the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Tough Sell
One day during a trip to Arizona in the middle of March, David Jacobstein, a senior retail advisor for Deloitte & Touche USA L.L.P., drove his rental car past a row of furniture stores in Scottsdale. He could almost count the cars sprinkling the acres of ghostly parking lots on the fingers of one hand.The sparse turnout at those Scottsdale furniture stores symbolizes the toll that the consumer spending slowdown is taking on retail expansion and the retail real estate development pipeline. “It hasn’t been shut off, but there’s an enhanced filter that has been put in there,” said Webber…
Whither the Economy?
With the economic outlook remaining a top concern, economists, researchers and investors in U.S. commercial real estate offered their predictions for its performance yesterday at the Urban Land Institute’s Spring Council Meeting in Dallas. Speaking during the luncheon plenary session, “Capital Markets and Investment Trends,” and the opening general session, “Economic Outlook: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going,” the speakers generally agreed that a recession is already underway and predicted a ways to go before recovery comes. Among their key observations: Hessam Nadji (pictured), managing director of research services, Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc.:…
Commercial Real Estate to Retain Favorable Position in Down Market
More pain is in store for the U.S. economy in the coming months, but the commercial real estate market is generally expected to endure less of it, according to economists speaking at the National Association of Real Estate Editors 42nd annual real estate journalism conference in Dallas this morning.James Gaines, research economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, anticipates a significant need for the federal government to bail out banks and other financial institutions to avoid insolvency due to involvement in commercial debt obligations, mortgage-backed securities and mortgage-backed paper—largely relating to the single-family housing market–purchased in the…
Report Issues Developers’ Call to Arms: Deteriorating Infastructure Hurting America
U.S. infrastructure is in a sad state, and little is being done to fix the situation, warned Dale Reiss, global and Americas director of real estate for Ernst & Young, during the Urban Land Institute Spring Council Forum opening general session. “The real tragedy is we’re spending money but we’re not really strategically investing,” she warned. Reiss’s observations referenced the report Infrastructure 2008: A Competitive Advantage, recently released by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young. According to the report, 24 percent of roads are in poor condition, while about 25 percent of bridges are structurally deficient, she noted….
Management Matters with Mike Myatt: Engaging Your Employees Essential
Long gone are the days where the executive leadership of a company can remain sequestered in their offices with an internal focus on hard metrics. It is the soft metrics of customer centricity and employee engagement that will create sustainable growth in revenue and brand equity. In this week’s column I’ll examine the need to have a fully engaged work force.Before you read any further, I want you to stop and ask yourself the following question: How many of your employees are truly passionate about your company, its vision, its mission and the role that they play within the organization?…
ProLogis Expands Presence in South Korea with $86M Portfolio Acquisition
Less than a month after announcing two build-to-suit agreements in South Korea, ProLogis Korea Property Fund has acquired approximately 889,000 square feet of industrial warehouse space there for $86.3 million. ProLogis Korea Property Fund is a part of Denver-based Prologis, the world’s largest owner, manager and developer of distribution facilities. The fund purchased a $31 million portfolio in Milyang City totaling 292,330 square feet, a $38.1 million portfolio in Icheon City totaling 327,000 square feet and a $17.2 million portfolio in Cheonan City totaling 269,560 square feet of distribution space. “We continue to see a growth of global manufacturing and…
MTA, Tishman Speyer Hit Roadblock on Hudson Yards Talks
The massive redevelopment of rail yards on Manhattan’s Far West Side is in limbo after talks between Tishman Speyer Properties and a local transit agency broke down late yesterday afternoon. The surprise announcement puts in doubt the Metropolitan Transportation Agency’s plan to create a mixed-use community above 26-acre portion of rail yards the agency owns between 30th and 33rd Streets near the Hudson River. In late March, the MTA selected Tishman Speyer’s $1 billion bid to build up to 10 million square feet of office space, 550,000 square feet of retail, 3,000 residential units and 13 acres of open space….
Waterfront Toronto Selects Development Partners for West Don Lands
Waterfront Toronto, a entity set up by the Canadian federal government and the governments of Ontario and Toronto, has selected development partners for the first phase of West Don Lands, a mixed-use project that is in turn part of a much larger, decades-long redevelopment of 2,000 industrial or formerly industrial acres along Lake Ontario near Downtown Toronto.The chosen partners are Toronto-based Urban Capital Group and Redquartz Development, an Irish developer.Remediation work has already begun on the site of the West Don Lands first phase, which will be known as River Square Neighbourhood. The first phase will ultimately include 850 market-rate…
Wells REIT II Buys Atlanta Office Campus in AT&T Sale-Leaseback
Wells REIT II has acquired a five-building, 1 million-square-foot office campus in the Buckhead submarket of Atlanta, through a long-term sale-leaseback with AT&T. The campus will headquarter AT&T Wireless’ operations in the city. The transaction’s terms were not disclosed. The property is located in the Lenox Park office park (pictured) on Lenox Park Boulevard, between Peachtree Road and Interstate 85. AT&T Services Inc. and its subsidiaries will occupy all five of the buildings under new leases running from 10 to 15 years. The buildings were constructed between 1992 and 2002 and range from four to 12 floors. “It’s a credit…
Legal Battle May Follow End of EnCap’s Meadowlands Project
A once-promising proposal to transform landfills in Northern New Jersey into an 800-acre master-planned community now appears headed for a long legal battle. After years of delays and environmental problems, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission decided on Wednesday to sever ties with EnCap Golf Holdings, which had proposed a $1 billion project spanning three counties west of New York City. EnCap, controlled by Cherokee Investment Partners, wanted to build more than 2,000 homes and two golf courses. According to published reports, the commission cited EnCap’s inability to secure the financing needed to finish the environmental remediation at the site. Following…