This letter was sent by President Michael J. Siegel on September 8, 2021:

Dear Friends, Clients, and Partners,

One week and a few days ago, Hurricane Ida made landfall in our home state.

Our Corporate Realty family, while scattered, has come through this storm. We are helping each other and our community, and we are grateful to be doing so. We are also very grateful for your attention and support during this time, the countless messages of concern, and the offers of help. On behalf of all of us, thank you.

As you have made yourselves available to us, we have remained available for you.

• Our property management team has tirelessly moved forward, working throughout the power outage, climbing multiple flights of stairs in the heat, assessing damages, coordinating necessary services, supporting special requests, and driving many miles during a gas shortage and with debris in the streets. They have been capable, calm, and resourceful, and if you have your properties in our hands, they have been in excellent care.
• Our agents and brokers have remained in touch with clients and checked on buildings we represent in order to understand the most accurate, current situation.

As of today, power has been restored to a large part, but not all, of the area that encompasses Greater New Orleans. However significant, that is still a small step toward our ongoing recovery, where entire communities were decimated throughout southern Louisiana.

I do not want to either minimize the damage or trivialize the amount of work that needs to be done. I have been asked consistently in the days following the storm about the impact it will have on our real estate market, as well as about comparisons to Hurricane Katrina, which occurred 16 years to the day that Ida made landfall. This is not a Katrina event, as I discussed during an interview on Fox Business’ The Claman Countdown on September 2nd. There is a great deal of rebuilding to be done, and it will be done: our home matters to us. We have a passion for the people (not to mention the food and culture) of our state, and we are committed to being part of the rebuilding effort.

We appreciate you being part of this process. Take care, and please know we are always here to help.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Siegel
President, Corporate Realty