will be “A candid conversation on utility rates, capacity planning and California’s energy future,” according to the Fresno County EDC.

In May 2024, Dyer criticized PG&E during the State of the City speech for its high rates, which negatively impacted Fresno and its residents.

PG&E donated $500,000 to the city of Fresno in March.

“PG&E is privileged to serve the City of Fresno. With our $500,000 charitable contribution, we’re pleased to support longer-term sustainability and energy savings for local restaurants as well as safety for Fresno’s residents and visitors,” Poppe said in March. “Our PG&E coworkers live and work in this community, and we’re dedicated to delivering for our hometowns in any way we can.”

In addition to Dyer and Poppe, a dozen Central Valley real estate experts will join panel discussions moderated by Nick Audino, senior VP, Newmark Pearson Commercial & Vice Chair, Fresno County EDC

Panel 1: Residential, Ag, Multi-Family, Insurance & New Homes:
Ryan De Young, President, De Young Properties
Carmen Jimenez-Phillips, Century 21 Jordan-Link & Co / FAR President
Sullivan Grosz, President, Ag Division, Pearson Realty
Robin Kane, Managing Director, Northmarq
Tyrone Roderick Williams, CEO, Fresno Housing
Alison Berry, Gallagher Insurance

Panel 2: Retail, Office, Industrial, Investment & Policy:
Matt Renney, Principal, California Realty Capital
James Bitter, Senior Vice President, Fortune Associates
Kyle Riddering, VP, Newmark Pearson Commercial
John Kourafas, Commercial Investment Advisor, Visintainer Group
Matthew Hargrove, California Business Properties Association

The theme of this year’s event is “All In.” The panelists chose the slogan in January. In a recent blog from the EDC, the slogan “reflects the momentum we’re building the challenges we must confront and the calculated bets required to secure a stronger, more resilient future.”

Kane with Northmarq shared what the slogan means to him.

“You could either sit in the foxhole, sit in the cave and do nothing, and just watch things happen, or you can get out there and say, ‘I’ve been waiting for the last two years for interest rates to return to basically abnormal lows, which isn’t happening,” Kane said. “I think people are finally convinced that interest rates aren’t going to return to where we were a few years ago, which felt like an anomaly that has come and gone.”

Kane said that this year’s event is critical for the real estate community across all sectors.

“This is one of those times where you really do need to get a feeling of how current events are affecting the various sectors — from agriculture to retail to office to multifamily,” he said.