Features

Tips for Creating a Vibrant Retail Streetscape

by Katie Sloan December 20, 2016

Streetscapes create a sensation of depth and charm that beckon to passersby. People are drawn to lush landscapes, open green spaces and great tree canopies. They feel welcomed in these spaces and want to share them with others. Many new developments aim to provide streetscapes and open spaces that create holistic connections, enhancing their projects with authenticity and community. Here are some insights into how to create these. Building Community Through Authentic Connections + Open Spaces Strategically integrating retail and open spaces brings benefits beyond the satisfaction of the immediate customers. It contributes to the entire district or neighborhood as these elements are knit into the urban fabric. Thoughtful planning should address more than tenant mix and leasable space; it needs to consider quality of open space and the surrounding environment. Today’s consumer has an appetite for quality. Young professionals are flocking to new developments that support a work-life balance. An individual who lives or works near a new development can bring his or her family and friends to dine, shop, run errands, and play, extending their time spent together and within the development. Retail can benefit from this type of place-making by creating destinations that people want to stop and use …

December 20, 2016

Modera by Mill Creek-Morningside, Atlanta

Multifamily Opportunities Lie in Niche Product, Amenity-Rich Neighborhoods

by Jeff Shaw December 15, 2016

Following years of frenzied development across the country, the multifamily industry is entering a slowdown period where developers have fewer starts and even fewer completions. As of the end of October, multifamily starts are down 1.8 percent year-to-date compared to this time last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Year-to-date completions are down 3.1 percent in that same time frame. “We’re entering a more normalized market going forward, as opposed to an aggressive development market of the past few years,” says Steven Shores, president and co-founder of Pollack Shores, an Atlanta-based multifamily developer. “I don’t view it as a negative. In a lot of respects, we were trying to catch up with demand in the years immediately following the recession where there was no new development.” Core submarkets within major metros saw the bulk of new multifamily construction in the years following the downturn as developers were answering renter demand to live within close proximity of employment centers, dining, shopping and entertainment. Construction in those submarkets is now slowing as those sites have become more difficult to come by, in addition to the existing governors of construction such as the industry’s …

December 15, 2016

Features Hospitality Top Stories

Ten-X Ranks Las Vegas As Top ‘Buy Market’ for Hotel Investors in 2017

by Jeff Shaw December 13, 2016

IRVINE, CALIF. — The U.S. hotel market faces many long-term challenges, including a slowdown in international travel, an increase in supply and a decrease in demand, according to the most recent Quarterly Hotel Monitor report from Ten-X, an online real estate marketplace. The leading “buy markets” for hotels will be those that most strongly fight against these negative trends, while the top “sell markets” reflect the strongest negative forecast indicators. According to the Ten-X reports, the top buy markets for 2017 are (1) Las Vegas; (2) Jacksonville, Fla.; (3) Sacramento, Calif.; (4) Los Angeles; and (5) Indianapolis. The top sell markets are (1) Houston; (2) New York City; (3) Pittsburgh; (4) San Jose, Calif.; and (5) Northern New Jersey. In Las Vegas, occupancy jumped 110 basis points in the third quarter alone to 73.4 percent and room rates also spiked dramatically, according to Ten-X. Meanwhile, supply has dwindled due to the closing of underperforming hotels, and the new supply pipeline is relatively small. These factors combined to make Las Vegas the top buy market. In Houston, the top sell market, the prolonged oil price slump continues to take its toll. Energy and manufacturing jobs dropped 6.8 percent year-to-date through the …

December 13, 2016

Conference Coverage Features Georgia Multifamily Southeast Top Stories

Pace of Apartment Construction Slows Due to Growing Supply, Cautious Bankers, Say InterFace Panelists

by John Nelson December 8, 2016

The multifamily industry has entered a phase in the development cycle where the velocity of starts and completions is decreasing. Through the first 10 months of 2016, multifamily starts nationally are down 1.8 percent year-over-year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Completions are down 3.1 percent during the same period. One of the governors on construction today is the ample supply of existing multifamily product in the top markets nationally, according to the development panel at the seventh-annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference. Alan Dean, region president of multifamily development firm Terwilliger Pappas Multifamily Partners, cited Nashville as an example of an overheated market. “Nashville delivered a record 5,300 units in the past 12 months. Next year, they’re going to deliver 10,000 units,” said Dean at the conference, which was held on Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta. “Nashville in large part has been redlined by the financing community because of those supply numbers. Looking at it, it’s probably a healthy thing that the pipeline is slowing down and banks are pulling back.” Michael Blair, managing director of development at Atlanta-based Pollack Shores Real Estate Group, doesn’t believe overbuilding is …

December 8, 2016

Conference Coverage Features Georgia Multifamily Southeast Top Stories

Multifamily Industry Needs to Adapt to the Sharing Economy, Say InterFace Panelists

by John Nelson December 6, 2016

How are apartment communities adapting to the sharing economy? That’s the central question that multifamily developers need to ask themselves going forward, according to Wes Taubel, co-founder and managing partner of TWO Capital Partners, a private multifamily developer and investor based in Atlanta. The sharing economy is a term given to the online-driven practices of consumers shopping and ordering food online, renting out their apartment or house via AirBNB and uploading their experiences via social media. “From a development perspective, the biggest thing is a holistic assessment of how you design your community to incorporate the renters’ lifestyle. We’re working with hotel and office interior designers to think about how do we authentically design our amenity and community offerings that work with how this group lives their lives,” said Taubel, who spoke at the seventh-annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference on Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Westin Buckhead. Taubel served as a speaker on the development panel entitled “Walking the Tightrope: Will New Development Stay in Balance or Is There Too Much Supply Coming? An Overview of Today’s Development Environment,” which was moderated by Ron Cameron, senior vice president and principal of Colliers International. The sharing economy also includes co-working office …

December 6, 2016

Features Hospitality Top Stories

Group Bookings Brighten Hotel Outlook for 2017

by Kristin Harlow December 1, 2016

NEW YORK CITY — Committed occupancy and average daily rates (ADR) for the first quarter of 2017 are showing major signs of growth in the hotel sector. Group travel is leading the way despite the continuing lag in transient booking pace in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to new data from TravelClick’s November 2016 North American Hospitality Review (NAHR). TravelClick defines a transient traveler as an individual business or leisure traveler. Transient booking pace is the rate by which these travelers book their reservations. Committed occupancy is defined as the sum of transient rooms and group rooms committed divided by capacity. The November NAHR looks at group sales commitments and individual reservations in the 25 major North American markets for hotel stays that are booked by Nov. 1, 2016, from the period of November 2016 to October 2017. Across all travel segments in the first quarter of 2017, occupancy and ADR are up 6.7 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Occupancy for the group segment is up 6.8 percent. “Even with the slowing transient reservation pace this month, especially within the business segment, hoteliers should look to the New Year for a promising outlook,” said John Hach, TravelClick’s senior industry …

December 1, 2016

Features Industrial Top Stories

Self Storage: The Strong, Stable REIT Investment

by Jeff Shaw November 29, 2016

The self storage REIT industry is sizzling hot. Last year, when stocks were flat and REITs generated a mere 2.8 percent return on average, self storage REITs returned a whopping 40 percent, far surpassing all other REIT sectors. Occupancy rates at the 51,000 self storage facilities in the United States have grown by 11 percent from the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2016. The need for storage facilities continues to increase as Baby Boomers retire and downsize, while millennials flock to rental apartments without garages and basements. In fact, the growth in the inventory of self storage facilities mirrors recent increases in apartment occupancy. Although net absorption of apartments is slowing, self storage REITs remain a solid investment. That’s because the existing inventory of storage facilities is relatively low due to a slowdown of construction during the recession. This lack of sufficient supply prompted Integra Realty Resources to predict record-level prices and continued demand for this strong investment type into 2017. One of the advantages of self storage is that it involves so little capital outlay when compared to other kinds of commercial real estate, such as malls, offices or apartments. Indeed, it requires less capital …

November 29, 2016

Features Retail Top Stories

How Owners Can Drive Revenue for Retail Centers Through Innovative Landscape Design

by Katie Sloan November 22, 2016

The retail experience has and continues to evolve. Online sales are projected to reach $523 billion by 2020, increasing at an annual average rate of 9.32 percent, according to reports by Forrester Research Inc. While brick-and-mortar shopping still remains a dominant channel for American consumers, e-commerce growth continues to increase at a rapid rate, indicating a fundamental shift in the way today’s consumers approach retail. In order to remain competitive in this ever changing landscape, retail owners must adapt their strategies to create retail centers that cater to the evolving demands of today’s shoppers. The majority of consumers that still prefer to make purchases in stores are no longer simply searching for places to shop, but are rather seeking multi-sensory environments and experiences that cannot be replicated through online channels. The question is, how do retail owners create these experiential centers that extend beyond the traditional retail experience? The short answer: innovative landscape design. Landscape design can play an integral, if not essential, role in cultivating these experiences and transforming a center from a cookie-cutter mall to an upscale destination of choice. In fact, the presence of physical beauty has been proven to build and establish an emotional connection with …

November 22, 2016

InterFace Seniors Housing Northeast Conference, Philadelphia

Features Multifamily Seniors Housing Top Stories

Will Trump’s Stance on Immigration Reform Exacerbate Worker Shortage Problem in Seniors Housing?

by Jeff Shaw November 17, 2016

Already facing a labor shortage, the U.S. seniors housing industry could be dealt a “devastating” blow if president-elect Donald Trump were to limit the number of lower-wage immigrants coming into the country in order to accommodate an increased number of high-wage skilled immigrants, says Jeff Sands, managing principal and general counsel for HJ Sims. “It’s a real issue this industry is grappling with,” especially given the growing number of facilities. Sands’ comments came during a “State of the Industry and 2017 Outlook” panel at the InterFace Seniors Housing Northeast conference in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Nov. 15. The U.S. seniors housing market will need to recruit 1.2 million new employees by 2025, Argentum reported in a research report released earlier this year. Because about 70 percent of the 65-plus population — including many people with cognitive impairment — requires some form of long-term care, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the nation’s aging population will create unprecedented demand for the services of the senior living industry in the coming decades. According to donaldjtrump.com, the president-elect’s campaign website, his immigration controls will result in the selection of immigrants based on their likelihood of success in the United States …

November 17, 2016

Features Heartland Feature Archive Multifamily Top Stories

Renovation of Older Apartment Buildings in Suburbs is a Win-Win Strategy

by Jeff Shaw November 15, 2016

Strong renter demand for affordable apartments in affluent suburbs easily outstrips the available inventory of such properties. This supply and demand imbalance creates a big gap in the market that renovated older buildings can fill. These undervalued multifamily buildings also provide a healthy investment opportunity. Cranes dot the skylines of many American cities today, and much of the development is new luxury multifamily communities. For the last 10 years, the majority of the new apartments built have been high-end apartments, often in downtown areas. Underlying reasons Two main factors are driving developers’ preference for luxury urban apartments. First, developers are turning to urban areas because many suburbs are using zoning density restrictions to prevent multifamily construction. Developers may want to build in the suburbs, but suburban communities want to maintain the relatively small class sizes in their schools and the low crime rates associated with low-density areas, so they are not granting permits for new construction. Cities, on the other hand, are eager to welcome new residents to grow their tax bases, so they’re quick to provide permits for new multifamily construction. The second factor is rising construction costs. Excluding land costs, construction costs have risen 23 percent since 2010, …

November 15, 2016

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