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Given the green building movement’s momentum, some sources suggest it might be difficult for a single body to rate all the existing and new buildings seeking certification. Dan Winters, managing principal at specialty realty advisor Evolution Partners in Washington, D.C., and chairman of his local U.S. Green Building Council chapter, points to the volume faced by the council, given there are some 25,000 buildings set to join the existing 1,200 or so LEED-certified commercial properties. “Their ability to certify in a timely fashion will make or break that rating system,” he declared.The huge pipeline helps explain the Green Globes alternative’s…

In the face of a cooling economy, some single-tenant retailers are taking some purposeful and in some cases innovative steps to boost their performance. Real estate investors would do well to evaluate those moves carefully.Fast Food.  Higher fuel prices and rising food costs are already driving more consumers to affordable food options, but fast-food market leaders are also generating increased sales by offering diversified menus and extended hours. McDonald’s Corp., for instance, has introduced new salads, snack wraps and breakfast items, a move that is expected to position the fast-food giant for continued growth through 2008. Restaurants.  Concerns over discretionary…

Editor-in-chief Suzann D. Silverman spoke with Howard Hallengren, chairman of Falcon Real Estate Investment Co., about his company’s business. Hallengren co-founded the company in 1991 to represent foreign investors in U.S. real estate after providing similar services through Chase Manhattan Bank’s international private banking group in the 1980s. For more on how Hallengren sees foreign investment changing, see the May issue of CPN or search for key words “Howard Hallengren” in quotation marks.CPN: A lot of your clients are from Europe and the Middle East. Do you anticipate expanding your client base further? Hallengren: We are currently working with a…

Home builders have lamented in recent years that the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards for office and institutional properties apply to single- and multi-family properties awkwardly. To wit, the National Association of Home Builders, along with the International Code Council, began working on the National Green Building Standards’ early predecessor, the Model Green Home Building Guidelines, in 2004, long before the LEED for Homes, or LEED-H, system was born.Although Jeff Oberdorfer, executive director for sustainable development pioneer First Community Housing, stressed that he welcomes the new LEED-H system, in which his company is participating…

In this tough economic climate, worried consumers have swapped “wants” for “needs.” As Ross Glickman, chairman & CEO of Urban Retail Properties L.L.C., puts it, “I think people are holding back on their discretionary spending. They’re waiting to see how the market goes.” That will potentially spell some hard times for specialty retailers that thrived during the long economic expansion—those in areas like jewelry, home electronics, clothing and restaurants. Those retailers are rethinking their growth plans for 2008, and retail real estate property owners are following suit. Although many of their plans will reduce the aggregate number of stores and…

In today’s economy, office investors in search of deals tend to prefer lower-risk primary markets. But more affordable prices are drawing some to secondary markets, and small banks can often facilitate investments there. “The pricing is not as hard, and you’re not looking for a lot of debt,” said Jack Minter, managing director for Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.’s Dallas office. Acquisitions of trophy assets, though, may prove more difficult to fund. “If you’re looking for an 80 percent loan-to-value in Columbus, Ohio, you’re still toast.” Despite the proportional housing-crunch effects, the following cities offer opportunities for investors, with high yields…

The month of March proved to be a test of building owners’ ability to protect themselves against disaster. On March 14, as many as 14 tornadoes touched down in Georgia, including Downtown Atlanta and its surrounding communities. One person was killed and many of the submarket’s commercial buildings were damaged, including the Georgia World Congress Center. March also saw two deadly crane collapses: Seven people died when a crane broke away from a residential tower under construction in Midtown Manhattan, and 10 days later, a falling crane killed two people at a high-rise condominium project in Miami.The series of events—just…

The JBG Cos. has bought two North Bethesda, Md., properties for $80 million. Together, the class A buildings contain 346,000 square feet. The are located on the Rockville Pike near the Montgomery Mall.Holiday Fenoglio Fowler’s senior managing directors Bob Donhauser and Bill Asbill, and director Cary Abod, helped the firm secure financing, a five-year fixed rate loan, from ING Real Estate. Th market is tight for office space now, with rents in the Montgomery County area hitting a new high of $33.75 per square foot in Class A buildings, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield Inc., which also noted…

The government of Ontario is on the verge of awarding a new series of grants to local businesses, a move that promises to stimulate demand for certain kinds of real estate indirectly, particularly space suitable for high-tech research or manufacturing. The primary thrust of the program, known as the Next Generation of Jobs Fund, is to promote job creation and retention, but it is structured such that real estate expansion by the recipients will be a likely byproduct. All together, the province will be awarding about $1.15 billion over the next five years. Its target industries include biopharmaceutical R&D, green…

Corporate real estate departments are focused more than ever on supporting corporate expansion into new global markets and transforming workplaces into more collaborative areas to attract talent, according to a panel of top corporate real estate professionals and service providers. The panel, co-sponsored by CoreNet Global and CPN, convened Monday at the CoreNet Global Summit in San Diego. All panelists agreed that global expansion is a mandate at large corporations. While the economies of the United States and Western Europe are challenged by the economic slowdown, Nokia sees significant expansion opportunities in countries such as Brazil and other markets in…