Features

InterFace Panel: Time to Rethink How We Meet Demand for Office Space

by Taylor Williams February 8, 2018

HOUSTON — Much like the preferences of younger generations are influencing how retailers pick their locations and sizes, the whims of today’s office-using workforce significantly impact the way professional services companies view their office spaces. This is not strictly an amenities-based trend. It goes beyond adding fitness centers, walking trails and food trucks to cater to Millennial workers. It’s an evolution of the role that office space plays in company budgets and operations. For developers and brokers in the office sector, it means rethinking the ways in which they meet demand. A panel of veteran players in Houston’s embattled office market addressed this trend and others during the InterFace Houston Office Forecast on Feb 1. Approximately 150 real estate professionals attended the event, which was held at the Royal Sonesta hotel in the Galleria area of the city. Old Product Trails Trends Houston’s office market has been hobbled by high vacancy and negative absorption as a three-year slump in oil prices has taken a toll on Houston’s energy industry. In addition, the sector also suffers from a lack of modernized product. Panel moderator Rand Stephens, managing director at Avison Young, said the latter factor is increasing demand for build-to-suit projects …

February 8, 2018

California Features Top Stories Western

Investors in Buy Mode, Keen on Value-Add Opportunities, Concludes RCM Survey

by Camren Skelton February 8, 2018

CARLSBAD, CALIF. — A majority of commercial real estate investors indicate that they are in a buying mode in 2018 and are particularly focused on properties in the value-add space, according to a survey conducted by Real Capital Markets (RCM). The National Investor Sentiment Report and follow-up interviews were completed in early January by RCM, a Carlsbad-based online technology platform for buying and selling commercial real estate. RCM surveyed more than 250 investors active in all property types across the United States to gauge their investment strategies and outlook for the year ahead. More than 75 percent of respondents classified their investment strategy as buy, or buy but trending toward hold, according to the survey. “Investors across the country continue to see great opportunity and benefit in commercial real estate investing,” says Steve Shanahan, executive managing director of RCM. “Regardless of the product type or whether the strategy is core or value-add, the focus is on finding assets that can deliver strong yields that outpace other investment options.” Of the respondents, a majority (58 percent) characterized themselves as value-add investors. In other words, they are looking for growth through renovation or repositioning properties to enhance value. These types of properties are …

February 8, 2018

Features Top Stories

Job Growth, Wage Gains Signal Healthy Start to 2018, Say Real Estate Researchers

by Camren Skelton February 6, 2018

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 200,000 in January, beating economists’ expectations, while unemployment held steady at 4.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said in a report released on Friday, Feb. 2. Perhaps most importantly, average hourly earnings increased 2.9 percent, marking the biggest jump since the end of the Great Recession. While upward pressure on wages is good news for workers and the economy, experts caution that an increase in wages could lead to a hike in interest rates. On the heels of the latest jobs report, REBusinessOnline reached out to three real estate researchers for their insights: Ryan Severino, chief economist for JLL who works out of the firm’s New York City office; Ken McCarthy, principal economist and applied research lead for the U.S. based in Cushman & Wakefield’s New York City office; and Don Ganguly, founder and CEO of Irvine, Calif.-based HomeUnion. What follows are their edited responses. REBusinessOnline: Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 200,000 in January. Wall Street economists had expected an increase of about 180,000, according to Bloomberg. What factor(s) led the labor market to outperform expectations in January? Ryan Severino: I don’t view a difference of 20,000 jobs as substantial, but …

February 6, 2018

Conference Coverage Features Office Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive

Recovery of Houston Office Market Still Distant, Say InterFace Panelists

by Taylor Williams February 5, 2018

HOUSTON — If patience is a virtue, then developers and brokers in Houston’s office market are poised to become a bit more saintly. For the past three years, the story of the market has been a painful coinciding of sluggish oil prices hurting Houston’s largest tenants, while deliveries of new office spaces are at a peak. According to CoStar Group, more than 5 million square feet of office space has been delivered in Houston during each of the past three years. The nosedive that oil prices took beginning in early 2015 set rising vacancy in motion, leading to an 11-quarter streak of negative absorption. And while the price of oil has risen substantially to start the new year — increasing by roughly $10 to its current price of $65 per barrel over the last two months — that won’t force an overnight recovery in this struggling niche. This one-two punch has players in the space wondering when the market might finally begin to display sound fundamentals. According to panelists at the InterFace Houston Office Forecast, that’s not likely to happen before 2020. The event was held Thursday, Feb. 1 at the Royal Sonesta hotel in Houston. Approximately 150 industry professionals attended the …

February 5, 2018

Features Top Stories

IRR: Moderate, Steady Growth Predicted for Commercial Real Estate in 2018

by Jeff Shaw February 1, 2018

The outlook for the year in commercial real estate is cautiously optimistic, as several signs of excess that cause market corrections begin to amass, according to the 2018 edition of Viewpoint, an annual commercial real estate trends report released by Integra Realty Resources (IRR). Annual job growth dropped from 2.3 percent in early 2015 to 1.4 percent in October 2017, while real weekly incomes rose only 0.4 percent for the 12 months ending in October 2017. Production and non-supervisory workers saw an even smaller rise of only 0.3 percent during this time. These levels were not enough to spur consumption significantly in 2017, with personal consumption expenditures (69.4 percent of GDP) in the third quarter up only 2.3 percent from the prior year. If the market continues in this direction, corrections may be imminent, IRR warns. “In the short term, we find the commercial property markets solidly in their ‘expansion phase’ in most areas of the country, but now is the time for real estate owners and investors to begin thinking about defense strategies,” says Hugh Kelly, veteran commercial real estate economist and contributor to the report. “However, it should be a less severe downside for the commercial real estate industry …

February 1, 2018

Features Retail Top Stories

Shipping Containers Offer a Creative New Venue for Retailers and Restaurants

by Katie Sloan January 30, 2018

What’s that thing everyone always says about millennials? That they crave new experiences, novel environments and locally produced items that have a story — or at least a little substance — behind them? Yes, that’s it. Ask and ye shall receive. They’ll even ship this request to you. Well, maybe not right to your door, but straight off a boat and into your nearest underused plot of viable land. We’re talking shipping containers, which have become the new avant-garde approach to traditional retail experiences. “I think any time you can find a new creative use for an item or a space it is going to capture interest,” says Hartley Rodie, who is developing the Churchill, a 16-container shopping and dining project on North 1st Street in Phoenix that is scheduled to open in fall 2018. Being a millennial himself, Rodie and his partner, Kell Duncan, both 29, were inspired to undertake this new project after examining what was missing — both within their own lives and within their community. “Neither of us felt fulfilled by our areas of focus, so the question became ‘what’s next?’” he says. “I knew whatever it was going to be, for me, it was important to …

January 30, 2018

Features Multifamily Northeast Pennsylvania Seniors Housing Southeast Top Stories

Berkadia Forecast: Southeast to Garner Bulk of Multifamily Investment, Financing Activity in 2018

by John Nelson January 25, 2018

AMBLER, PA. — Mortgage bankers and investment sales brokers alike expect multifamily markets in the Southeast to record more investment and financing activity than any other region in 2018. In Berkadia’s inaugural poll of nearly 150 staffers across 60 offices, the company reveals that more than one-third (36 percent) of its respondents predict the Southeast would see the most deals take place this year. “Population influx, continued job growth and significant development stabilization will make the Southeast a destination for commercial real estate growth and investor appetite in the coming months,” says Ernie Katai, executive vice president and head of production at Ambler-based Berkadia. For example, the Atlanta metro area is on track to add 2.5 million people over the next 25 years, the equivalent of adding the entire metro Charlotte population, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission. This type of population growth is attractive for employers looking for a new base of operations. This week French car manufacturer Groupe PSA announced that it chose Atlanta for its North American headquarters, and media outlets are reporting that Facebook is interested in building a massive data center complex in the metro area. Atlanta recently made the short list for Amazon’s second …

January 25, 2018

Features New York Northeast Top Stories

Attorney: Owners Need to Investigate Whether Possible Tax Increases from New Tax Law Can be Abated

by John Nelson January 23, 2018

President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is the first sweeping reform of the tax code in more than 30 years. Signed into law on Dec. 22, 2017, the plan drops top individual rates to 37 percent and doubles the child tax credit; it cuts income taxes, doubles the standard deduction, lessens the alternative minimum tax for individuals, and eliminates many personal exemptions, such as the state and local tax deduction, colloquially known as SALT. While Republicans and Democrats remain divided on the overhaul’s benefits, there is a single undeniable fact: The sharp reduction of the corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 21 percent will be a boon for most businesses. At the same time, employees seem to be benefiting too, with AT&T handing out $1,000 bonuses to some 200,000 workers, Fifth Third Bancorp awarding $1,000 bonuses to 75 percent of its workers, Wells Fargo raising its minimum wage by 11 percent and other companies sharing some of the increased profits with employees. Companies are showing understandable exuberance at the prospect of lower tax liability, but investments many firms are making in response to the changes may trigger increases in their property tax bills. Some companies already are reinvesting …

January 23, 2018

Features Loans Top Stories

Retail Bankruptcies Take Toll on CMBS Lenders, Says Trepp

by Jeff Shaw January 18, 2018

In 2017 alone, over $35 billion in CMBS loans were exposed to risk of default by retailers declaring bankruptcy, according to New York City-based Trepp LLC, which monitors the performance of securitized commercial mortgages. The loans were largely backed by mall properties that had leased space to retailers, many of which are now closing stores. “In the first 11 months of 2017 alone, more than 30 U.S. retailers filed for bankruptcy protection. That news certainly made those in structured finance take notice to the mounting concern surrounding brick-and-mortar retail,” states the report titled “The 11 Largest Retailer Bankruptcies of 2017.” As the “retail apocalypse” continues, with consumers increasingly choosing e-commerce purchases over brick-and-mortar malls, certain sectors have been particularly hard hit. Apparel and footwear sales have largely shifted on line, spurring the string of bankruptcies. The report is quick to note, though, that retail sales have actually been on the rise through 2016 and 2017, and that the “retail apocalypse” is simply a shifting of winners versus losers in a changing economic model. “In step with the rise of e-commerce, the popularity of traditional department store anchors is plunging, and hundreds of malls nationwide have reported dwindling foot traffic,” states …

January 18, 2018

Features Top Stories

M&M: New Tax Law ‘Holds Favorable Prospects’ for Commercial Real Estate

by Jeff Shaw January 16, 2018

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — signed into law by President Trump at the end of 2017 — should be a net positive for the commercial real estate industry, according to a special report by Marcus & Millichap. By adding business-friendly provisions and reducing uncertainty, the new law “holds favorable prospects for commercial real estate,” the report states, with “potential to boost space demand and capital flows.” Among the business-positive results are minimal changes to the 1031 tax-deferred exchange system, the mortgage interest deduction for investment real estate, and asset depreciation. Uncertainty over the future of those programs had previously “caused many investors to move to the sidelines,” the report states. “This consistency in tax law will enable investors to move forward with most of their existing investment strategies.” More direct benefits to businesses include “generous tax cuts to corporations,” which may cause investors to use this opportunity to reconfigure portfolios. This, in turn, could boost capital flows throughout commercial real estate. Multifamily Demand Should Rise, but Healthcare Takes a Hit Several of the provisions in the tax bill relate specifically to individuals, but will have residual effects on the commercial real estate industry. Changes to the standard tax …

January 16, 2018

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