Tax Reform, Deficit on Builders’ Agenda : Cranston, Leaders of Industry Will Discuss Impact at Annual Conference

Consequences of proposed tax reforms on housing and real estate investments and the fate of the federal deficit will be major concerns at the four-day, 27th annual Pacific Coast Builders Conference starting Wednesday in San Francisco.

Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) and four industry figures are scheduled to discuss economic is sues dealing with housing, now buoyed by falling interest rates.

About 4,000 builders, developers, subcontractors, architects and others allied with home and light construction are expected to attend the sessions at the Moscone Convention Center.

Revised Tax Code

A major consideration for the industry is the effect a revised tax code would have and how a slowing economy may negate the targeted $50-billion cut in the federal deficit. Industry leaders fear that tax reforms could lead to escalation of rents and costs of housing construction.

The bearers of such dire tidings, in addition to California’s senior senator, are John Koelemij, president of the National Assn. of Home Builders; Kenneth Leventhal, co-managing partner of Kenneth Leventhal & Co., certified public accountants specializing in real estate; William Lyon, Newport Beach-based leading Southern California builder and head of Air Cal, and Louis Rukeyser, financial journalist and host of public television’s Wall Street Week, who will present the keynote address at a Thursday breakfast.

“Directions ‘85” is the theme of the nation’s largest regional builders’ conference and new-product show.

Programs and Workshops

Twenty-eight educational programs and workshops with 114 speakers from the building industry, government agencies, lenders, architecture and marketing are planned during the four days. More than 200 vendors and suppliers will display their products in 52,000 square feet of exhibit space.

A special feature of the convention will be the induction of eight California builders into the industry’s first statewide Hall of Fame at a Wednesday evening function.

The traditional Gold Nugget Awards, emblematic of the best in architecture and land use in the western states, will be presented Friday night. A record 776 entries were submitted for the 22nd annual competition, representing residential, commercial, industrial and land use projects in 14 states.