NAR Raps Grant of CRE Development Authority

The National Association of Realtors is objecting to authority granted to Bank of America and PNC Financial Services Group by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to develop commercial real estate.The Washington-based trade association says the move puts national banks "uncomfortably close" to the area of commercial real estate brokerage and sees this as a conflict with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. PNC is investing $122 million in a commercial real estate complex near its Pittsburgh headquarters, the NAR said, and PNC employees are expected to occupy only 22% of the office and hotel space at the property. Bank of America plans to develop a hotel in Charlotte, N.C., and use more than 37.5% of the rooms annually. NAR president Tom Stevens said the OCC approvals "bring banks closer to controlling commercial real estate projects from top to bottom" and that if they get into real estate brokerage activities, leading to consolidation in this area, consumers stand to suffer. The NAR has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to determine whether the OCC has granted similar permission to other banks.