Blog
Economic Stability Plan Good News for CRE
On Tuesday, February 10th, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner outlined a comprehensive plan intended to stabilize our financial system. In the address, Secretary Geithner outlined the new administration’s goals for strengthening our economy: to get credit flowing again to families and businesses, and impose new measures and conditions to strengthen accountability, oversight and transparency in how taxpayer dollars are spent. This so-called “Stability Plan” is a step in the right direction towards restoring our economy, and has some elements that will favorably impact the commercial real estate industry. For example, by leveraging private capital and allowing private sector buyers to determine…
New York City Tri-State Area: Continued Challenges in the Capital Markets
With 2009 well underway, we see continued challenges in the capital markets. Though general sales volume across the country is considerably lower than the same period one year and two years ago, properties that offer solid real estate fundamentals are still attracting significant interest from real estate investors. We are finding that properties with central locations, low lease roll, and a history of good cash flow have the best chance at transacting. Additionally, properties with assumable debt have particular interest because the debt can be accretive, providing higher leverage and better terms than possible in today’s market. Despite the perception…
Chicago’s Past Will Seed its Future
Welcome to the first edition of my blog that will be addressing real estate issues and shared perspectives on Chicago. I do intend, in future editions, to include discussions, not only with my colleagues, but also with respected Chicago real estate icons, on their perspective of this current economic cycle, and its effect upon our commercial real estate marketplace. I was reminded yesterday, during a visit to 35 East Wacker Drive, what a world class, and architecturally diverse city Chicago truly is, and how pleased I am that it became my choice for a new home and extension of…
Global Green Design: A New Green World
Global population has doubled – from 3 billion to over 6 billion – during my lifetime. As the massive scale of development has accelerated across the planet, we are now beginning to understand the impact as it reverberates and reflects from one site, one city, and one country to another – and affects all of our lives and our work on foundational levels. We are practicing in the midst of a revolution in knowledge, awareness, technology and communication advances on sustainable practice. The measure of our work has shifted to the triple bottom line — sustainable success: economic, ecological and social…
The New Green Economy
>How can I not write about the economic recovery package? The talk of Washington, DC, the economic recovery package is being closely followed by many business leaders. USGBC has been actively working to ensure that the economic recovery package moves the U.S. toward the new green economy and related long-term economic and environmental benefits. While the possibilities are many and the opportunities for the real estate market are complex, there are a few key areas that our industry will want to watch closely. The Commercial Building Tax Deduction was established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and permits building…
CMBS Redux?
Perhaps the biggest challenge the Commercial Real Estate industry faces right now is the lack of capital. All those billions of dollars pumped into the system over the last 10 years by CMBS have evaporated. In many ways, there was too much money. That led to heated competition among lenders to “win” deals by increasing loan-to-value ratios and reducing underwriting requirements. It also was a huge factor in the rapidly increasing prices paid for real estate as low interest rates allowed cap rate compression. I don’t have a crystal ball. I have more questions than answers. But perhaps some of…
Management Matters with Mike Myatt: Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew
Unless you enjoy choking, don’t bite off more than you can chew. One of the most common problems facing executives is the lack of ability to remain focused on highest and best use activities. In fact, many executives are their own worst enemy when it comes to taking themselves out of what I like to call the “productivity zone." While we could talk about being better managers of technology, communications, interruptions and various other productivity killers, this week’s column will focus on the number one killer of executive productivity: biting off more than you can chew, or what I like…
Loan Maturities and Beyond
We are looking at $18 billion in CMBS maturities for the calendar year of 2009. A year or two ago, that didn’t sound like a big deal. Today, the picture has changed. But hold on.That CMBS number for 2009 is chump change… for 2010 it swells to $65 billion, in 2011 it’s $55 billion, and in 2012, it’s back closer to $70 billion. Don’t forget to add the life company, agency, and bank maturities to those numbers and now you’re talking some real money. So how are they going to be refinanced? With the CMBS market effectively moribund, the life…
South Florida: Take a Back-to-the-Basics Approach During Challenging Economic Times
The adage “a rising tide lifts all ships” rings especially true during a bull market. Recent years have been good to our region and many of us have benefited from the booming economy. But as deal flow and business in general trickles, we are reminded that periods of prosperity inevitably give way to hard times. There’s no question that the problems we’re facing require more than a quick fix, but by revisiting the basics of business development, we can prime ourselves for growth once the good times return. The first step in going back to basics is keeping poised and…