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Economic indicators should continue their upward swing through 2016, which is good news for property owners, according to the Commercial Real Estate Outlook Report recently released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The quarterly analysis, compiled by NAR’s research division, measures a variety of economic factors to predict the near future of the commercial real estate industry. All signs point to strong results over the next 19 months, the report suggests. “Net absorption rose across the property types, driving rents higher,” according to the report. “As employment gains are expected to continue into 2015, demand for commercial space is expected to advance.” In the office sector, the report predicts absorption will reach 51.8 million square feet in 2015 and over 60 million in 2016, lowering vacancy rates 20 basis points to 15.4 percent by the end of 2016. Rents in the sector should rise 3.4 percent in 2015 and an additional 3.7 percent in 2016. In the industrial sector, meanwhile, new supply is struggling to keep pace with the large amount of space getting absorbed. “Industrial markets — especially ports and intermodal distribution centers — have been positioning for the [expansion] of the Panama Canal,” says the report. “Demand …

ATLANTA — Real GDP grew at 0.2 percent for the first quarter of 2015, but Rajeev Dhawan of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business doesn’t think the factors that drove this stagnation are here to stay. “After I read the GDP report, the word ‘WOW’ escaped my lips,” Dhawan wrote in his Forecast of The Nation, released on May 20. “‘WOW’ here stands for weather, oil and the world economy. The report showed clear damage from these three factors.” Unusually cold weather in the Northeast drove non-durable goods consumption growth down to negative 0.3 percent (especially grocery purchases) in the first quarter. On the flip side, spending on utilities (heating) rose, but overall gasoline savings were socked away. Dhawan says that the weather factor is temporary, except for the Western drought, but the low oil price will start to creep up as U.S. fracking production declines. “We’ve almost reached the bottom, with oil rig counts having dropped sharply with only a little bit to go,” wrote Dhawan. “But prices will not reach the heights of $120 a barrel anytime soon. I expect oil to start creeping up to $70 a barrel by …

When David Campbell started Boxman Studios in 2009, it was out of curiosity. A former real estate broker and developer, he was looking for a new concept after the 2008 crash of the real estate market. Campbell came across an article on shipping container architecture and saw the promise in potential uses, from hospitals to foodservice to retail. “He got a container, found a yard, had a buddy who could weld, and started cutting into it to see what he could come up with,” says Vinay Patel, the Charlotte, N.C.-based company’s marketing strategist. Boxman Studios ended up on the front end of a major trend: custom-fabricating shipping containers into portable shops and booths. In its first six years, the company has already moved four times to larger spaces. In 2014, Inc. magazine named Boxman the fastest growing company in Charlotte, noting that the company increased annual revenue more than 3,000 percent from 2010 to 2013, bringing in $4.3 million in 2013 alone. Clients purchasing customized shipping containers from Boxman include Google, Red Bull and Samsung.   Going to the Consumer As online retailers continue to take market share away from brick-and-mortar shops, Patel says small, mobile, pop-up shopping is one …

By Nellie Day LAS VEGAS — The changing nature of retail and what it means to the future of the shopping center industry was a hot topic of discussion throughout  RECon 2015, held May 17-20 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The topic took center stage during the “Envision 2020 Town Hall: Redefining Our Industry” panel where six experts outlined the trends they believed would be critical to remaining relevant in the ever-evolving retail world. “There is so much change going on in our business right now that it makes your head spin,” said moderator Stephen Lebovitz, chairman of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and president and CEO of Chattanooga, Tenn.-based CBL & Associates Properties. “The holy grail, as far as property owners and retailers are concerned, will be the ability to communicate better with customers — to translate their interests into specific transactions. There will be unprecedented intimacy with the customer going forward,” added Lebovitz. Communication is Key Panelists conceded that rather than work against the online retail vessel, many brick-and-mortar retailers and shopping center owners need to embrace the omni-channel way of communication if they plan to successfully forge that bond with consumers. “The common thinking …

IRVINE, CALIF. — In the first quarter of 2015, U.S. commercial real estate deal volume reached an all-time high, pushing capitalization rates to multi-decade lows, according to online real estate marketplace Auction.com’s “Commercial Real Estate Market Monitor.” Deal volume in the first quarter reached $124.3 billion across all sectors of commercial real estate, which is a 47.4 percent increase from a year ago and a 0.1 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2014. Since the fourth quarter commonly has the highest deal volume of the year, this represents the first time the first quarter represented a quarter-over-quarter increase since 2007. “Investors continue to drive up market prices and compress cap rates, which suggests that they’re probably ahead of what the underlying fundamentals would support, especially in some of the hotter markets and sectors,” says Rick Sharga, Auction.com executive vice president. “Part of this is due to the availability of capital and the low interest rate environment we’re in.” Another reason for the high deal volume, Sharga says, is a wave of foreign investment in the U.S. market. “The continuing infusion of foreign capital is also a big factor — China and Singapore in particular have ramped up their U.S. …

LAS VEGAS — Density is what many retailers and developers desire, remarked panelists and attendees on Monday during RECon 2015 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. “What we’re witnessing now is the 180-degree reversal of sprawl,” said Robert Stark, president and CEO of Cleveland, Ohio-based Stark Enterprises during the “Successful Strategies to Attract and Retain Downtown Retailers” panel. “There is a remarkable desire — almost a need — for people to live in an urban context. This movement was fueled by all the obsolete office and warehouse buildings that became the perfect conversion sites for residential and mixed-use developments, fueling incredible boom,” explained Stark. “I can’t help but think we were missing the boat 30 years ago in regard to what urban cores had to offer.” This year’s show has attracted more than 35,000 attendees including shopping center owners, developers, property managers, retailers, investors, brokers and more — about 3,000 more than last year — according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Some of the greatest offerings an urban core has to offer are density and diversity, noted panelists. What’s more, the desire of Millennials to live near where they work and play has led to the creation …

The seniors housing industry is extremely active on the development front so far in 2015, with no signs of slowing down. Nationally, there are 12,000 units of independent living — over four times last year’s pace — and 20,000 units of assisted living currently under construction, according to a March report from Marcus & Millichap. There will be more than $127 billion of construction over the next five years in the seniors housing sector in the G20 nations, according to a report from Boston-based data firm Lux Research. “That’s a lot of buzz around our little industry,” says Ken Segarnick, chief corporate officer of New Jersey-based seniors housing operator Brandywine Senior Living. Segarnick made the comment during a panel he hosted at the Assisted Living Federation of America 2015 Senior Living Executive Conference May 4 in Tampa, Fla. The panel was titled “Why is everyone developing today?” The panelists included Chuck Herman, president of seniors housing and post-acute for Health Care REIT; Stephanie Handelson, president and COO of Benchmark Senior Living; and Ed Kenny, president and CEO of LCS. The hot development market is being driven by extremely high demand in many of the target areas for growth, panelists said. …

By Chandler McCormack Everybody knows what a hammer is good for, but construction cameras can mean a lot of different things to different people. While not as ubiquitous as hammers, construction cameras are becoming a regular fixture on jobsites across the United States. Some view them as must-have tools for scheduling and productivity. Others find them most valuable for marketing and public relations purposes. “Today’s superintendent isn’t just a guy who swings a hammer; he’s the guy with the laptop who knows how to swing a hammer. He needs to be able to access important information in the field just like you can in the office. Our construction cameras are an important piece of that technology puzzle,” says Blake Gremillion, president of construction for D’Argent Cos., a development and construction firm based in Alexandria, La. One of the most commonly cited benefits of having a construction time-lapse camera is that it can reduce the number of visits to the jobsite required to bring a project to completion. A well-placed construction camera with a well-designed dashboard allows viewers to view a jobsite from any mobile device, zoom in as needed for a closer look, retrieve images from any date and time, …

JACKSONVILLE — East Coast ports are growing at a faster rate than their West Coast counterparts, according to CBRE Group Inc.’s “North America Ports Logistics Annual Report.” Though the East Coast ports are gaining ground, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach still topped the report’s first-ever “Ports and Logistics Index.” That’s due to infrastructure that is well suited to handle the largest cargo container ships, their proximity to Asian export markets, a strong local economy and a deep industrial real estate market, notes CBRE. Jacksonville ranked at No. 15 based on strong industrial real estate market fundamentals and infrastructure capabilities. “Although the location needs of supply chain users are somewhat fixed given existing distribution centers and customer locations, these networks are always evolving and adjusting to meet increasingly complex inventory requirements,” says David Egan, head of industrial research in the Americas for CBRE. “As ports across North America continue to address operational efficiencies caused by greater cargo volumes, labor disputes and a shortage of workers, supply chain users are exploring diversification strategies that move some portion of inbound cargo from the congested West Coast ports to East and Gulf Coast ports,” adds Egan. The 6-15-ranked ports on the …

NEW YORK — U.S. CMBS delinquencies marginally improved in April. The Trepp CMBS Delinquency Rate ticked down one basis point in April, following an unchanged rate in March. The delinquency rate for U.S. commercial real estate loans in CMBS is now 5.57 percent, 87 basis points lower than a year ago. Trepp’s research shows that more than $700 million in loans were cured last month, while CMBS loans that were previously delinquent but paid off either at par or with a loss totaled almost $600 million. Removing these previously distressed assets from the numerator of the delinquency calculation helped move the rate down by 11 basis points. Almost $1.9 billion in loans were defeased in April, not including loans from agency deals. In the last two years, the delinquency rate has fallen 21 times. In April, $1.35 billion in loans became newly delinquent, which put 26 basis points of upward pressure on the delinquency rate. The Numbers The percentage of loans seriously delinquent (60+ days delinquent, in foreclosure, REO, or nonperforming balloons) is now 5.44 percent, three basis points higher for the month. If defeased loans were taken out of the equation, the overall 30-day delinquency rate would be 5.90 …