ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — According to UBS, a global finance and research firm based in Zurich, 80,000 retail stores in the United States are predicted to close their doors by 2026. This report assumes e-commerce sales will rise to represent 27 percent of total retail sales. The current share of e-commerce is 18 percent for all retail sales.There were 115,000 shopping centers at the end of 2020, which includes strip centers, outlet malls, shopping malls and other lifestyle retail centers. …
As more renters consciously choose not to become homebuyers, the build-for-rent (BFR) industry is quietly emerging as a new force in commercial real estate. In fact, both the burgeoning BFR and single-family rental (SFR) sectors are generating considerable interest from institutional investors in the wake of the pandemic.Industry experts outlined some of the causes and effects taking place within the BFR and SFR business segments during a webinar hosted by France Media on Wednesday, April …
By Carlos Suarez, Popp HutchesonAfter a pandemic year that decimated rental incomes, owners of affordable housing properties should prepare to protest property tax assessments that overstate their liability.As stay-at-home orders in 2020 forced businesses across the county to change their operations, a large portion of the labor force began to work from home. But many renters, including a large contingent of affordable housing residents, found themselves without jobs and struggling to …
By Nicholas Minoia, owner, Diversified Properties Changing consumer behaviors and financial pressures stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with an inevitable rise in interest rates, will soon trigger the release of a wave of distressed real estate assets that will hit commercial markets across the nation. As this wave of distressed assets begins to crest in the months and years to come, creative and experienced investors will be afforded rare opportunities to uncover value across …
Many in commercial real estate expected a tsunami of COVID-related distressed properties in 2020 and 2021. So far, the wave hasn’t materialized, says Jay Olshonsky, president and CEO of NAI Global. Businesses have been sustained by exogenous factors that may or may not keep them from foreclosure or receivership in the long term. In many cases, lender forbearances or flexible plans have simply extended the window in which distressed properties may eventually revert to …
By Mary Cook, Mary Cook Associates As a commercial interiors firm, a question we hear a lot recently is “Are multifamily developers renovating amenities because of the pandemic?” The answer is a bit more nuanced than a straight “yes” or “no.” No, entire amenity floors are not being ripped out and re-thought in direct response to changes stemming from the pandemic. But yes, long-term lifestyle trends are emerging from the pandemic that should be a factor when redesigning amenity …
By Paul Gevertzman and Joseph Molloy, CPAs and partners at AnchinAs a general rule, uncertainty makes for a difficult environment, and this is especially true for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries, where business pipelines are defined by long-term commitments and relationships.We’ve seen a range of clients struggling at times throughout the pandemic. With many projects delayed and others cancelled, it has been an uneasy time. On the other hand, AEC …
Like the rest of the working world, commercial real estate lenders, intermediaries and borrowers have developed new ways of doing business over the last year. They recognize that mutual flexibility is crucial to keeping deals from falling through. At the most fundamental level, the pandemic has forced providers and arrangers of debt and equity to elevate their due diligence processes, to scrutinize terms of underwriting even more closely based on a variety of factors. Lenders have found …
DES PLAINES, ILL. — When reflecting on the future of the economy and its recovery, sometimes it’s good to look back. For instance, one of the lessons learned from the pandemic of 1918 was that people will make up for lost time, says Scott Brown, chief economist for Raymond James. “That’s one of the reasons we had the Roaring ’20s.”Brown’s remarks came during the opening session of CORFAC International’s virtual spring conference on Wednesday, March 17. Brown hosted an …
Shopping center owners thought the solution to combat online shopping was so crystal clear. Give them experiences. Provide social spaces. Make interaction the focal point. And this worked…for a while. Entertainment and food and beverage operators soon absorbed the spaces left behind by traditional retailers. Old Sears locations became luxury movie theaters. Vacant in-line spaces could be taken over by Instagrammable pop-up experiences. Mall kiosks that once sold tchotchkes could now be …
