Some people practice law seeking to right wrongs committed against others, whether criminally or through civil action. For Jerry Slusky, a Creighton University law school alum, he found his niche in real estate.

During his 50-year career, Slusky has participated in major real estate developments in the Omaha area; from One Pacific Place, First National Bank Park, and Commercial Federal Bank Park, as well as several apartment communities. Slusky has been active in Omaha real estate.

Slusky joined Smith Slusky LLP in 2008 as a partner, after spending most of his career with Kutak Rock.

His work in real estate development led to a role as an adjunct professor at Creighton, where he taught a real estate development course. In 1990, an economic downturn impacted Omaha’s real estate community, Slusky said.

“I almost call it a depression,” he said. “Builders weren’t building. Banks weren’t lending. Developers weren’t developing anything.”

In discussing the future of his course, Slusky told the dean of the law school that Creighton should add a seminar or workshop to address the Resolution Trust Corporation: a new government program intended to help the real estate industry.

Slusky said, “He looked at me, and without flinching, said ‘That’s a good idea, Jerry. Why don’t you do it?’”

A few months later, Slusky hosted the first Commercial Real Estate Summit - CRE Summit. It’s grown over the years, but always focuses on the core of development and lending. About 90 people attended the first summit in 1990. More than 1,000 are expected this year, Slusky said.

Celebrating its 32nd conference this year, after taking 2020 off because of Covid, the 2022 theme is “A Changing World.”

With mortgage applications declining and commercial real estate plans being canceled, the local market faces a changing world, Slusky said.

“The last seven or eight years, since the big recession, we had good times,” Slusky said. “Now, all of the sudden, we’ve had a major league jump in infrastructure costs the last couple of years. And, now we have an increase in interest rates. Those two things are the heart and soul of commercial real estate business. And they’ve created what I call 40 mph winds. I believe we’re building up to 70-80 mph winds.”

With the focus on the crisis featuring local real estate projects, the CRE Summit includes some of the top experts in real estate development, lending, and construction, Slusky said.

Breakout sessions include the changing workplace - such as hybrid environments - the economy, turbulence of a labor shortage, interest rate increases’ impact on commercial real estate development, and the high costs of construction.

“We have an all-star panel to discuss the impact of interest rates. We have the number one guy who does mortgages for Mutual of Omaha,” Slusky said. “We got the number one guy from Northmarq, who does institutional lending for real estate. And we have people from Great Southern Bank and Pinnacle Bank.”

The CRE Summit takes place 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Aug. 26 at CHI Health Center Omaha. For more information and to register, visit attendcresummit.com.