Capital froth

Two sessions on capital at a recent real estate conference in Naples presented stark contrasts.

It was standing-room-only at a capital markets breakout session of the Urban Land Institute's Florida Summit, where bankers, investors and developers cheered the flood of money rushing into commercial real estate and development.

Later the same day, former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairwoman Sheila Bair spoke to a half-empty room as she warned of another real estate bubble and bemoaned the lack of regulation of the real estate securities that helped derail the economy.