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Online-only retailers didn’t exist 15 years ago, but today there are more than 100,000 e-commerce retailers active in the United States. While e-commerce is growing by leaps and bounds, online transactions only represent 6 percent of total retail sales, according to the JLL’s Retail Group based in Atlanta. While that number is set to double by 2020, brick-and-mortar stores will remain a key driver to growth. Online-only sales strategies represent the ultimate in flexibility and cost-cutting, but the recent report by JLL, titled “Clicks to Bricks: Why Online Retailers Are Opening Stores,” concluded that an increasing number ofweb-only retailers are planting a stake in old-fashioned, brick-and-mortar storefronts to maximize their sales. “The virtual shopping game is changing. Even the most tech-savvy shoppers sometimes need to touch and feel the products they’re buying,” says Lew Kornberg, national practice leader of retail tenant representation at JLL. “It isn’t enough to have a purely bricks-and-mortar location, and we’re quickly finding out the same goes for a digital-only platform,” continues Kornberg. “To get the best of both worlds, e-tailers are reevaluating their current sales strategy to include physical locations because the more touch points retailers can offer to shoppers, the better.” While retailers are …

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Construction employment expanded in 195 metro areas, declined in 90 and was stagnant in 54 between January 2013 and January 2014, according to a new analysis of federal employment data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Despite the gains, construction employment remained below peak levels in all but 21 metro areas. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. added the largest number of construction jobs in the past year (8,100 jobs, 7 percent), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (7,900 jobs, 4 percent), Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. (7,800 jobs, 11 percent) and Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (7,200 jobs, 7 percent). The largest percentage gains occurred in Pascagoula, Miss. (46 percent, 2,100 jobs), El Centro, Calif. (39 percent, 700 jobs) and Steubenville-Weirton, Ohio-W.V. (38 percent, 600 jobs). “It is a sign of the continued strengthening of the construction industry that nearly 60 percent of metros added construction jobs from a year earlier despite the severe winter conditions in much of the country this January,” says Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. “Nevertheless, the industry’s recovery has a long way to go with only a smattering of metro areas exceeding their previous peak January level of employment.” The largest job losses from January 2013 to …

ANNAPOLIS, MD. — Beth Burnham Mace has become the first-ever chief economist for NIC and the seniors housing and care industry, the organization announced Monday. In this new position, which she began March 10, Mace also serves as director of capital markets outreach. Her economic forecasting experience spans more than 25 years. Prior to joining NIC, Mace was a director with AEW Capital Management in AEW’s research group. She worked with the firm’s direct investment group to provide primary research support to its core and value-added investment strategies and supported the group in underwriting, asset and portfolio management decisions. In addition to Mace assisting NIC with its mission to facilitate informed investment decisions in the seniors housing and care industry through outreach to the capital markets, she will collaborate with NIC’s research and analytics team in the development of data products, the shaping of analytics and advancing NIC’s research initiatives. “She will leverage not only NIC’s various data time series, but also numerous economic, demographic and financial data series to provide insights into the market dynamics of seniors housing and care,” says Chuck Harry, managing director and director of research and analytics with NIC. As a member of NIC’s board …

By Matt Valley WASHINGTON, D.C. — Economists breathed a collective sigh of relief last Friday morning after the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 175,000 in February, beating the average forecast estimate of 149,000, says Bob Bach, director of research for the Americas with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. What’s more, the BLS also revised the December and January figures upward by a combined 25,000, which was welcome news considering the tepid job gains in each of those months. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 84,000 in December and 129,000 in January, up 9,000 and 16,000, respectively, from initial estimates. “February’s report supports the view that we’re not backsliding, but it doesn’t settle the question of whether we’re accelerating,” says Bach. “It will take a couple more months to see if the acceleration is real or another case of false hopes, which we’ve seen multiple times during the recovery. “I think the bar for success in the labor market has been lowered. Maybe 175,000 jobs [per month] is the new 250,000.” Old Man Winter Tightens Grip The U.S. economy has added an average of 129,000 jobs per month during the past three months, based on the revised …

By Linda Terrill, Esq. In the nearly 200 years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McCulloch v. Maryland, pundits, attorneys, courts and others have deliberated Chief Justice John Marshall’s assertion that “the power to tax is the power to destroy.” Today the issue is front and center in Kansas, where the state Legislature seems poised to enact sweeping reform legislation governing tax appeals. The contemplated measures would provide substantive due process in an attempt to level the playing field for taxpayers that seek to challenge state and local property, excise and income taxes. The current tax appeal system in Kansas combines informal hearing processes at the county level in property tax issues and at the state level on appeals involving excise and/or income taxes. These are followed by an appeal to the Kansas Court of Tax Appeals (COTA), an administrative agency in the executive branch of state government. If a party is displeased with a COTA decision, the prescribed recourse is a direct appeal to the state Court of Appeals. Mounting Concerns Over COTA Tax consultants and commercial taxpayers alarmed by recent COTA decisions originated the call for reform. The grassroots effort spotlighted COTA’s efforts to deny taxpayers the …

NEW YORK CITY — Whether it be multifamily properties in secondary markets or trophy assets in gateway cities, the world's largest and most liquid market for commercial real estate investment is the United States. According to Jones Lang LaSalle's (JLL) International Capital Sources report, the U.S. closed more than $38.7 billion in foreign real estate investments during 2013 — a 40 percent increase over 2012. Canadian, Chinese and Australian investors led the way for investment in the U.S., and they're not the only ones. Fresh new sources of capital are eyeing the U.S. with bigger appetites than ever before. “Every year, we break a new record for foreign investment into U.S. commercial real estate,” says Steve Collins, international director at JLL. “International capital is plentiful, placing money into markets across the spectrum including Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago and other top-tier cities. But even select secondary markets such as Dallas, Houston and Seattle are getting in on the game.” To view a larger version of this chart, click here. According to JLL's Global Real Estate Transparency Index, two big factors are driving foreign investment in the U.S. — increased allocations to international pension funds in countries such as Australia and Malaysia …

By Matt Valley WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. commercial real estate markets continue their gradual recovery from recession in the form of improving fundamentals, transaction volume and capital flows, and will likely remain on a modestly upward trajectory during the coming year. That’s the takeaway from The Real Estate Roundtable’s latest sentiment index. Yet, the survey also reveals a lingering wariness among senior industry executives about prospects for a sustainable economic recovery. Despite a brightening economic outlook and recent bipartisan cooperation on the federal budget and debt ceiling, various policy risks continue to weigh on real estate markets. These risks include the scheduled sunset of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) on Dec. 31, which could spark a job-killing commercial real estate credit crunch; tax reforms that could cause major dislocation in real estate markets; and the economic conditions surrounding future interest rate hikes, which could put renewed pressure on valuations, complicate loan refinancing and impede debt servicing. Chicago-based FPL Advisory Group conducted the first-quarter sentiment survey on behalf of The Real Estate Roundtable. The survey measures the views of CEOs, presidents and other top executives regarding current conditions and their future outlook on three topics: overall real estate conditions, access …

Construction employment jumped by the largest monthly amount in nearly seven years in January, bringing industry employment to the highest level since July 2009, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Association officials note that, at the current rate of growth, it would not take long before many firms begin having difficulty finding enough skilled workers to meet demand. “Despite a second month of unusually severe weather in much of the nation, contractors more than offset the job losses that occurred in December,” says Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. “All segments of the industry added workers for the month, and the sector has increased employment at nearly double the all-industry rate in the past 12 months.” Construction employment totaled 5.92 million in January, the highest total in 4.5 years and an increase of 48,000 from a month earlier — the largest one-month gain since April 2007, Simonson notes. For the year, construction employment rose by 179,000, or 3.1 percent, compared with an increase of 1.7 percent for total nonfarm payroll employment. Nonresidential construction firms added 31,300 new jobs in January and 57,100 (1.6 percent) over 12 months while residential firms …

By Sharon DiPaolo, Esq. Pittsburgh-area commercial property owners who received dramatic increases in their 2013 real estate assessments may see those taxable values go even higher. This wave reflects the growing nationwide issue of changes in property values and how they are assessed. In the case of the Steel City, Allegheny County’s first revaluation in 10 years dramatically increased assessments, which had remained static even during market highs in the mid-2000s and the crash in 2008 and 2009. While the overall increase in county assessments was 35 percent, commercial owners bore the brunt of the increase, seeing their assessments rise 54 percent overall. More recently, however, local legislators enacted an unusual deadline extension that has effectively put property owners — especially commercial owners — at risk for even higher assessments. Note that, rather than rely upon a central tax authority, each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties sets its own assessment. Because the state lacks a mandate for periodic revaluation, counties normally only undertake revaluation when a taxpayer files suit but will occasionally do so on the county’s own initiative. Historically, reassessments are so infrequent in Pennsylvania (sometimes a decade or more passes between reassessments) that property values spike when a county …

By Matt Valley The latest monthly jobs report released last Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is well below expectations, but veteran real estate economists say there is nothing to be alarmed about. The net gain in nonfarm payroll employment was 113,000 in January. Economists had expected an increase of 190,000. Upon closer inspection, the private sector added 142,000 jobs in January while the public sector shed 29,000 jobs. The underwhelming net gain marks the second straight month that job gains failed to meet expectations. Employers added 75,000 jobs in December. “The poor data is predominantly due to the cold weather,” says Ryan Severino, senior economist and associate director of research for New York-based Reis. “Nothing fundamental has changed in the economy over the last two months to think that job growth is migrating to a slower vector. We will have to wait until things warm up to get a clearer reading on the economy.” Economists looking for upward revisions to previously released nonfarm payroll data got what they were looking for in November 2013, but the revised figure for December reflected little change. The BLS revised the job gains in November from 241,000 to 274,000, and from …