Subcontractors Grow More Selective as Labor Market Continues to Tighten

Rising materials costs and the shortage of skilled workers continue to pose a challenge for general contractors. In turn, these conditions have enabled subcontractors to be highly selective about the projects they are willing to accept. “For the first time in many years, we have found ourselves encountering subcontractors who have passed up on project opportunities because the reality is that resources within qualified subcontracting firmsare finite as well,” says Anthony Johnson, …

August 13, 2019Features, Heartland Feature Archive

Generation Z Renters Reshaping Student Housing Market

With some of the oldest members of Generation Z coming onto the rental scene seeking out their first college and post-college apartments, developers and property owners must start paying closer attention to this new audience. While Gen Z and millennials have quite a bit in common, they also differ in some fundamental aspects and demand different standards of living in residential spaces. Just when owners and property managers are finding their footing with millennials, Gen Z will reshape the …

August 8, 2019Features, Heartland Feature Archive, Multifamily, Northeast Feature Archive, Southeast Feature Archive, Student Housing, Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive, Western Feature Archive

Priced Out: Adding Affordable Units to Student Housing

Student loan figures indicate a growing affordability problem in higher education. The Federal Reserve reports that student loan debt in the United States is almost $1.6 trillion today, with 42 percent of people who attended college — which represents 30 percent of all adults — incurring at least some debt from their education. With a focus on technology-based degree programs, the cost to attend college is rising. But it’s not just tuition that’s going up. According to College …

August 6, 2019Features, Heartland Feature Archive, Multifamily, Northeast Feature Archive, Southeast Feature Archive, Student Housing, Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive, Western Feature Archive

Two New Tri-Land Investment Funds Hungry to Acquire Grocery-Anchored Retail Assets in Midwest, Southeast

In today’s volatile retail real estate climate, there is ample need for redevelopment or value-add acquisitions. Tri-Land, a Chicago-based owner and operator, is one such company known for repositioning underperforming retail centers. Established in 1978, the company is launching two new investment funds beginning in July. The two funds — which combined total $30 million — seek to purchase between four and eight properties over a 30-month period. The strategy of the investment funds …

June 11, 2019Features, Heartland Feature Archive, Retail

How Office Owners Can Help Lower Sky-High Property Tax Assessments

Managing fixed expenses is the best way to ensure the long-term profitability of investment properties, especially in a flat market. The largest continuing expense for most commercial properties is the property tax bill, and in a market with skyline-defining properties and headline-grabbing sales prices, tax assessors have multi-tenant office properties in the crosshairs. Any reduction in tax burden can drastically improve an investment’s profitability, competitiveness and tenant retention. …

April 16, 2019Features, Heartland Feature Archive, Office

When Done Right, New Stadium Development Can Transform Neighborhoods

The practice of building large stadiums and sports arenas in urban areas has long been a hotly debated strategy. Critics cite the civic disruption that comes with unavoidable breakdowns in infrastructure and transportation and the significant parking and logistical requirements. There’s also the difficulty of reconciling the financial bottom line, or the aesthetic and functional disconnect of a grand facility that operates intermittently and towers over its surroundings. Stanford economist …

November 1, 2018Features, Heartland Feature Archive, Michigan, Midwest, Mixed-Use

Real Capital Markets, SIOR: ‘Plenty of Runway Left’ for Industrial Sector

CARLSBAD, CALIF. — Institutional, private and foreign investors all continue to pour capital into the industrial sector in the Midwest and nationwide, confirming there is still “plenty of runway left,” according to the 2018 Industrial Investor Sentiment Report from Real Capital Markets (RCM) and SIOR. The steady flow of capital and positive momentum within the sector comes despite looming threats from rising interest rates, tariffs and a diminishing supply of quality assets. “The …

October 25, 2018Features, Heartland Feature Archive, Industrial, Midwest

Marry Online Efficiency With Brick-and-Mortar Retail, Say Experts at ICSC Chicago Deal Making

CHICAGO — How retailers can best integrate online and brick-and-mortar sales as well as utilize new technology to analyze shopper activity were two of the most prominent discussion points at this year’s Chicago Deal Making & VRN Outlet Convention. The event, hosted by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), took place at Navy Pier on Oct. 17-18 and attracted more than 2,400 registered attendees. In a recently released study from ICSC, a new store opening was shown to …

October 23, 2018Features, Heartland Feature Archive, Illinois, Midwest, Retail

Student Housing Pushes Out Affordable Living in College Towns

For Kyle Bach, CEO of The Annex Group LLC, there’s an affordable housing crisis taking place in large university towns. After extensive research in Bloomington, Indiana, and other similar towns, Bach found that over the past decade or so virtually all new multifamily product added to the market has been either student or luxury housing. This has priced out the workforce or affordable housing residents in those communities, he says. About a year-and-a-half ago, Bach’s Indianapolis-based …

July 24, 2018Features, Heartland Feature Archive, Multifamily, Student Housing

Midwest Apartment Demand Isn’t Dropping Anytime Soon, Says JVM Realty CEO

Apartment rents in Detroit are now the fastest rising in the United States among the nation’s largest cities, growing at an annual rate of 5.3 percent as of May 2018, according to Yardi Matrix and RENTCafé. Across the Midwest, the apartment market remains very strong with high demand and therefore increasing rents. Jay Madary, president and CEO of Oak Brook, Ill.-based JVM Realty, spoke with REBusinessOnline to discuss the state of the market, including the pace of investment sales. JVM …

June 12, 2018Features, Heartland Feature Archive, Midwest, Multifamily