Content Partner

Roxann Campbell Pavlov Media Multifamily Wi-Fi

Pavlov Media Delivers, Manages Optimal Wi-Fi Service for Multifamily Residents

by Sarah Daniels August 15, 2023

Day-to day life as a property manager in both a conventional multifamily building and student housing can be unpredictable. Hiring and staffing issues can plague many operators, resulting in the need to wear many different hats. These different hats can make it difficult for staff to fully address all of the residents’ needs. Managing a Wi-Fi system — perhaps the most crucial technology platform at any community — is one duty that the onsite team can happily offload to a third-party provider. Reliable Managed Wi-Fi Systems Roxann Campbell, vice president of regional sales at Pavlov Media, says today’s Internet-connected culture has increased the need for residents to have an absolutely reliable managed Wi-Fi system. Pavlov Media (which provides Wi-Fi & fiber services to multifamily and student properties) is an Internet service provider (ISP) that can establish connectivity throughout entire buildings while managing Internet for all of a property’s residents. This managed Wi-Fi approach benefits the buildings’ owner-operators because it offers a planned strategy for wiring and Wi-Fi signals. Routers aren’t competing against each other, as they can in communities that give their residents the option to sign up with any number of competing Internet providers. “Bulk managed Wi-Fi provides residents …

August 15, 2023

Acquisitions Content Partner Development Features Industrial Midwest NAI Northeast Southeast Texas Western

Logistics, Location, the 1.5-Year Rule Drive Industrial Tactics

by Sarah Daniels August 8, 2023

Location’s importance to commercial real estate has become a cliché. But in logistics and industrial considerations, the idea is new again — it’s not about where you are but where customers need to go and the primacy of transportation. If you’re not at the place and time that clients need, it doesn’t matter how theoretically fine the setting or how impressive the facilities are. “Transportation is roughly 12 times the cost of industrial real estate,” says Adam Roth, executive vice president at NAI Hiffman. Finished products, goods and materials are sent into and out of facilities over and over again. Shipping and trucking are a stiffly recurring expense and a much higher spend than real estate. “If I can impact your transportation spend, the real estate is a much smaller factor in the supply chain. If you can address the current concern of transportation, real estate rates almost doesn’t matter, due to a location’s supply chain advantages. Real estate can be one of the best ways to combat transportation costs.” The Rule of 1.5 In practical terms, customers’ plans for transportation are a series of changes, starting at factories, going to ports or warehouses for inventory, on to major and …

August 8, 2023

Affordable Housing Content Partner Development Features Loans Midwest Multifamily Northeast Southeast Texas Walker & Dunlop Western

Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Industry Adjusts to HUD Curveball on Income Limits

by Sarah Daniels August 3, 2023

New income limits for low-income and very-low-income housing in 2023 represent a mixed blessing for the industry’s providers, who gain more potential renters but face ubiquitous caps that restrain their ability to adjust rents. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) publishes the income limits annually based on changes in each housing area’s median income, and typically places caps on outlier markets to prevent wide year-to-year swings. From 2010 through 2021, about 10 percent of areas were capped each year. Also in that period, the caps predictably checked the increase in an area’s qualifying income levels to no more than double the annual percent change in national median income. HUD published national median income based on three-year-trailing American Community Survey (ACS) data that HUD adjusted forward using the Consumer Price Index (CPI). In 2022, however, HUD omitted the CPI factor and based limits on historical survey data alone, producing lower results for median incomes and a smaller percentage change to be doubled into a cap. Even so, calculated incomes rose significantly, spurring HUD to cap increases in 57 percent of areas. Industry experts had predicted HUD would add the CPI adjustment back into its calculations in 2023, resulting …

August 3, 2023

Parking Lot Aerial Bohler Shopping Center Retail

Bohler Content Partner Development Features Midwest Northeast Retail Southeast Texas Western

Converting Underutilized Parking Can Revitalize Shopping Centers

by Sarah Daniels August 1, 2023

Shopping center owners and property managers throughout the United States are exploring opportunities to increase foot traffic by transforming excess parking into restaurants, entertainment venues, neighborhood amenities and even multifamily uses. “In our experience, nearly every shopping center that’s not grocery-anchored is going through a process to reassess the amount of parking they have, the amount of parking they need and alternative ways to develop those parking areas to add value,” says Cornelius Brown, a principal in the Pennsylvania offices of Bohler, a land development consulting and site design firm. With more than 30 offices across the Eastern and Central United States, Bohler has helped many of its clients with parking conversions ranging from single pad site creation to comprehensive, property-wide redevelopment. Municipalities Onboard Landlords have been carving out parcels for standalone retailers, restaurants and other uses for years, but the trend is accelerating as more and more municipalities ease minimum parking requirements. Parking-reduction advocates have argued that offering fewer spaces reduces environmental impacts associated with heat islands and stormwater runoff. Others contend it promotes the use of mass transit and ridesharing, which can reduce vehicle emissions and, in the case of bars and restaurants, may reduce incidents of impaired …

August 1, 2023

Content Partner Development Features Industrial Leasing Activity Lee & Associates Loans Midwest Multifamily Northeast Office Retail Southeast Texas Western

Lee & Associates’ Second-Quarter 2023 Economic Review by Sector

by Sarah Daniels July 27, 2023

Lee & Associates’ newly released 2023 Q2 North America Market Report outlines industrial, office, retail and multifamily outlooks trends in the United States. This sector-based review of commercial real estate trends for the second quarter of the year examines the difficulties facing each property type and where opportunities in the landscape may be emerging. Troubles with absorption dogged each sector, with the exception of retail, throughout the first half of 2023. Scheduled deliveries for industrial, office and multifamily indicate this trend will continue throughout much of the United States for the foreseeable future. Lee & Associates has made the full market report available here (with further breakdowns of factors like vacancy rates, market rents, inventory square footage and cap rates by city). The summaries from each sector below provide high-level considerations of the overall outlook and challenges in the market. Industrial Overview: Industrial Growth on Track for Least Gain in Years In a reversal from the ballooning logistics capacities required during the pandemic, demand for industrial space has slowed across North America. After continuously rebuilding inventories from the fall of 2021 through the third quarter of last year, many retailers and wholesalers are taking a breather, pausing further inventory accumulation out of caution over …

July 27, 2023

Content Partner Features Leasing Activity Midwest Multifamily Northeast Pavlov Media Southeast Texas Western

How Future-Proof Is Your Multifamily Property’s ISP?

by Sarah Daniels July 6, 2023

Technology, like commercial real estate, becomes increasingly vulnerable to the need for replacement and updates over time. Just as multifamily landlords can update properties by periodically replacing outmoded flooring and fixtures to suit the latest occupier preferences, technology must also keep up with the latest trends. For the best renter experience, multifamily properties need Internet connectivity that will serve residents as their technological needs grow and their tolerance for frequent outages diminishes. Disruptions associated with repairs or network upgrades can threaten customer satisfaction and renewal rates. Unfortunately for many landlords who rely on traditional telecommunications lines for their properties’ Internet, modern usage is straining older infrastructure. Booming wireless technology use is gobbling up bandwidth to connect everything from consumers’ phones and laptops to fitness monitors, smart TVs and other household appliances. As a vice president of product catalog who has worked for over a decade at broadband service provider Pavlov Media, John Danner understands the problem of limited Internet bandwidth all too well. He is eager to see technological improvements that will replace these old systems. “The old copper infrastructure can’t meet the requirements of the next generation of wireless connectivity,” explains Danner. “With fiber-optic connections, the sky is the …

July 6, 2023

Brian Cornell Hotel to Mulitfamily conversion

Affordable Housing Content Partner Features Hospitality Midwest Multifamily Northeast Southeast Texas Walker & Dunlop Western

Underutilized Hotel Properties Present Conversion Opportunities for Multifamily, Affordable Housing

by Sarah Daniels June 27, 2023

Walker & Dunlop is finding financial success while helping to provide high-demand, affordable housing in key markets by converting hotel assets into multifamily buildings. Brian Cornell, managing director at Walker & Dunlop Investment Partners (WDIP), says his firm is identifying hotels that are already built out and can accommodate market-rate multifamily use. Extended-stay hotels have the best layout for this type of conversion because their footprint already includes the floor plans and many of the amenities that multifamily residents expect. “The units are typically one-bedroom, but with some two-bedroom suites and studios,” he outlines. “This creates a variety of unit types within the existing physical build-out of the property, and these assets can operate as true multifamily without having to combine walls and do extensive capital renovations.” When it comes to location, Cornell explains, “We prefer infill locations that have strong employment drivers and a dearth of affordable housing.” Underutilized Properties, Multifamily Strategies The three investments Walker & Dunlop has done in the past two years are in the heart of commercial corridors, in areas where there are limited multifamily projects within a two-to-three-mile radius offering rents that can support an 80 percent area median income (AMI) threshold. One is …

June 27, 2023

Content Partner Development Features Leasing Activity Midwest NAI Northeast Retail Southeast Texas Western

Retailers Eager to Expand Despite Higher Rental Rates, Development Slowdowns

by Sarah Daniels June 22, 2023

Retailers, developers and leasing agents who attended the ICSC LAS VEGAS 2023 conference in May left the show cautiously upbeat about the state of retail. It was only the second consecutive gathering since the pandemic shut down the annual show in 2020 and 2021, and many brands made known their intent to remain in expansion mode, especially fast-casual restaurants, car washes, coffee shops, auto parts stores, entertainment concepts and medical services. The only obstacle stopping them at this point is the higher rental rates that they may have to pay as a consequence of higher construction costs, says George Macoubray, vice president of retail brokerage for NAI Elliott in Portland, Oregon. “A lot of these concepts are doing well,” declares Macoubray, whose Northwest Retail Advisors team represents landlords and regional and national tenants throughout Oregon and Washington. “We’ll see how far these tenants can go in terms of what they pay to fill new projects, but the enthusiasm and willingness to grow is definitely there.” Practicing Vigilance The same can’t be said for ICSC conference attendees who are on the capital markets side of the business. Higher interest rates have fueled a bid-ask spread between buyers and lenders, while regulatory …

June 22, 2023

Jeff Salladin Nervous Financing Market quote

Acquisitions Content Partner Features Loans Midwest Multifamily Northeast Southeast Texas Western

Borrowers Looking to Debt Funds in a Nervous Financing Market

by Sarah Daniels June 20, 2023

For real estate investors who have an acquisition teed up or who need to refinance, the prospects of finding debt today are arguably the bleakest they have been since the financial crisis 15 years ago. Higher interest rates and concerns over growing distress convinced banks and other lenders to move to the sidelines several months ago, thwarting commercial real estate investment sales. In turn, that is fueling broad uncertainty over what properties are really worth, which only begets more unease among banks. But private debt funds, which typically provide short-term rate bridge loans, are more likely to make deals when banks will not, says Jeff Salladin, a managing director with Dallas-based debt fund Revere Capital. That’s because debt funds like Revere raise capital from sophisticated investors to fund their loans, he says, while banks rely on deposits. That subjects banks to stringent regulatory oversight, which is especially intense in today’s debt climate. “All investors dislike uncertainty, and banks are investors by another definition,” states Salladin, who oversees real estate lending for Revere. “As a result, we could be in the first inning of a golden era for debt funds like ourselves, because we’re more flexible in way banks can’t be.” …

June 20, 2023

Content Partner Features Industrial Leasing Activity Midwest NAI Northeast Southeast Texas Western

Rewards, Risk Mitigation Fuel Cell Tower Lease Sales

by Sarah Daniels June 14, 2023

A rapidly evolving connectivity frontier is shaping the future of cell tower lease sales and encouraging many commercial property owners who rent space to tower companies to sell their leases at values at the top of the market. Telecom carriers have considerably slowed their buildouts for 5G networks and are already preparing for 6G mobile networks, expected to roll out around 2024. Brokers are seeking to amend and renegotiate old cell tower leases in the face of predicted wireless infrastructure obsolescence and connectivity innovations, which may negate some physical infrastructure needs entirely. The key to maximizing sale proceeds in this landscape is to secure landlord-friendly terms and ensure clarity in a new lease or renewal. Among other elements, building owners must insist on strong insurance indemnities and well-defined subordination, non-disturbance and attornment (SDNA) in the amended agreements. But no landlord demand may be more important to future value than denying the tenant a right of first refusal to purchase the lease, says David Moore, CEO and principal of NAI Global Wireless, a Redlands, California-based national wireless real estate brokerage that represents landlords. Cell tower leases in which tenants don’t have right of first refusal are more appealing to buyers, a …

June 14, 2023

Newer Posts

Older Posts