I got to interview my namesake, Jonathan Miller who is the longtime author of the seminal publication Emerging Trends in Real Estate, the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) annual commercial real estate industry forecast and speaks extensively on suburban and urban issues.

Our real estate lives have intersected for years.  For example, I would get complimented for a presentation at the Waldorf Hotel (although he gave the speech) while he would get inquiries about the NYC co-op condo market (which I track).

He is the co-founder of Miller Ryan LLC, a firm that provides strategic marketing communications counsel to the financial services and real estate industries.  He also writes over at GlobeSt.com on his Trend Czar blog.

Hugh Kelly joined me today for the podcast.  I’ve known Hugh for quite a while and greatly admire his insights.

Hugh is an Associate Clinical Professor of Real Estate in New York University’s Masters Degree Program in Real Estate Investment and Development. He heads his own consulting practice, Hugh F. Kelly Real Estate Economics, which serves national and international real estate investment and services firms, governmental organizations, law firms, and not-for-profit agencies. Prior to establishing this consultancy, he was chief economist for Landauer Associates, where he worked for 22 years until early 2001.

Hugh also serves as the President of the Board of Brooklyn Catholic Charities’ affordable housing development corporation, which has built and manages 3,000 units of low-income family, seniors, and special needs housing. He is a member of the Counselors of Real Estate, the National Association of Business Economists, and the American Philosophical Association. He has spoken to virtually every major real estate organization in the United States, as well as to audiences in Canada, the U.K., France, the Netherland, and Germany.

We served together on the New York City Council Finance Committee Economic Advisory Board and our firms have worked together on several consulting projects.

Hugh provides perspective on affordable housing, his recent Ground Zero consulting, MBA programs and their relationship to the credit crunch among others.  He’ll join me again in the near future to expand the discussion on affordable housing.

I get to have a conversation with Neal Elkin, President of Real Estate Analytics, LLC whose Moody’s/REAL CPPI Reports tracks the commercial real estate space.  I’ve followed Neil’s efforts with Moody’s Investor Service since its inception.

On a side note, I find the correlation of their metrics with the residential market fascinating.

I had been looking forward to my conversation with Ardell for a while.  She is an associate broker with Sound Realty in Seattle Washington and blogs at Rain City Guide and on her eponymous site ARDELL’s Seattle Real Estate Blog.

She and I have known each other for years, having attended and participated in various real estate forums and connected online.  She is always a thoughtful, candid and deliberate speaker.

One of the masters of social media, Ardell has created brand awareness well outside the Seattle Housing market.

For this conversation we Skype, and thanks to the Internet (a series of tubes), the sound level varies a bit – but stick with it because she has great insight on buyer agency, calling a bottom, social media and Redfin.

If you’d rather not, Ardell has created a transcript of the conversation.

I sit down with Bob Knakal, the founding partner and Chairman of Massey Knakal Realty Services, who sell more commercial properties in New York City than any other firm.  In 2009, Real Estate Forum magazine named Mr. Knakal one of the top 10 investment sales brokers in the United States.

He’s also a prolific commentator on the commercial real estate economy.  Check out his blog StreetWise which is an initiative of his firm and GlobeSt.com as well as his weekly commentary in the New York Observer’s Commercial Observer. His recent State Shouldn’t Make a Whole New Ball Game of Mitchell-Lama is mandatory reading (no, not because of the Yankees World Series analogy).

I have long admired his market insights and his hair. We have a great conversation.