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After years of multi-billion-dollar transactions and mega-developments, much of the commercial real estate sector is beginning to feel the burn as the economy loses speed, jobs disappear and the lending market continues to stifle borrowers, according to the First Quarter 2008 PricewaterhouseCoopers Korpacz Real Estate Investor Survey. However, the future may not be as grim as some would think.There are exceptions but overall, the national office, retail and hospitality markets are losing steam. Development in suburban office markets, particularly speculative projects, continues despite the fact that leasing activity has declined. The regional retail market is suffering as consumers bull back…

Between the Federal Reserve’s efforts to bolster market liquidity, the President’s acknowledgement that the economy is in the midst of “challenging times” and the acquisition by JPMorgan Chase & Co. of The Bear Stearns Cos. on the cheap, the recent news out of the business world has been bleak. However, if you’re a contrarian, like Houston’s Oxford Funding Corp., then all those things may be good news. On Sunday, the Federal Reserve Board authorized the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to create a lending facility to improve the ability of primary dealers to provide financing to participants in securitization…

While the commercial real estate industry is struggling to bring diversity to the workplace, the need for diversity in leadership positions is even more acute. Accordingly, Colliers International launched its “Women to the Helm” program. “(It) was our first step toward a formal diversity program,” said Paula Johnson, U.S. human resources manager for Colliers Macaulay Nicolls, the largest member company of Colliers International, & Women to the Helm steering committee co-chair. “We want to be proactive when looking at diversity and recognizing its importance and we want to provide equal opportunity to all people at our company.”The program, which was…

For property managers who oversee buildings in many states, dealing with rising energy costs, due to varying energy rates and pricing structures, can present a mighty challenge. “You may be dealing with literally hundreds of vendors,” said Joseph Falci, director of rate analysis and energy procurement consulting for Cadence Network.But Falci says that a giant step toward getting some cost control on energy expenditures is to closely examine all energy bills. “You have to know where you’re spending money, and how much you’re spending,” Falci said. “You can’t improve what you don’t measure.”Indeed, energy buyers in some states with deregulated…

It turns out that the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube.com is not just for teenagers, amateur videos, celebrities and music. A group of commercial real estate brokers from Lee & Associates’ Inland Empire Group is trying to get real estate on the popular website’s viewer map as well.Scott Ostlund, a principal in the firm, discovered YouTube while looking at Razor motorcycles online with his young son. He then came across a YouTube video of a young boy riding the motorcycle. “It allowed me to see the product better than the sale brochure,” Ostlund said. “You can see different things people…

Recession – economic slowdown – inflation – tight credit and capital markets…from my perspective it doesn’t really matter what the economy is doing, as a senior executive you are still responsible for creating growth. Tough economic times are no excuse for a lack of performance, and in fact, are all the more reason to focus on catalyzing innovation, change, and growth. In this week’s column I’ll share my thoughts on how to successfully lead your business through an economic downtown. Lagging economic data is not the information you should use to make strategic business decisions. Don’t wait until there is…

The marketing effort for 300 N. Michigan Ave., a planned mixed-use development in Downtown Chicago, has started during increasingly tough times for new residential properties, though predicting market conditions throughout the planned development period — more than three years — is difficult. Plans by developer Provence Development Group call for completion of the project in the third quarter of 2011.According to a recent report by Appraisal Research Counselors Ltd., a record number of condo residential units will come on line in Chicago in 2008 — all of which began construction before the credit crisis made funding for such development more…

Taking a cue from Manhattan’s Carnegie Hall, New Brunswick, N.J. will market the air rights for a $275 million office, residential and retail project to provide a new home for several of the city’s performing arts venues.“It’s a model that has precedents, and very successful precedents,” a spokesperson for the project’s lead city agency, the New Brunswick Development Corp., told CPN this morning. Using the strategy that provided funding for Carnegie Hall’s renovation, the city will use revenue from the sale of the project’s air rights to generate about 70 percent of the estimated $50 million cost of the project’s…

Medical Properties Trust Inc. said today it plans to buy 21 healthcare facilities from HCP Inc., for approximately $371 million, significantly boosting its portfolio and expanding its geographic reach across the United States.The Birmingham, Ala.,-based healthcare REIT said it would pay for the acquisition with a combination of common stock and debt securities, proceeds of the sale of three facilities announced earlier this week to Vibra Healthcare L.L.C., and borrowings from its existing credit facilities.The acquisition is expected to occur in stages beginning March 28 and lasting throughout the second quarter. The HCP portfolio is comprised of seven acute care…

Efforts to build a new $350 to $400 million high-rise office tower in Downtown Oklahoma City for locally based Devon Energy continue to move forward as the company has submitted a proposal to the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority. The company was founded in Oklahoma City in 1971. Today, Devon employs about 1,350 people there.“We are rapidly growing with our employees spread out over five buildings in Downtown Oklahoma City,” a Devon spokesperson told CPN today. “We are looking for efficiency by bringing everyone into one location. We are moving forward with this goal and hope to be located in…