Thursday, November 21, 2024
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DiRienzo Business Plan Talonvest pull quote
Content PartnerFeaturesIndustrialLoansMidwestMultifamilyNortheastSelf-StorageSoutheastTexasWestern

Part 1: Navigating the Financing Landscape: What’s Driving Activity Today?

by Sarah Daniels

By David DiRienzo, director — business development, at Talonvest Capital, Inc. This is part one of a two-part series discussing the key drivers behind transaction volume and the steps owners can take to ensure they are well-positioned going forward. Much has been written about the decline in transaction volumes over the last 24 months. There is no question that properties are changing hands at a slower pace compared to the activity seen during the low interest rate environment that prevailed during the pandemic. Even so, many investors continue to seek out financing to address a variety of circumstances. In today’s market, beyond simply refinancing due to an upcoming loan maturity, three scenarios have been driving financing activity among owners of self-storage, multifamily and industrial assets: restructuring debt as a project evolves, elective refinancing to improve performance and capitalizing on a new business plan. We will cover the first theme below in part one of this two-part series. Business Plan Progression Offers Opportunities for Owners to Unlock Value As a business plan evolves and the asset matures, it’s beneficial for owners to reassess their capital stack to optimize investment performance and maximize their goals. Completing a refinance at a natural project inflection …

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Pictured is an office interior in New York City.
Content PartnerDevelopmentFeaturesIndustrialLeasing ActivityLee & AssociatesMidwestMultifamilyNortheastOfficeRetailSoutheastTexasWestern

Lee & Associates: Absorption Is Positive Across All Property Types According to Third-Quarter Report

by Sarah Daniels

Perhaps the most salient information within Lee & Associates’ 2024 Q3 North America Market Report pertains to the office market. The third quarter of 2024 ended nine continuous quarters of negative net absorption in the office sector. However, additional occupancy losses may be on the horizon for the office market, even as supply pressures ease for this property type. Positive retail news has led to positive industrial news, as rising demand for retail goods has bolstered tenant demand for industrial space just as additional industrial inventory is coming on line. Steady economic growth and continuing impediments to home ownership have created strong absorption in the multifamily sector. Rent growth and vacancy rates have largely plateaued. Lee & Associates has made their complete third-quarter report available here (with more detailed information broken down according to property type). Below is an overview of the strengths and challenges in the industrial, office, retail and multifamily sectors. Industrial Overview: U.S. Demand Spikes Industrial demand across the United States dramatically improved in the third quarter. There were 52.8 million square feet of positive net absorption in the country in the third quarter, a 76 percent jump from the same period a year ago and more than double the …

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PACE Appeal Rafi Golberstein
Content PartnerData CentersFeaturesHospitalityLife SciencesLoansMidwestMultifamilyNortheastOfficeSelf-StorageSoutheastTexasWestern

C-PACE Maintains Appeal in Lower Interest Rate Environment

by Sarah Daniels

The Federal Reserve’s decision to begin aggressively hiking the federal funds rate in 2022 threw the commercial real estate market into turmoil. Property investors found it difficult to refinance much cheaper short-term loans that were often used to renovate or develop properties. However, the interest rate spike greatly enhanced the viability of commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) financing, a type of loan that becomes an assessment that borrowers pay along with their tax bill. The program emerged more than a decade ago and generally pays for energy, water and seismic resiliency upgrades in new construction and rehabs, including retroactively. As a result, developers embraced C-PACE as they sought ways to pay down debt to secure new financing or loan extensions and modifications. Now that the Federal Reserve has reversed course with its 50-basis-point federal funds rate reduction in September — and with Wall Street anticipating additional rate cuts before the end of the year — will C-PACE demand start to cool? Don’t count on it, says Rafi Golberstein, founder and CEO of PACE Loan Group, a direct lender of C-PACE financing based in Minneapolis, Minn. From the competitive cost of capital to the continued restraints on bank lending, C-PACE …

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Retail Investment Jeffrey Salladin Revere Capital Quote
Content PartnerFeaturesLeasing ActivityLoansMidwestNortheastOfficeRetailSoutheastTexasWestern

Midway into 2024, Lenders Take Note of Loan Bifurcation, Retail’s Reversal

by Sarah Daniels

For more than seven months in 2024, the commercial real estate investment market remained on a sluggish path. High interest rates continued to not only challenge many asset owners who needed refinancing, but also buyers and sellers looking to make deals. For instance, some $174.7 billion in property investment sales during the first half of the year was 7 percent below a year earlier, according to MSCI Real Assets. In such uncertain times, it’s not unusual for the commercial real estate market to experience bouts of bifurcation. Typically, those are marked by trends such as rising demand for higher quality offices during economic slumps when tenants can fetch discounted rents. Early in the recovery phase, it’s not unusual for investment to flow into tech-oriented metros at the expense of other cities. The Federal Reserve’s aggressive hike of the federal funds rate has created another category of bifurcation, especially as it relates to floating-rate bridge debt and how lenders are managing their loan portfolios. That is, the difference between the performance of assets depending on when owners financed the properties, says Jeff Salladin, a managing director with Dallas-based private debt fund Revere Capital. “It’s a question of vintage,” he explains. “Loans …

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Ivy Zelman Walker Dunlop multifamily turnover quote from article
Content PartnerDevelopmentFeaturesLeasing ActivityLoansMidwestMultifamilyNortheastSoutheastTexasWalker & DunlopWestern

Multifamily Markets See Silver Lining Despite Economic Headwinds

by Sarah Daniels

Like other property sectors, rental housing assets have experienced big swings in fortunes over the past few years. Historically high rent growth during the pandemic came to a halt amid new supply in many markets. And the end of cheap debt has stymied investment sales and is stressing investors who paid handsomely for apartments using short-term financing. But the situation could be worse. Housing remains in high demand, and despite higher mortgage rates and a collapse in home sales, a severe lack of inventory on the market continues to prop up home values and price out would-be buyers. In May, home prices across the country increased 5.9 percent over the previous year, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index. Rental housing owners and operators are the obvious beneficiary of those challenges, says Ivy Zelman, executive vice president and co-founder of Zelman & Associates, a Walker & Dunlop company that provides housing research, analysis and consulting. Move-outs attributed to home purchases clearly illustrate the trend. An apartment and single-family rental operator in Phoenix recently told Zelman that such move-out activity has dropped to about 13 percent from an historical average of 30 percent, she …

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Matt Williamson Pavlov Media FutureProofing Quote from article
Content PartnerDevelopmentFeaturesLeasing ActivityMidwestMultifamilyNortheastPavlov MediaSoutheastTexasWestern

Cost-Effective Strategies, Future-Proofing for Multifamily Internet Infrastructure

by Sarah Daniels

In the rapidly evolving landscape of multifamily technology, owners and operators face a critical challenge to staying competitive. As demand for high-speed internet and robust connectivity grows, it is essential to adapt quickly. However, constantly upgrading infrastructure can be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming. The solution lies in future-proofing properties — building an adaptable infrastructure that can support unknown future technological needs. “Future-proofing is a matter of having infrastructure capable of supporting what we don’t know we will want later,” says Matt Williamson, lead sales engineer at Pavlov Media, which provides Wi-Fi, fiber-optic internet service and managed digital services to multifamily properties. Future-proofing involves implementing scalable and flexible communication systems that accommodate both current and emerging digital demands. By focusing on future-proofing, multifamily properties can meet residents’ increasing expectations for high-speed internet and comprehensive Wi-Fi coverage while also reducing operational costs and enhancing overall efficiency. Balance Current Needs with Future Trends “Multifamily residents now expect extremely high-speed internet connections in their units and throughout the entire property, including common areas like gyms, conference rooms, pools and walking paths,” Williamson says. Residents want robust internet connections for activities such as streaming, video calls and remote home monitoring. The importance of upload speeds …

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Aerial view of a QSR.
AcquisitionsContent PartnerDevelopmentFeaturesIndustrialLeasing ActivityLee & AssociatesLoansMidwestMultifamilyNortheastOfficeRetailSoutheastTexasWestern

Lee & Associates Second Quarter Report: Industrial, Office Market See Continued Challenges While Retail, Multifamily Trends Follow Region-Specific Patterns

by Sarah Daniels

In the first half of 2024, high interest rates led to decreased demand, higher vacancy rates, reduced construction starts and lower property sales in industrial and office, according to Lee & Associates’ 2024 Q2 North America Market Report. Meanwhile, retail saw minimal development and continued low vacancies. Retail rent growth was particularly strong in the South and Southwest. Finally, high demand for multifamily, coupled with a sudden influx of supply in the second quarter of the year, has created a market where outcomes are highly tied to region. Midwest and Northeast multifamily markets have remained stronger than their counterparts in the South and Southwest, while Western markets saw mixed growth. Lee & Associates has made their full market report available here (with complete breakdowns of cap rates by city, market rents, vacancy rates, square footage information and more). The summaries for the industrial, office, retail and multifamily sectors below provide detailed insight into the trends and trajectories likely through the end of 2024. Industrial Overview: Activity, Growth Checked by High Interest Rates Industrial market performance across North America continued to downshift in the first half of this year.  Although net absorption remains positive, demand for industrial space has fallen to the lowest levels …

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Montgomery Mill Apartments in Windsor Locks, Conn.
Affordable HousingBohlerContent PartnerDevelopmentFeaturesMidwestMultifamilyNortheastSoutheastTexasWestern

Cracking the Code: Winning Strategies for Affordable Housing in Any Market

by Sarah Daniels

Frustrated by high costs and a lending crunch for market-rate multifamily projects, savvy mainstream developers are seeking opportunities to build affordable housing. But what constitutes opportunity in a sector reliant on agency lending, community stakeholders and controlled rents? Definitions of “opportunity” in affordable housing vary widely, and favorable elements often involve additional and unique challenges. Not only must developers identify opportune site conditions, but they must also evaluate prospects to compete for funding, secure municipal approvals and win community support. And they need to complete the project within required timeframes in order for the asset to qualify as a good opportunity. REBusiness asked experts from two firms at the forefront of affordable housing development about what affordable housing “opportunity” looks like — and about the strategies they use to transform promising sites into viable projects. Beacon Communities is an established developer of affordable, market-rate and mixed-income housing, while Bohler’s land development consulting and site design services have helped clients identify and act on commercial real estate opportunities for more than 35 years. “We look at any development opportunity through three lenses,” says LeAnn Hanfield Curtin, vice president of development at Beacon. “Those are the availability of sites, ability to get …

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PACE Map Active & In Development States - labels white background
Content PartnerDevelopmentFeaturesLoansMidwestNortheastSoutheastTexasWestern

Bipartisan Interest Fuels Widespread Adoption of C-PACE Financing Laws

by Sarah Daniels

It may have taken more than a decade, but after starting out as a niche financing vehicle to create more energy-efficient and resilient buildings, the commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) program has arguably achieved mainstream acceptance. Roughly 40 states and Washington, D.C., now either offer or are developing C-PACE programs. Over the last year alone, Georgia, Hawaii, New Mexico, Minnesota and Idaho passed legislation enabling or substantially improving the financing tool, points out Rafi Golberstein, CEO of PACE Loan Group, a direct lender of C-PACE headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. What’s more, he adds, New Jersey and North Carolina are among states that in the coming months are expected to advance bills authorizing the use of C-PACE, or PACE for short. Given the current partisanship within the country, one of the most revealing characteristics of PACE’s growing appeal has been its ability to cross the political aisle, Golberstein observed. PACE’s popularity in particular has ascended over the last several months as developers have sought fresh capital to enhance their financial flexibility in a rising interest rate environment. “PACE is really turning out to be a bipartisan issue, as many state lawmakers are realizing that it is a great financing tool …

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Jeff Salladin Revere Capital Investors quote from article
AcquisitionsContent PartnerFeaturesLoansMidwestNortheastSoutheastTexasWestern

Cautious Optimism Reigns as Investors Navigate Inflation, Rate Uncertainty

by Sarah Daniels

Last fall’s ebullience over the Federal Reserve’s likelihood of cutting the federal funds rate early and frequently in 2024 quickly faded as inflation remained too high for the Fed’s liking. Wall Street traders who make wagers on the Fed’s actions keep pushing their rate cut bets further into the year, according to CME Group, a derivatives marketplace. In early March, for example, nearly 75 percent of traders wagered on a rate cut in June. As of early June, less than 2 percent expected one. The most recent Fed meeting, on June 13, has confirmed this assumption that a rate cut is at least months away, if not longer. If and when the central bank cuts rates this year, the cost of capital is unlikely to approach the historically low levels of the last few years. As a result, the growing interest rate mantra of “higher for longer” may be finally convincing commercial property buyers and sellers to meet on pricing. New York-based research organization MSCI Real Assets recently noted that commercial property sales continued to slow in the first quarter of 2024 — a year-over-year decline of 16 percent to $78.9 billion. But it suggested that investors might be encouraged …

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