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Conference Coverage

Conference CoverageFeaturesNorth CarolinaSouth CarolinaSoutheastSoutheast Feature Archive

Best Deals for Investors, Lenders Lie Outside of Urban Cores, Say InterFace Carolinas Panelists

by John Nelson

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The urban districts in the Carolinas have a lot going for them: Honeywell is leasing nine floors within downtown Charlotte’s Legacy Union project; The Fallon Co. is building a 20-story office tower in downtown Raleigh; and The Beach Co. and Centennial American Properties are separately building mixed-use developments in downtown Greenville. While these projects only scratch the surface of the new developments in the Carolinas’ urban markets — especially for new apartments — speakers at the 10th annual InterFace Carolinas conference said that for a market to be truly successful, there needs to be “growth in both” urban and suburban districts. Panelists emphasized that some of the best deals for their businesses lie outside of the urban cores in the two-state region. “[Suburban] projects aren’t as expensive to develop,” said Carman Liuzzo, senior vice president of investments at Highwoods Properties. “I hope suburban [developments] don’t go away, our most recent three office developments have been in suburban Nashville, Tampa and Raleigh.” Liuzzo was a participant on the “State of the Market” panel that took place Thursday, May 30 at Hilton City Center in Uptown Charlotte. InterFace Conference Group and Southeast Real Estate Business hosted the conference, which …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesNorth CarolinaSoutheastSoutheast Feature Archive

U.S. Economic Expansion Has Clear Runway to 2021, Says Wells Fargo Economist

by John Nelson

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The current U.S. economic expansion — 120 months and counting — is poised to become the longest in modern U.S. history come July. Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities, says the runway is clear for additional growth until at least 2021 before the start of the next recession. The last time the U.S. economy expanded for such a long duration was from 1991 to 2001. Post World War II, the average length of economic expansions has been 58 months, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. “We don’t have a recession in our forecast. We put it in 2021 because we won’t forecast 2021 until September,” said Vitner. “We’ll likely put the recession in 2022. It’s hard to predict a recession years out. It doesn’t feel like there’s a recession right around the corner, but it never feels that way.” Vitner’s comments came during the keynote address at the 10th annual InterFace Carolinas, a networking and information conference that took place on May 30 at Hilton City Center in Uptown Charlotte. Hosted by InterFace Conference Group and Southeast Real Estate Business, the event brought together more than 240 attendees and featured six panels on …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesMultifamilyNevadaWesternWestern Feature Archive

Vegas Multifamily Renters Want Higher End Properties, Need More Affordable Options, Say InterFace Panelists

by John Nelson

The Las Vegas Valley’s multifamily market is at an interesting crossroads, according to panelists at InterFace Las Vegas Multifamily. Hosted by InterFace Conference Group and Western Real Estate Business, the half-day conference was held April 24 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas. The metro area’s population is growing at a rapid pace, with a net migration of 45,000 new residents in 2018, according to research from Marcus & Millichap. This is the largest annual total for Las Vegas since 2007, right before everything went south for the Southwest. “We started to recover later,” said Stephen Miller, professor and director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), who gave the conference’s special lunch presentation. “The recession here was deeper than the national average. It has been a slow slog, but in the last couple of years we’ve been growing more rapidly than any other state in the union in terms of employment.” He’s not wrong. Companies have already added 33,000 new positions to the Las Vegas Valley in 2019. This is a 3.2 percent gain that exceeds the previous five-year average, noted Marcus & Millichap. Most of these jobs were …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesIndustrialNevadaWesternWestern Feature Archive

‘Mature’ Las Vegas Industrial Market a Safe Bet for Investors, Say InterFace Panelists

by John Nelson

A stable economy, lower unemployment rate and diversification of industries are bringing more overall investment activity to Southern Nevada’s industrial real estate scene, noted panelists at InterFace Las Vegas Industrial. Hosted by InterFace Conference Group and Western Real Estate Business, the half-day conference was held April 24 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas. Using the terms “investment” and “Las Vegas” in the same sentence can cause many veteran decision-makers to pause as they remember the state that this city was in 10 years ago. During the Great Recession, Las Vegas was struggling to survive and many were uncertain about the city’s long-term future as visitors shunned Vegas hotels and casinos as they went into self-preservation mode. “There was nothing more depressing here than the recession when you could drive from one side of town to the other in half an hour because no one was going to work,” said Larry Monkarsh, owner of LM Construction and moderator of the conference’s Developers/Owners panel. Times have certainly changed, ushering in a new era of investment, commerce and development that has brought a renewed sense of confidence to Las Vegas. Though market players will always have varying opinions, one word reigned …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesMultifamilyStudent HousingTexas

Low Interest Rates, Favorable Demographics Set Real Estate Industry Up to Win, Says Nadji

by John Nelson

What is the economic outlook for the year, and what does that mean for the student housing industry? Hessam Nadji, president and CEO of Marcus & Millichap/Institutional Property Advisors, answered just that in the keynote speech that kicked off the 2019 InterFace Student Housing Conference, which was held in Austin earlier this month and drew approximately 1,400 attendees. Nadji began by laying out the basics on where the industry is today economically in comparison to before and during The Great Recession. “We’ve added 21 million jobs since the bottom of The Great Recession, and that has caused a 120 basis point reduction in the unemployment rate at a time when inflation is 200 basis points below where we were in 2007,” he says. “That is the crux of why everything in our industry as a whole — commercial real estate, and student housing in particular — has done so well. The combination of really good growth with very little inflation, and therefore low interest rates. “We have 7.6 million job openings today,” continues Nadji. “That is a record number of employers looking for qualified employees and about one-third of those employers are having a hard time finding qualified workers. That …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesMultifamilyStudent Housing

InterFace Student Housing Panel Talks Living-Learning Communities, Investment Trends

by Alex Tostado

AUSTIN, TEXAS — The concept of living-learning communities, wherein students take advantage of a property’s location and amenities to share academic and personal experiences, is growing in popularity in the student housing industry. As the property sector matures and more student housing communities become outdated, developers are finding success with new projects that capture both the living and learning sides of the college experience. This trend is visible at both on- and off-campus properties. The subject of living-learning communities was raised during the opening Power Panel at the 2019 Interface Student Housing Conference. The three-day event, which took place from April 8-10 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Austin, Texas, drew approximately 1,400 attendees. Bill Bayless, CEO of American Campus Communities (ACC), an Austin-based REIT, kicked off the discussion of living-learning communities by noting that, in general, America’s inventory of student housing product is aging, and not like a fine wine. “The average age of on-campus housing at universities across the United States is 53 years old,” said Bayless. “What continues to be one of the greatest opportunities in the space is the replacement of outdated on-campus student housing with living-learning communities on campus that are fully immersive.” Bayless was joined …

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SDRetail-Brokers-panel
Conference CoverageFeaturesRetailWesternWestern Feature Archive

Key to Successful Retail? Know your Community, Says InterFace San Diego Panel

by Amy Works

Being in tune with one’s self is always a positive thing — and San Diego seems to thrive at this. The county has such a keen sense of awareness that it even boasts a Self-Realization Center up in Encinitas. Knowing one’s identity extends beyond the spiritual world in this part of California, however. It is also a prudent retail strategy, as panelists at InterFace Conference Group’s San Diego Retail Conference, held March 19 at the Sheraton Hotel & Marina, attested. For retailers and shopping center owners, self-realization centers around your brand’s message. What’s your history? What are your core values? What story are you trying to tell, and what lifestyle are you trying to sell? These answers are important, as they will likely determine your physical location and potential success with that San Diego consumer. This, naturally, also means that retailers and shopping center owners must be just as knowledgeable about their consumer and submarkets as the consumers are about themselves. “We have to go back to the fundamentals that every property is different, every submarket is different,” said Pat Donahue, chairman and CEO of Donahue Schriber and a developer panelist. “We’re in a world where mall operators wanted to …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesMultifamilySeniors HousingWesternWestern Feature Archive

Has Seniors Housing Gone ‘Mainstream?’ InterFace Panelists Weigh In

by Kristin Harlow

LOS ANGELES — Seniors housing has generally been considered a niche asset class with niche residents. After all, there are age restrictions, finite timelines for most residents, third-party advocates (namely, the senior’s family), elevated rental rates, highly trained operators, a limited selection of amenities and oftentimes residents with special needs. None of the above has changed in recent years. What has changed, however, is the onslaught of Baby Boomers inching toward that stage in life where seniors housing services can accommodate their growing needs. What has also changed is the larger investment community’s perception of this product type and its potential, noted Investment Market Update panelists at InterFace Conference Group’s Seniors Housing West event, held March 7 at the Omni Los Angeles. The amount of capital chasing deals was a theme throughout the day-long conference, with numerous speakers noting there just isn’t enough supply to keep up with demand. “Seniors housing and skilled nursing has all this capital chasing it because it’s suddenly not an alternative asset class,” said Talya Nevo-Hacohen, CIO of Sabra Healthcare REIT. “The perception is that this is suddenly mainstream.” Panelists expressed concerns that this sudden interest may entice the wrong type of investors — and …

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SD Multifamily
Conference CoverageMultifamilyWesternWestern Feature Archive

InterFace Panel: San Diego Leaves Multifamily Investors Wanting More

by Amy Works

SAN DIEGO — Multifamily properties in San Diego are in high demand — and not just among Millennials and empty nesters who long for convenience, walkability and beautiful ocean views. Panelists at InterFace Conference Group’s San Diego Multifamily Conference, held March 19 at the Sheraton Hotel & Marina, viewed this market as a hot one… if you can get in. “There hasn’t been a ton of multifamily transaction activity in San Diego,” said Aldon Cole, senior managing director at HFF and moderator of the “Who’s Lending?” panel. “It’s an interesting market that we’re all trying to navigate. We have to adapt in a low-trade environment.” San Diego’s reputation for being a stable market and one where people want to be are two of the factors contributing to this lack of opportunity. “During the last downturn, San Diego was the most stable market,” noted Mark Gleiberman, CEO of MG Properties Group and Developers/Owners panelist. “It always tends to be one of the most stable markets that we’re in. It’s not totally resistant to a downturn, but San Diego tends to fare better in most recessions than other markets.” Desirability paired with strong market fundamentals has created a very competitive landscape among …

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CaliforniaConference CoverageFeaturesHealthcareWesternWestern Feature Archive

Healthcare Real Estate Investors Choose to Diversify in Face of Fever-Pitch Property Demand, Say InterFace Panelists

by John Nelson

It’s a highly competitive environment when it comes to healthcare real estate out West, so say InterFace Conference Group’s Healthcare Real Estate West panelists. One of the central themes of the day-long conference, which was held March 6 at the Omni Los Angeles and attracted 219 attendees, was the pent-up property demand from investors. However, most panelists agree the opportunities are somewhat limited due to a lack of new product and the long-term holding pattern many healthcare investors have adopted. “You have all this demand, yet transaction volume is staying flat,” said Darryl Freling, managing principal at MedProperties Realty Advisors and moderator of the 2019 Outlook panel. “Where’s the bottleneck? So much is held by healthcare systems and they’re not letting go because clearly there’s just so much demand.” Shane Seitz, fellow panelist and senior vice president at CBRE, doesn’t see this level of trading picking up, at least not with the current healthcare supply. “REITs don’t get incentivized to turn over their product,” he noted. “They buy and hold. They treat it just like the nonprofit health system does. They want to have it forever. We also have foreign and domestic groups coming in. They historically invest in funds, …

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