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As commercial property owners renew their insurance programs in 2017, they’ll be pleasantly surprised to see their property premiums continue to decrease. Those owners can thank favorable meteorological and financial conditions for their good fortune. Florida hasn’t been hit by a major hurricane in more than a decade. Hurricane Matthew skirted much of Florida’s coast, ultimately wreaking damage and disruption in Jacksonville, but overall, had a relatively small impact on the state and the insurance industry as a whole. Insurers have enjoyed the good weather, which has attracted more competitors to the state at the primary and reinsurance levels, while better technology and predictive modeling have driven property catastrophe (CAT) coverage closer to a commodity, making it difficult for existing carriers to firm up rates, let alone drive increases. Weathering the Storm Even if we were to experience major storms in 2017, the effects of any jolt would be contained. As carriers begin the new year with significant surplus in their coffers and the January treaty renewals wrapping up, initial reports point to another year of declining reinsurance costs. For carriers, the cost of capital has declined materially for years and their ability to strike a better deal has cascaded down …

NEW YORK — Following a turbulent year in 2016, the U.S. economy and property markets are positioned to perform well in 2017, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s U.S. Macro Forecast. Although it will take time for policy to form, Cushman & Wakefield expects that President Trump, alongside a Republican-controlled House and Senate, will deliver fiscal stimulus measures that will further boost the U.S. economy and property markets. That said, some of the expected growth in fiscal policy will be negated by tighter monetary policy, higher interest rates, higher inflation and more global volatility, according to Kevin Thorpe, global chief economist at Cushman & Wakefield notes that. Cushman & Wakefield forecasts the U.S. real GDP will grow by an upwardly revised 2.3 percent in 2017, and will hit 3 percent in 2018. The forecast predicts the following implications for the commercial real estate sector: Office: With 730,000 estimated new office-using jobs in 2016 and an additional 438,000 and 508,000 expected throughout 2017 and 2018, respectively, there is still runway for the office market. In 2016, total net absorption is forecast to end the year at 50.2 million square feet. Absorption is projected to increase to 54.9 million square feet in 2017. Vacancy …

The market for seniors housing construction financing is “pretty fickle right now,” a stark contrast from just a few years ago when the lending spigot for developers was flowing freely, according to Ari Dobkin, managing director of Meridian Capital Group. “The funny money for construction just isn’t out there anymore. Lenders are hyper-focused on the borrower’s balance sheet, their experience doing construction and their ability to successfully fill up a building,” remarked Dobkin during a capital markets update panel session at InterFace Seniors Housing Northeast in Philadelphia on Nov.  15. The daylong conference held at Hyatt at the Bellevue hotel in downtown Philadelphia attracted approximately 200 industry professionals. In addition to Dobkin, other panelists included John Randolph, senior mortgage banker, KeyBank Real Estate Capital; Frank Cassidy, vice president of originations at Berkeley Point Capital; Trace Wilson, director, Prudential Mortgage Capital Co.; and panel moderator Lee Delaveris, director of seniors housing and healthcare for RED Capital Group. Dobkin joked that in the past he has fielded some unique requests from borrowers at industry conferences, including the following: “I own a bowling alley and now I want to build a seniors housing project on top of it. Can you get me 90 …

Owners should be delighted to see the value of their property increase, but in our current tax environment, higher property values have become synonymous with higher property taxes. School districts, municipalities, counties, and other taxing units have the power to limit property tax bills by lowering their respective tax rates as property values rise. Instead of doing this, however, many taxing entities opt for a tax revenue windfall. Remarkably, as they collect this additional revenue, these same taxing units claim that they have not raised taxes because they have not increased their tax rate. This distinction has afforded taxing units a convenient escape from the ire of taxpayers. But is it fair? The Texas property tax system has two components: appraisal districts and taxing authorities. First, appraisal districts assess the market value of taxable property within their boundaries. They then participate in protest hearings initiated by property owners about those values and subsequently certify appraisal rolls for taxing entities. Second, the governmental bodies that levy and collect taxes prepare budgets and, with their certified appraisal rolls in hand, adopt tax rates sufficient to meet those budgets. Then these municipalities, school districts and other institutions send out tax bills and collect tax …

In retail, nothing remains the same for long. A century ago, America saw the rise of mega department stores as category killers. In the middle of the 20th Century, regional malls were beginning their rise. That was followed by the power centers and lifesyle centers of 1990s and 2000s. Today, experience is the name of the game; consumers would rather spend time doing what they enjoy than shopping for common goods. They strive to make every trip an experience. In some ways, it is akin to the original days of the department store and regional mall, where every turn was met with something unexpected and new. Like the entertainment industry, the shopping center industry now touts more “original content” than replication in its medium, the physical retail format. Every venue strives to be different, and in some cases chain retailers have strived to make their locations differ from one another. REBusiness Online’s sister publication Shopping Center Business recently spoke with Garrick Brown, vice president of retail research at Cushman & Wakefield, one of the foremost retail analysts in the industry, to see what trends he is watching as the industry enters 2017. Brown will be one of the keynote speakers at Entertainment Experience Evolution, February 7-8 in Santa Monica, produced by Shopping Center Business. SCB: What trends are you seeing as we move through the holiday season this year? Brown: We are definitely seeing another shift towards entertainment, …