Features

How Multifamily Owners Can Strike A Balance Between Technology Use, Human Connection

by Taylor Williams March 1, 2024

By Heather Drennan, senior director of talent development, and Kory Nelson, marketing director, of Birge & Held The use of proptech is a factor that is sure to come up regularly in conversations among executive teams, regional vice presidents and local property teams, simply because the capabilities of modern technology and innovations are endless. For example, consider this article by Fast Company, a publication at the forefront of technology, innovation and leadership. The article cites how the implementation of proptech can have an all-encompassing, positive effect at the resident, community, societal and even environmental level. From innovations that reimagine the way residents tour an apartment complex and gain access to their units to those that redefine how property management and maintenance teams complete trainings and respond to residents’ requests, it’s clear that technologies bolstering automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are here to stay. But that’s not to say there isn’t any pushback. The multifamily space is rooted in relationships that are essential to building and maintaining community, and for many renters, the presence of a human connection remains key. This poses a clear dilemma — how should multifamily owners and operators strike a balance between reaping the benefits of proptech …

March 1, 2024

Katie Balderrama Walker & Dunlop LIHTC quote

LIHTC Program Offers Lifeline to Struggling Multifamily Developers

by Sarah Daniels February 29, 2024

It’s a tough time for much of multifamily development, but the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program offers incentives that make much-needed affordable housing comparatively easier to achieve under the current economic conditions. Building is expensive and financing is tight in the current multifamily market. However, as it has for the last 30 years, the LIHTC program provides solutions that increase the ease of creating and sustaining affordable housing, even when the overall multifamily market faces challenges. The program not only promotes the construction and acquisition of housing but also enforces conditions that help maintain the stability and preservation of affordable properties. The program is also needed to address the demand for affordable housing. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that extremely low-income households represent 25 percent of the nation’s 44.1 million renters and reports a shortage of 7.3 million affordable and available rental homes. Historical Financial Resilience “The LIHTC asset class is resilient, if not countercyclical, under challenging economic times,” says Katie Balderrama, executive vice president of affordable equity at Walker & Dunlop. The firm typically sees a foreclosure rate of under 1 percent on properties supported by LIHTC. “Overall, our affordable housing assets tend to perform fairly …

February 29, 2024

Features

Time for Debt Market to Hit the ‘Reset’ Button

by Taylor Williams February 27, 2024

By Taylor Williams At its mid-December 2023 meeting, the Federal Reserve delivered the news that investors of all types were waiting for: the cycle of interest rate hikes had concluded and that as many as three rate cuts could be forthcoming in 2024. But the first rate cut by the Fed won’t occur until at least March. That’s when the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is scheduled to meet again. In January, the FOMC opted to hold interest rates steady, keeping the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25 to 5.5 percent. The January jobs report, which showed total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 353,000 — nearly double many economists’ forecasts — has clouded the issue of when rate cuts may be forthcoming. A robust job market argues against the need for immediate rate cuts. The Fed’s every move is tracked closely by the stock market, which responded with a furious rally in December 2023 on expectations for rate cuts in 2024. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 37,000 on Dec. 13, a record high at the time, within hours of the Fed indicating the possibility of three rate cuts of a quarter percentage point each in …

February 27, 2024

Acquisitions Conference Coverage Features Multifamily Seniors Housing

Seniors Housing Investors Are Ready to Switch to Acquisitions Mode, Say InterFace Panelists

by Jeff Shaw February 22, 2024

LOS ANGELES — In 2023, particularly in the second half of the year, a combination of forces slowed property sales to a crawl in the seniors housing sector. Amy Sitzman, executive managing director of seniors housing and care at Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors, laid out the laundry list of challenges. “The bid-ask spread conversation really has everything to do with what’s gone on in the market the past year and a half,” she said. “It has been trying for everybody dealing with interest rate hikes, inflation, operations, staffing challenges, expenses going out of control, the minimal lack of stabilized assets out on the market. We’re just trying to get our head around the value of assets today.” Sitzman made her comments as moderator of a panel titled “Investment Outlook: When Will the Bid-Ask Gap Narrow and Transactions Resume in Earnest?” at France Media’s InterFace Seniors Housing West conference, held Feb. 1 at the Omni Los Angeles. Speakers at the session included Michelle Kelly, senior vice president of investments, NHI; Darrin Smith, executive vice president of Investments, Sabra Health Care REIT; Bryan Schachter, chief investment officer, Watermark Retirement Communities; and Clint Malin, co-president and chief investment officer, LTC Properties. While …

February 22, 2024

Development Features Retail Western Feature Archive

Repurposing Historic Buildings Can Create Meaningful, Revitalizing Retail Destinations

by Jeff Shaw February 20, 2024

— By Elise Kunihiro and Maura Schafer — Historic building adaptive reuse creates a bridge between the past and the future, resulting in places that can become the hearts and souls of their communities. The reuse of these buildings offers community benefits, such as sustainability, new public spaces and character. Reactivate local economies Beyond revitalizing older buildings, adaptive reuse projects can also support small local business owners. A 1922 brick office building in the East Village Arts District of downtown Long Beach, Calif., for example, now hosts Partake Collective. The 25,000-square-foot cloud concept and food hall incubator allows visitors to support local restauranteurs while dining in a communal food hall or sidewalk dining area. Studio One Eleven served as the project’s architect, while RDC did interiors and procurement. The goal of this redevelopment model was to create a benchmark for future development that celebrates food diversity and enhances community building. It doesn’t hurt that Partake Collective remains an active and engaged member of the Long Beach community by working with local educational institutions to support pathways to private enterprise, business ownership and job opportunities for the most underrepresented communities. Partake Collective has already partnered with culinary programs at Browning High …

February 20, 2024

Features Student Housing

Economic Environment, High Tenant Demand Spur Increase in Public-Private Student Housing Projects

by Katie Sloan February 15, 2024

In a way, the dynamics of public-private partnerships (P3s) are the same as they’ve always been. “The reasons why universities elect to go the P3 route haven’t changed much,” says Michael Baird, managing director of municipal finance for RBC Capital Markets. “For many, the decision is made based on speed to market. This happens when other alternatives can take years — resulting in an opportunity cost of not being able to provide housing to students that need housing now, in addition to increased development expenses as construction costs continue to increase year over year.” These costs — both the ones saved and the ones incurred by the university — have become increasingly important in today’s economic climate. The cost of construction materials has increased by an average of 19 percent since 2020, notes facility and construction insights provider Gordian. Meanwhile, the annual student housing rent at purpose-built communities rose by an average of 8.8 percent between November 2022 and May 2023, according to RealPage. Construction costs make it easy to see why it’s more difficult to get projects to pencil right now…and increasing demand shows why it’s more important than ever to get them off the ground. Jay Pearlman, senior vice president …

February 15, 2024

Features

Obsolescent Real Estate Presents Complications for Property Taxes

by Katie Sloan February 13, 2024

Incurable obsolescence — the stealth killer of commercial real estate value — is all too often overlooked in property tax appeals. Any obsolescence can affect a property’s value. Normal obsolescence involves curable problems, such as outdated fixtures and finishes that reduce a building’s desirability. In valuation, the anticipated cost to cure the obsolescence (in this case, with a refreshed interior) is deducted from the property’s taxable value. As the name suggests, incurable obsolescence cannot be cured within the boundaries of the property. The obsolescence stems from outside circumstances, whether next door or in the larger markets, and no change to the property itself can overcome the deficiency. Perhaps the government is going to change the traffic pattern, or a hog farm is going in next door. The market value may rise if a good thing is coming to the area. It will surely decline if a bad thing is coming, and the market value declines in relation to the predictability of such an event. Property owners who learn the common forms and causes of incurable obsolescence will be better equipped to recognize its symptoms in their own real estate. In arguing for a reduced tax assessment value, evidence of obsolescence …

February 13, 2024

Conference Coverage Features Retail

EEE Panelists: Today’s Premier Entertainment Experiences Merge the Physical, Digital Worlds

by Jeff Shaw February 7, 2024

LOS ANGELES — Brick-and-mortar spaces aren’t the only areas where consumers exist nowadays. There’s the omnichannel approach that includes online shopping, yes, but today’s forward-thinking landlords and tenants know that the digital sphere is the next great conquest. This was one of the primary arguments made at InterFace Conference Group’s Entertainment Evolution Experience (EEE), which was held at the J.W. Marriott at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles this week. “Consumers are back and looking for experiences, but it really has to mean something to leave the sofa and comfort of Netflix and go into a shopping center,” said Benjamin Calleja, founder and chief experience officer for Livit Design, as well as the conference keynote speaker. “Digital is blurring the lines between the physical and virtual worlds, creating more ways to transform spaces.” One only needs to look as far as the latest entertainment concepts to see how digital assets are playing an integral role in today’s shopping centers. Concepts like Dreamflyer, a virtual reality (VR) flight simulator, and the immersive Elvis Evolution that includes a “concert” from the late Elvis Presley illustrate how digital displays can merge with sensory experiences to create a new entertainment opportunity. Travis Cloyd, CEO …

February 7, 2024

Build-to-Rent Development Features Single-Family Rental

Economic Forces Brew a Perfect Storm for Build-to-Rent

by Jeff Shaw February 6, 2024

By Adam Wolfson and Darryl Kasper of Wolfson Development Co. Against a backdrop of recently proposed (though unlikely to pass) legislation aimed at forcing large build-to-rent (BTR) and single-family-rental investors to shed units and convert them to for-sale housing, BTR fundamentals — and the investment case for the sector — remain strong as ever. While debatably well-intentioned, the legislation mistakes correlation for causation. The BTR sector is indeed benefitting from problems in the housing market. However, these problems pre-dated the industry and are more likely caused by factors such as inflation, high interest rates and limited supply. These forces are at play throughout the United States, but they are especially prevalent in the Southeast, where they align to create what could be the perfect storm for BTR rent growth. Inflation, Wage Growth Will Drive Rent Growth Inflation has run rampant since mid-2021 for a variety of reasons, including economic dislocation caused by the pandemic and the subsequent stimulus packages the U.S. government provided in response, as well as high gasoline prices and a supply chain crisis. According to U.S. Inflation Calculator, the annual inflation rate skyrocketed from 1.4 percent in 2020 to 7 percent in 2021, then fell slightly to …

February 6, 2024

Features Retail

Entertainment Concepts Take Center Stage as Consumers Limit Retail Spending

by Hayden Spiess February 1, 2024

The economy has constricted consumers’ wallets, but the desire for entertainment has kept them spending…on the right concepts. Rising prices have made just about everyone conscientious about their spending. That, naturally, includes shoppers. Dixon Greenwood, principal at Mountain Mile in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, notes 2023 overall tax receipts at the dining, shopping, lodging and entertainment destination are down more than 10 percent from the company’s 2022 numbers. “Now, that’s off some extreme growth during and after COVID, so numbers are still very good, but what it says pretty clearly is people are tightening their purse strings,” he says. Traffic, on the other hand, is only down 2 percent to 3 percent. “Fortunately for us, we’re still trending up at our property, but that’s in part because we continued to add additional retailers and experiences last year,” Greenwood continues. A large part of what’s compelling visitors into shopping centers nowadays is entertainment, especially if prices for goods are lower online. “There has been somewhat of a drop in consumer spending, but entertainment remains a ‘recession-proof’ outlet,” argues David Goldfarb, owner, CEO and founder of entertainment-solutions company PrimeTime Amusements. Goldfarb is careful to note, however, that recession-proof doesn’t mean bulletproof. After all, …

February 1, 2024

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