Features

The ‘Space’ Age Of Retail – Integrating Technology into Today’s Shopping Center

by Katie Sloan August 22, 2017

It was not so long ago that the actual merchandise was the focal point of most malls and shopping centers throughout the country. Technology, social media and the rise of a new generation have changed that focus. Or, at least, altered that focus, blurring the lines between products and services, retail and entertainment and ecommerce and bricks and mortar. Nowadays, shopping centers and the store brands that inhabit them must be much more. In fact, many are now tasked with being all things to all people. They can babysit your kids, act as your personal shopper, tell you which parking space is open, deliver your purchase to your front door, provide you with items that might complement your purchase and so on. While there are a variety of very creative, well-informed and innovative people behind all of these new and emerging services, most of them have come to fruition through the use of technology. Yes, the term once reserved for the computer science, engineering and medical fields has now become a premier commodity — rivaling that of even the merchandise — in the shopping centers of America. Though the actual blueprint for the next wave of retail real estate remains …

August 22, 2017

Delaware Features Northeast

Delaware Court Unlocks Opportunities to Reduce Property Tax Burden

by Kristin Harlow August 18, 2017

Reducing property tax assessments can be challenging under the best of circumstances, and distinctions between state tax systems make minimizing that burden across an office or industrial portfolio especially daunting. But a recent Delaware Supreme Court decision provides taxpayers with a new, yet surprisingly familiar, opportunity to ease the tax burden on properties in The First State. Delaware’s Tax Assessment System Shows its Age Under Delaware law, property must be valued at its “true value in money,” a term interpreted to mean the property’s “present actual market value.” However, in order to implement the Delaware Constitution’s mandate of tax uniformity, the state applies a base-year method of assessing property. That means that all property in a jurisdiction is assessed in terms of its value as of a certain date, and that value remains on the books indefinitely until the jurisdiction performs a general reassessment. For Delaware’s northernmost county, New Castle County, the last reassessment occurred in 1983, so all property therein is valued as of July 1, 1983. A major challenge to contesting assessments in Delaware is that a taxpayer must determine the property’s 1983 market value. Determining what a property is worth today is not always easy, but proving …

August 18, 2017

Features Industrial Self-Storage Top Stories

Self-Storage Demand Remains Strong as Supply Grows

by Kristin Harlow August 17, 2017

Halfway through a year of transition, the self-storage sector continues to undergo changing investor dynamics while feeling the effects of political uncertainty in Washington. Yet opportunities abound, particularly in the Midwest, where a moderate development pipeline has kept supply in check with demand. We’re currently witnessing a pool of buyers rethink their approach amid rising interest rates and a lack of tax and policy guidance. As a result, large self-storage real estate investment trusts have tempered growth expectations as development activity puts upward pressure on vacancy, and rent growth moderates. This may present an opening for small to midsize buyers to enter the market or expand their existing portfolios. Meanwhile, sellers are looking to capitalize on elevated valuations. Yet, the climate of higher interest rates will likely bring lower cash-on-cash returns and put upward pressure on cap rates. Favorable fundamentals Nationwide, self-storage is currently downshifting to a more sustainable growth trajectory after years of rampant expansion. Newly employed millennials are finally moving out on their own, spurring household formation. Baby boomers are also leaving the family nest as they look to downsize. These societal shifts, along with the current economic landscape, are driving a demand for space and keeping vacancy …

August 17, 2017

Data Centers Features Industrial Top Stories

JLL: Shifting Clouds, Surging M&A Shape 2017 Data Center Demand

by Kristin Harlow August 15, 2017

The data center industry is stepping up to meet escalating demand for storage, according to a new report from JLL, which reveals that data center construction in North America is up 43 percent in 2017 compared to 2016. In addition, industry consolidation powered a $10 billion surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the first half of 2017. Data center users identified the biggest industry changes projected for the next two years in JLL’s report. Among the predictions: Efficiency programs will install automation to make data center operations more valuable to the core business; Artificial intelligence will help reduce human intervention in data centers and significantly cut time to restore operations in the event of a failure; Artificial intelligence will make greater use of predictive analytics on-site; Processor technology investments will improve cooling and reduce energy usage. Data center markets across the country experienced significant shifts in the first half of 2017. Northern Virginia maintained its status as the top market in the data center industry, and supply is growing at a historic rate, according to JLL. However, a shortage of available big-block spaces is leaving providers scrambling to bring new inventory on line as quickly as possible to capitalize on the …

August 15, 2017

Features Office Top Stories

July Jobs Report Is Good News for Office Sector in Particular, Say Economists

by Camren Skelton August 10, 2017

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 209,000 in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), beating expectations and boosting confidence that this expansionary phase of the economy still has legs. A panel of economists assembled by the Wall Street Journal predicted a net gain of 180,000 jobs. Job growth is always a welcome sign for the commercial real estate industry — especially when the numbers exceed expectations — because employment drives demand for all types of space. To dissect the latest job figures and identify some of the underlying trends, REBusinessOnline reached out to three real estate economists for their insights: Steve Hovland, director of research at Irvine, California-based HomeUnion Inc.; Ken McCarthy, principal economist and applied research lead for the U.S. based in Cushman & Wakefield’s New York office; and Ryan Severino, chief economist at JLL who works out of the New York City office. What follows are their edited responses. REBusinessOnline: From a commercial real estate standpoint, what did you find most encouraging about the July job numbers and why? Ryan Severino: We are in the ninth year of economic expansion, and business and professional services continues to represent about one-quarter of the job gains, both …

August 10, 2017

Features Top Stories

Immigration Restrictions Would Impede Real Estate Market, Says Counselors of Real Estate

by Camren Skelton August 8, 2017

Restrictions on legal immigration would have negative repercussions for the real estate market, according to a report from The Counselors of Real Estate (CRE). The findings come from the organization’s list of the top 10 issues affecting real estate in 2017-2018, an annual report that predicts and interprets the issues and trends that will have the highest impact on those who own, live, develop and invest in real estate properties. Established in 1953 and headquartered in Chicago, the Counselors of Real Estate is an international group of high-profile professionals including members of prominent real estate, financial, legal and accounting firms as well as leaders of government and academia who provide expert, objective advice on complex real property situations and land-related matters. Last week, President Donald Trump unveiled legislation intended to reduce immigration to the U.S. If Congress passes the bill, it would reduce the number of legal immigrants to the country from one million per year to half that number over the next 10 years and could negatively impact housing, development and jobs, according to CRE. “Reduced workforce numbers caused by restricted immigration would negatively impact property sectors such as hospitality (hotels and restaurants), retail (stores, online ordering and related …

August 8, 2017

Features Northeast Northeast Feature Archive Pennsylvania Top Stories

Property Owners Celebrate Fair Taxation Ruling by Pennsylvania Supreme Court

by John Nelson August 3, 2017

Commercial property owners around the country are cheering a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that breathes new life into constitutional guarantees of uniformity in taxation. Overruling a decade of lower court decisions, the ruling reestablishes the primacy of constitutional uniformity protections to taxpayers in the strongest possible language, fittingly issued just one day after the July 4 holiday. Nearly every state constitution requires uniformity in taxation, meaning that two like properties should receive the same assessment, no matter how they are owned, occupied, built or financed. Yet commercial property owners across the nation have been under attack by assessors attempting to alter appraisal theory in order to pin higher assessments and higher real estate taxes on specific owners. These assessors have been singling out occupied commercial properties by setting assessments based on financing mechanisms that fail to meet standard appraisal definitions of market sales, incorrectly basing taxable value on data relating to sale-leasebacks, turnkey leases and contract rights and duties associated with tenant financing. In Pennsylvania and Ohio, the only states that provide school districts a statutory right to file increase appeals, the school districts have been targeting specific commercial owners for higher assessments using this same flawed methodology. These …

August 3, 2017

California Features Mixed-Use Top Stories Western Western Feature Archive

Better Together: The Opportunity in Mixed-Use Retail Condos

by John Nelson August 1, 2017

A wave of high-density mixed-use development has swept across the country within the past decade. A number of forces have contributed to this activity, including demographic trends, shifts in housing demand, environmental concerns, as well as governmental forces and municipalities seeking to create sustainable, pedestrian-oriented communities that incorporate a mix of uses. As a result, developers are building ground-up mixed-use projects or converting older hotels or apartment and office buildings into residential developments featuring apartments or condominiums. The street-level retail portion of the development is, in most cases, also converted into a condominium. This process has created a specialized real estate product known as the retail condominium or commercial condominium. The retail condominium has now emerged as a popular, alternative real estate investment platform. Retail condominiums were traditionally in major metropolitan cities like New York or Chicago, but are now debuting in suburban markets throughout the country. Pasadena, long thought of as a suburban neighbor to downtown Los Angeles, now boasts mixed-use developments like the Pasadena Collection and 482 Arroyo. These projects offer a mix of residential, office and retail condominiums. The Harbor Lofts development in downtown Anaheim, Calif., also includes residential loft condominiums above ground-floor retail condominiums. The sale …

August 1, 2017

Features Office Top Stories

M&M: Demographics Revive Interest in Suburban Office Spaces

by Taylor Williams July 27, 2017

A growing concentration of households in suburban areas throughout the country is sparking renewed interest in office properties located outside urban centers, according to a recent report from Marcus & Millichap. Millennials’ general preference to work in amenity-rich office buildings with walkable retail and dining options heightened demand for urban office space for much of the post-recession era, notes the report. Overall vacancy for urban office properties declined by 250 basis points during this period and clocked in around 14 percent as of the first quarter of 2017. This activity spurred a 7 percent increase in asking rents across America’s urban office markets, but demand for these properties is beginning to slow. The suburbs, where rents for stabilized properties land for new properties are cheaper, are currently poised to benefit from rising rents in urban sectors, according to the report. Compounding the opportunities for suburban office properties are the general demographics of those markets. According to the report, as of 2015, 64 percent of America’s households resided in the suburbs. That figure is projected to rise as high as 75 percent by 2025. Particularly in smaller areas with tighter labor markets, this proportion is an important consideration. In addition, the …

July 27, 2017

Features Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive

Are You Leaving Property Tax Savings on the Table?

by Taylor Williams July 26, 2017

Suing to appeal an unsatisfactory appraisal review board decision is straightforward in Texas. The state property tax system provides taxpayers with a pragmatic approach to air their valuation disputes before the courts, without the delay and headache frequently experienced in other types of litigation. Yet many taxpayers choose not to appeal, relinquishing the opportunity to achieve significant tax savings. Do not be so shortsighted. Texans enjoy one of the most fair property tax protest systems in the country, beginning with the right to contest their appraised values through an administrative process. If they do not like the result, they can file a lawsuit that provides a fresh start, turning the valuation issue over to a judge or jury, whichever the parties prefer. And if the taxpayer is unsatisfied with the court’s decision, he or she can seek review from a state appellate court and even the State Supreme Court. Not all states provide such a favorable review process. Texas is special. Built into the Texas Tax Code are processes and requirements that make litigating property tax appeals more efficient and less procedurally burdensome for taxpayers, even if an appeal advances to the state’s highest court. Here are a few of …

July 26, 2017

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