Yet Another Life After Death

By Janice Castro

WHO SAYS U.S. commercial real estate is dead? Although property values have plunged more than 30% in the past five years, some people think all that empty space may yet turn to gold. Sixteen of the largest U.S. pension funds plan to invest $3.4 billion in commercial property this year, according to Price Waterhouse. That is more than twice what they spent last year. Banks and S&Ls may still be shunning the sector, but pension-fund money managers hope to pick up devalued holdings and watch the profits roll in when the industry revives.