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Robert Niedzwiecki, an acquisition officer at JP Morgan Chase in New York City, offers a tip for investing in real estate in 2014. “Go where the puck is going, not where it’s been.” According to a panel of real estate experts that convened during a commercial real estate finance and investment conference on Tuesday, Oct. 8, the metaphorical puck is heading into value-add properties and/or in secondary markets. Robert Fransen, executive vice president and chief investment officer at Coro Realty Advisers, an Atlanta-based retail and apartment developer, noted that investors are seeing upside in value-add properties. “Value-add has become much more attractive to capital than just two years ago,” says Fransen. “It's shifting away from the distressed and core ends of the spectrum.” Fransen and Niedzwiecki’s commentary came during the conference held at the Westin Buckhead Hotel in Atlanta. The law firm of Morris, Manning & Martin LLP and France Media’s InterFace Conference Group jointly produced the daylong event, titled “How Can You Take Advantage of the Recovering Market?” The event attracted hundreds of investors, developers, lenders and financial intermediaries from across the Southeast. Fransen and Niedzwiecki participated in a panel discussion titled, “The Outlook for Investment in 2014.” Michael …

CHICAGO —The most expensive street for office space in the U.S. is in a San Francisco suburb, according to a Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) research study. JLL researched 40 markets across the country and pared down the top 10 streets in terms of their average rental rates for office space. Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, Calif., part of the San Francisco Peninsula market, is No. 1 on the list with average rents reaching almost $111 per square foot. New York City’s Fifth Avenue holds the No. 2 spot at $102 per square foot. Northern California’s University Avenue in Silicon Valley comes in at No. 3 spot with average rents of about $95 per square foot. Nationally, rental rates on the most expensive streets increased 10.9 percent on average since 2011 due to the recovery from the downturn and the lack of new construction leading to supply constraints. Reflecting the tech industry’s growth, the San Francisco Bay area holds three spots in the top 10 rankings — more than any other office market. California Street in the city of San Francisco moves up several notches to No. 6 with a 45.3 percent increase to $62 per square foot, placing it …

As one of the hardest hit asset classes during the recession, the U.S. resort sector has dramatically improved this year accounting for 18.4 percent of total investment transaction volume in the hospitality sector. The $2.46 billion of transactions through August marks the highest volume in the segment since 2007 and more than triple the prior-year period. The U.S. resort sector represents 13 percent of the total hotel room supply, including more than 3,900 hotels with 608,000 rooms. The resort market’s revenue per available room (RevPAR) and average daily rate (ADR) have surpassed the previous 2007 peak with average RevPAR of $102.99 and average ADR of $153.81 through August. Source: Jones Lang LaSalle The resort market has room to grow with occupancy nearing the prior peak, and a constricted new supply pipeline. Additionally, resorts in the U.S. often have net operating income per available room that is 1.5 to 2 times the income that a standard full-service hotel brings to the bottom line, and investors are taking note. “Given the intense capital requirement of building a new and competitive resort, as well as the lack of financing for such developments, there are few new four-and-five star resorts under construction,” says Art …

By Michael Shadeed On Oct. 1, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) implemented steep rate increases to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as a result of lowering government subsidies within the program due to the catastrophic losses incurred with Hurricane Katrina and Super Storm Sandy. Now real estate owners and operators will have to pay for flood coverage without subsidies, making rates skyrocket for certain geographic locations. The Biggert-Waters Act The change is a result of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, which was signed last year to extend the NFIP for five years. The act requires changes to all major components of the program, including flood insurance, flood hazard mapping, grants and the management of floodplains. The changes are an attempt to raise NFIP premiums to more accurately reflect the “true cost” of flood insurance. The impact on flood maps and real estate owners The largest impact of the act will be the new flood maps and re-rating of current policies, which may cause substantial increases in premiums for both commercial and residential assets. Approximately 20 percent of NFIP policyholders pay subsidized rates and will be affected immediately, regardless of changes in the flood mapping. The …

CHICAGO — Rising interest rates and the potential tapering of quantitative easing may have given investors momentary pause about committing to commercial real estate, but those two factors ultimately don’t appear to be dampening the enthusiasm that investors of all stripes have for the sector. According to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), investment sales in the first half of 2013 increased 18 percent compared to the same period last year. Transactions may slow in the early part of the second half of 2013 given the timing of interest rate increases and quantitative easing discussions, but activity is expected to bounce back strongly later in the third and fourth quarters. In the end, full-year sales volume should increase between 10 to 15 percent when compared to 2012, say the experts at JLL Capital Markets. “With institutions, private equity, high-net-worth individuals and foreign investors all in aggressive pursuit of commercial real estate, transaction activity in the United States should remain brisk and continue to grow,” says Jay Koster, Americas president for JLL Capital Markets. “In particular, we expect office sales transactions to significantly boost volume in the second half of the year, with activity propelled by improving employment growth within the technology, healthcare …

Jerry Nelson and Dolores Kelley Many shopping center owners, developers and others have cut costs, increased income and received other rewards from refinancing. Some borrowers are rushing to refinance now before interest rates jump up more than they already have. If you are nearing the end of your term loan, have an adjustable rate or have established equity in your property and desire to lower your monthly payments or cash out some of your equity, you should evaluate whether refinancing would benefit your bottom line. Should You Refinance Now? In March, we warned on our New Jersey law blog that interest rates could climb and asked readers to consider refinancing to cut costs and increase income before losing the opportunity to lock in a lower rate. In May, we advised on our New Jersey Law Blog that landlords were buying, financing, improving and selling properties to take advantage of low interest rates, available financing and rising values. As predicted, rates have started to tick upward, resulting in increased borrowing costs, which will continue to climb along with rates. The 10-year Treasury yield jumped to 2.93 percent on Sept. 12, up from 1.71 percent at the same last year. The good …