Conference Coverage

Smart Seniors Housing Design Can Offset Development Expenses, Says InterFace Panel

by John Nelson September 5, 2017

With construction costs rising and the supply of talented staff diminishing, doing business has never been more expensive for seniors housing developers. As such, both developers and operators are seeking new ways to save money. Increasingly, these groups are considering the role design plays in their projects, with a particular emphasis on identifying design concepts and elements that save on the bottom line without compromising the property’s sense of livability. A panel of seniors housing developers and operators gathered at the Westin Buckhead Atlanta on Wednesday, Aug. 23 as part of InterFace Seniors Housing Southeast to discuss development trends in today’s market. More than 400 industry professionals attended the conference. Moderator Will Childs, executive vice president of seniors housing for Oracle Healthcare Advisors and based in the firm’s Atlanta office, led the analysis of how construction and labor issues alike are driving developers to think outside the lines. At the most fundamental level, many new designs for seniors housing properties share the goal of repurposing common and outdoor spaces, according to panelist Alan Moise, chief investment officer for Atlanta-based Thrive Development Partners. “Overall pricing for development projects in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic is probably up about 6 percent this year,” …

September 5, 2017

Conference Coverage Features Multifamily Seniors Housing Top Stories

Healthcare, Tax Reform Legislation Will Impact American Businesses, says Sen. Johnny Isakson

by Camren Skelton August 24, 2017

ATLANTA — Legislative decisions made over the next 18 months will have a substantial effect on American businesses, according to Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). The remarks were made at the fourth annual InterFace Seniors Housing Southeast conference on Wednesday, Aug. 23. The event drew over 400 industry professionals. “If you’re in business in America, what happens in Washington has a lot to do with your business,” he says. “You’re going to begin to see pressure on elected officials to move out of partisan voting, and I think that’s good for the economy.” Before entering politics, Isakson worked in real estate for more than 40 years and has a long family history in the industry. His father helped establish the prominent Atlanta-area real estate firm Northside Realty, which Isakson led as president for 22 years. Johnny’s brother, Andy Isakson, founded Isakson Living, a seniors housing development company, based on the Isakson family’s own difficulty finding suitable retirement options for their parents. Currently serving his third term, the U.S. Senator delivered this year’s keynote address at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta. According to Isakson, healthcare and tax reform top the list of issues that need be addressed by Congress over the next …

August 24, 2017

Conference Coverage Features Top Stories

Food, Fitness, Entertainment Firms Will Save Houston Shopping Centers, Says InterFace Panel

by Katie Sloan April 27, 2017

HOUSTON — As brick-and-mortar retailers such as Sears, Macy’s and hhgregg continue to shutter stores throughout the country at a furious pace, Houston developers are rapidly warming to the idea of anchoring their shopping centers with restaurants, fitness centers and entertainment-based businesses. Retail executives throughout the Houston area convened at the InterFace Houston Retail conference on April 18 to discuss the impact of this trend and others on the metro’s retail real estate market. David Luther, first vice president and district manager at Marcus & Millichap moderated a panel of five industry experts who addressed everything from the threat of e-commerce to parking wars between tenants. In Houston, the rampant growth of e-commerce contributed to 1.3 million square feet of big-box space being returned to the market in 2016, according to CBRE. In addition, the first quarter of 2017 saw net absorption of only 182,000 square feet. The end result is that developers are being forced to repurpose shopping centers anchored by traditional big-box retailers. As such, they are increasingly turning to businesses that offer a lifestyle product or service to fill the void. Larry Levine, president of Houston-based development firm Levcor Inc. and a conference panelist, noted that big-box …

April 27, 2017

Conference Coverage Multifamily Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive Top Stories

Apartment Locators, Property Managers in Houston Cash In On Rent Slump, Say InterFace Panelists

by Taylor Williams April 13, 2017

HOUSTON — While it’s not an ideal time to be a multifamily property owner in Houston, it is a good time to be working on behalf of one. With their clients sitting on excess supply, apartment locators — middlemen who match tenant preferences to properties — are being increasingly called upon to deliver tenants. Locators work on commission, typically earning about 20 percent of the first month’s rent for their services. But in Houston’s soft market, that figure is rapidly rising. Ricardo Rivas, chief investment officer at Allied Orion Group and one of several panelists who spoke at the InterFace Houston Multifamily conference on March 28, noted that while locators are costly, the services they provide in a down market are crucial. “They [locators] are our best friends right now,” Rivas said to 175 industry professionals who gathered at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. “We reach out to them, we throw them parties and we give them big incentives to bring tenants over.” Todd Marix, a senior managing partner in HFF’s Houston office who spoke on an earlier panel, addressed the rising operating costs that landlords are facing. In his view, fees paid to apartment locators are quietly doing major damage …

April 13, 2017

Conference Coverage Features Multifamily Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive Top Stories

Millennials in Houston Multifamily Driver’s Seat, Say InterFace Panelists

by Taylor Williams April 4, 2017

Tenant concessions, ranging from free rent to complimentary carpet cleanings to distribution of gift cards, have become the norm in Houston’s multifamily market over the last few years. And according to several industry experts who spoke at the InterFace Houston Multifamily Conference on March 28, it’s the millennials who are taking advantage of them. Houston has become an especially attractive destination for millennials in recent years. According to a survey by JAXUSA Partnership, which tracks demographic trends throughout major metros, between 2010 and 2013, the metro ranked sixth in population growth of residents age 20 to 29. Tenants receive fewer concessions in submarkets without a lot of new construction. In Houston, this primarily means suburbs — The Woodlands, Pearland, and Katy. In submarkets closer to downtown, where there is generally more construction, concessions have come to serve as bargaining chips for prospective renters. For Houston landlords, operating in a market where concessions have become standard has made lease renewals harder to come by. Stacy Hunt, executive director of multifamily development and management firm Greystar, sees a direct correlation between millennials and lease renewals. “Properties in [sub]markets where you have a lot of millennials — Downtown, Heights, Washington Avenue — it’s tougher …

April 4, 2017

Conference Coverage Features Multifamily Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive Top Stories

Job Growth, Oil Stability to Spur Houston Multifamily Rebound, Predicts Data Researcher

by Taylor Williams March 30, 2017

Tumbling rents, landlord concessions and weakening levels of absorption have defined Houston’s multifamily market for much of the duration of the oil bust that spanned from late 2014 to mid-2016, but the multifamily market is now on the mend, says a third-party multifamily data analyst. Bruce McClenny, president of Apartment Data Services, which tracks the vital signs of nearly 3,000 multifamily properties nationwide, believes Houston’s multifamily market is about nine months past the rock-bottom point. As the opening speaker at the Interface Houston Multifamily Conference before 170 industry professionals on Tuesday, March 28, McLenny explained why he believes that a turnaround, albeit a slow one, has already begun. “The first six months of 2016 was the bottom, economically,” McLenny said during the conference, which was held March 28 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Houston’s Galleria neighborhood. “Things have gotten better from that moment on. There’s absorption out there. Through the first two months of this year, we had more than 1,900 units absorbed.” In 2016, submarkets on the city’s south and east sides — Pearland West, Baytown, Pasadena, Galveston — fared markedly better than submarkets in other parts of town, according to McLenny. All four of these submarkets attained positive …

March 30, 2017

Conference Coverage Features Retail Top Stories

Building Emotional Connection to Visitors Paramount to Retail Success, Say EEE Panelists

by Katie Sloan February 16, 2017

SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — The retail landscape is changing, and the tried and true formulas for retail centers and malls are no longer cutting it. The convenience of e-commerce is cutting into purchases once almost exclusively entrusted to the local mall, and consumer tastes are evolving to demand better experiences from the centers they choose to shop at with their discretionary dollars. Those were the conclusions suggested by panelists at the third annual Entertainment Experience Evolution (EEE) conference, where over 550 retail experts and top industry players joined Shopping Center Business at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica Feb. 7-8. Panelists and attendees were there to discuss the future of retail and the brightest and best upcoming trends for success in today’s changing landscape. Overwhelmingly, the conversation focused on creating an emotional connection with visitors. When it comes to discretionary purchases, shoppers seek a space where they can create memories, not just pick up merchandise and leave. This connection is attained through thoughtful placemaking, a carefully chosen mix of unique shopping and dining, the hosting of community events and the creation of an environment through lighting, music and landscaping. Creating Memory-Making Destinations After opening remarks by Jerry …

February 16, 2017

Conference Coverage Features Georgia Multifamily Southeast Top Stories

Pace of Apartment Construction Slows Due to Growing Supply, Cautious Bankers, Say InterFace Panelists

by John Nelson December 8, 2016

The multifamily industry has entered a phase in the development cycle where the velocity of starts and completions is decreasing. Through the first 10 months of 2016, multifamily starts nationally are down 1.8 percent year-over-year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Completions are down 3.1 percent during the same period. One of the governors on construction today is the ample supply of existing multifamily product in the top markets nationally, according to the development panel at the seventh-annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference. Alan Dean, region president of multifamily development firm Terwilliger Pappas Multifamily Partners, cited Nashville as an example of an overheated market. “Nashville delivered a record 5,300 units in the past 12 months. Next year, they’re going to deliver 10,000 units,” said Dean at the conference, which was held on Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta. “Nashville in large part has been redlined by the financing community because of those supply numbers. Looking at it, it’s probably a healthy thing that the pipeline is slowing down and banks are pulling back.” Michael Blair, managing director of development at Atlanta-based Pollack Shores Real Estate Group, doesn’t believe overbuilding is …

December 8, 2016

Conference Coverage Features Georgia Multifamily Southeast Top Stories

Multifamily Industry Needs to Adapt to the Sharing Economy, Say InterFace Panelists

by John Nelson December 6, 2016

How are apartment communities adapting to the sharing economy? That’s the central question that multifamily developers need to ask themselves going forward, according to Wes Taubel, co-founder and managing partner of TWO Capital Partners, a private multifamily developer and investor based in Atlanta. The sharing economy is a term given to the online-driven practices of consumers shopping and ordering food online, renting out their apartment or house via AirBNB and uploading their experiences via social media. “From a development perspective, the biggest thing is a holistic assessment of how you design your community to incorporate the renters’ lifestyle. We’re working with hotel and office interior designers to think about how do we authentically design our amenity and community offerings that work with how this group lives their lives,” said Taubel, who spoke at the seventh-annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference on Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Westin Buckhead. Taubel served as a speaker on the development panel entitled “Walking the Tightrope: Will New Development Stay in Balance or Is There Too Much Supply Coming? An Overview of Today’s Development Environment,” which was moderated by Ron Cameron, senior vice president and principal of Colliers International. The sharing economy also includes co-working office …

December 6, 2016

Conference Coverage Maryland Southeast

Nearly 300 Professionals Participate in Annual Saul Ewing Real Estate Conference

by John Nelson November 22, 2016

BALTIMORE — Highlighted by a presentation from Marc Weller of Sagamore Development Co. and Demian Costa of Sagamore Industries LLC, who provided an update on the development activities occurring at Under Armour’s Port Covington development in South Baltimore, nearly 300 professionals from around the country attended the 8th-annual Saul Ewing Real Estate Conference at the Baltimore Convention Center. The half-day seminar also featured educational sessions focusing on placemaking principles being utilized in current real estate projects, technology tools that are employed to improve marketing and communication and a discussion of the equity and debt marketplace, especially as affected by the recent presidential election. “Based on feedback from the attendees, we achieved each of our goals at this year’s event, including the presentation of an educational forum that stimulated insightful comments and thoughts about the current real estate environment,” said Howard Majev, a partner in the real estate practice with Saul Ewing and the lead organizer of the annual conference. “Our clients and partners invest time at this conference each year because they value the outstanding networking opportunities, the exchange of ideas and the information benefits they receive from interacting with their peers and thought leaders of our industry.” Commentary from the …

November 22, 2016

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