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The U.S. warehouse market continued to struggle during the third quarter. The vacancy rate spiraled up 27 basis points to 8.7 percent, according to commentary by Colliers International executive vice president of market and economic research Russ Moore.Considerable declines in manufacturing output and reduced retail inventories have hurt the market’s leasing activity. Though exports have painted a silver lining, “this is sure to change with the increasing possibility of global recession and the expected decline in demand in products destined for ex-U.S. markets,” he noted.Meanwhile, the amount of new product that came online during the third quarter did so at…

As a huge number of condominiums sit empty in Miami, Rilea Group president & CEO Alan Ojeda has launched a venture to make the best of a bad situation: a short-term rental program at its One Broadway Brickell luxury high-rise apartment property in the city’s Brickell Financial District.The offering, launched last month, targets, among others, renters who may have jumped at bargain rental rates for condos that are now backfiring. Some condos go into foreclosure, requiring leasers to leave, for example, and other complexes, facing budget shortfalls, may employ only a skeleton staff and thus lack in service.Some apartments in…

The ailing economy hasn’t damaged the apartment sector as badly as it has other commercial real estate sectors, thanks largely to debt capital available through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But the multi-family industry is starting to feel the impact of the global fiscal turndown, according to the National Multi Housing Council’s October 2008 quarterly survey on apartment conditions.On a scale from zero—if all respondents answered in the negative—to 100—indicating that all respondents answered positively—the Market Tightness Index, which measures changes in occupancy rates and/or rents, fell from 40 in July to 24 in October. That forms the index’s worst…

U.S. Marine Corps Commandant General James Conway commemorated the 90th anniversary of Veterans Day this morning by ringing the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange. The markets, however, have not shown much enthusiasm; the Dow Jones index fell in the wake of lower markets in Asia and Europe overnight, losing more than 176 points, or nearly 2 percent. The S&P 500 was down 2.2 percent, and the Nasdaq was down 2.22 percent.The three-month Libor rate dropped yesterday to 2.18 percent, which is the lowest the rate has been in more than four years. The rate was as high…

Place/BV Student Housing Fund L.L.C. has invested a total of $47 million in two new student housing projects, one in Indiana and the other in North Carolina. A joint venture of Place Properties L.P. and Blue Vista Management L.L.C., the $280 million fund focuses on acquiring and developing student housing properties nationwide. St. Joe Place, half a mile from the Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne campus, will be a garden-style community housing 432 students in 144 furnished two- and four-bedroom apartments. All apartments will have full kitchens, and washers and dryers, and each bedroom will have its own private bathroom….

The outlook for retail REITs continues to darken, as shoppers are cutting back on their trips to the mall amid the economy’s struggles. One piece of evidence is Fitch Ratings’ action on Nov. 5, which revised retail REIT Developers Diversified’s rating from stable to negative. . In its recent report on the company, Fitch saw some positives for DDR, such as a strong occupancy percentage in its portfolio and a lease expiration schedule that is manageably staggered. The Fitch report said DDR has actively addressed 2009 lease renewals. But the negative outlook was centered on two major issues: DDR’s leverage…

After a record boom in hotel openings through 2010, the global hotel pipeline may diminish dramatically as the financial crisis catches up with the industry, according to projections by Lodging Econometrics. By mid-year 2008, the global development pipeline had reached 10,781 projects representing more than 1.8 million keys. That marks a 28 percent jump from mid-2007, when the pipeline stood at 8,398 projects and about 1.4 million keys. Lodging Econometrics’ tally count hotels under construction, expected to start construction in the next 12 months, and projects in early planning. Developers are currently building 4,468 projects and 836,567 keys. Construction is…

In a deal with the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board, American International Group Inc. (AIG) restructured the government’s financial support with the U.S. Treasury purchasing $40 billion of newly issued AIG preferred shares under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. This purchase will allow the Federal Reserve to reduce from $85 billion to $60 billion the total amount available under the credit facility established in September. The Fed also gave the thumbs up for two new lending facilities including a Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Facility that will lend up to $22.5 billion to a newly formed limited liability company (LLC)…

A pair of new surveys, released by CoreNet Global at its summit in Orlando, Fla., focus on two key areas in corporate real estate: alternative workplace strategies (AWS), which are very much on the rise, and green buildings, where attitudes are, at least this year, decidedly mixed. In the AWS survey, undertaken in collaboration with Microsoft, 77 percent of respondents indicated that they see AWS programs expanding over the next three years. Of those surveyed, all attendees at the CoreNet Global Summit, 86 percent report having an AWS initiative in place, with the largest percentage of those having had a…

After a morning up, the Dow Jones index ended the day down 73.27 points, or 0.82 percent, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq a bit down as well (1.27 percent and 1.86 percent, respectively). It could be that the initial enthusiasm investors showed in other parts of the world for the Chinese stimulus plan had worn off by the time U.S. markets were open very long. Part of the downward movement in the market today also involved Goldman Sachs shares, which were down about 8.7 percent seemingly on rumors that the company is planning a new secondary equity offering,…