Interest Rate Cuts Bolster Net-Lease Investment

The Federal Reserve’s decision to reverse its monetary policy and lower short-term interest rates has fueled demand for single-tenant, net-leased retail assets with regard to both deal volume and the entrance of new buyers into the space, although cap rate movement has been slow to reflect this growth. The nation’s central bank implemented three 25-basis-point cuts in 2019, creating a lower cost of capital for prospective buyers in the net-lease market and generating positive impacts on …

January 24, 2020Features, Net Lease, Retail

Four Strategies for 2020 Success in Class B Multifamily Space

As we enter a new decade, it’s important for apartment owners and operators to understand the current state of the market and where it’s heading. In July 2019 we officially entered the longest recovery in our country’s history. Interest rates continue to be at historical lows, and there has been an influx of institutional appetite for Class B workforce housing, resulting in cap rate compression. That said, growth has started to slow and opportunistic investments are hard to come by. …

January 22, 2020Features, Multifamily

Hunt: Multifamily Should Remain a Favored Product Type in 2020

James P. Flynn, CEO of New York-headquartered Hunt Real Estate Capital, believes 2020 will continue to provide a strong environment for multifamily lending and transactions. Though this may be good news for borrowers, it does mean competition in the market will also remain strong. Flynn addresses these points and elaborates on ORIX USA’s acquisition of the Hunt Companies’ commercial real estate financing subsidiary in the Q&A below. Finance Insight: What commercial property sector …

January 21, 2020Features, Finance Insight, Loans, Midwest, Multifamily, Northeast, ORIX, Southeast, Texas, Western

Sagging Foreign Investment Fails to Extinguish Optimism

Foreign investors in U.S. commercial real estate are on pace this year to sell more assets than they acquire on an annual basis — something that hasn’t happened in seven years. Through the first three quarters of 2019, foreign investment in U.S. commercial real estate totaled $30 billion, compared with $60.6 billion during the same period in 2018, according to Real Capital Analytics (RCA).The New York City-based commercial property research firm tracks deals of $2.5 million and above. To …

January 21, 2020Features, Northeast Feature Archive

Retailers, Landlords Face Complications of Factoring Online Returns Into Gross Sales

With the rise of e-commerce, declining foot traffic in malls and shuttering department stores, retail landlords and brick-and-mortar tenants have faced a wave of challenges in recent years. As a result, both landlords and tenants are constantly searching for new and unique ways to improve their bottom-line figures. One recent area where this has become an issue concerns in-person returns from online sales, and how they affect a retail tenant’s percentage rent calculation. [caption …

January 17, 2020Features, Retail

Unless Assessors Recognize Challenges of Shopping Centers, Property Taxes Will Rise

As retailers rise and fall in the age of Amazon, property taxes remain one of retailers’ largest operating expenses. That makes it critical to monitor assessments of retail properties and be ready to contest unfairly high taxable valuations. Assessors — and property owners attempting to educate those assessors — must understand how the changes taking place in the retail sector affect property value. Assessors must adjust their models to reflect new market realities, and property owners …

January 15, 2020Features, Retail

Egbert Perry and Affordable Housing: How One Man’s Vision Launched a National Movement

When picturing the rebirth of downtown Atlanta, one of the first images to come to mind is the skyline — the iconic high-rises. Another, often overlooked, part of this picture includes Atlanta’s skywalks. In the early days of redevelopment, these walkways connected luxury buildings above urban neighborhoods that many had abandoned, and effectively furthered the separation of the “haves” from the “have-nots.” Iconic Atlanta developer Egbert Perry was driven to challenge …

January 12, 2020Content Partner, Development, Features, Georgia, Mixed-Use, Multifamily, Southeast, Southeast Feature Archive, Walker & Dunlop

Strong User Demand, High Returns Keep Self-Storage Buyers Hungry

The self-storage industry started its upswing during the Great Recession as more and more Americans turned to storage units as a result of being forced to downsize or foreclose on their home, recalls Alec Pacella, president with NAI Pleasant Valley in Medina, Ohio. “That’s when the industry sparked, but it’s never stopped,” he says. There are three main reasons that the self-storage sector has continued to perform well as a commercial real estate property type, according to Pacella. …

January 9, 2020Features, Heartland Feature Archive, Industrial, Self-Storage

The Terrible T’s of Inventory: Timing and Taxes

Inventory taxes pose an additional cost of doing business in more than a dozen states, and despite efforts to mitigate the competitive disadvantage the practice creates for many taxpayers, policymakers have yet to propose an equitable fix. Virtually all states employ a property tax at the state or local level. The most common target is real property, which is land and land improvements; and tangible personal property such as fixtures, machinery and equipment. [caption …

January 7, 2020Features, Kentucky, Louisiana, Southeast, Texas, West Virginia

Entertainment Offerings Help Keep Malls Out of the Morgue

Much has been made about online retail — and rightly so — with Amazon now an integral part of everyday life in the United States. But e-commerce’s growth doesn’t mean brick-and-mortar retail is dead. Brick-and-mortar outlets can be viable and profitable, even as retail bankruptcies and store closings increase. Real estate professionals should battle the misconceptions behind retail in 2020 and beyond while keeping an eye on where the next generation of retail is headed. The mall of …

January 3, 2020Features, Retail