Features

By Thomas A. Rizk, chairman and CEO, TractManager Real estate professionals are quickly learning that in this current fiscal environment, any transaction must be undertaken in an expeditious manner. Closing sales, signing leases, even just keeping financial documents in order, requires having up-to-the-minute knowledge of current market activity. And with the market moving faster than ever, it’s imperative that professionals keep the pace. Lenders are being impacted on a daily basis by what’s going on in the marketplace. We saw Lehman Brothers file for bankruptcy overnight. We saw Washington Mutual get acquired very quickly by JP Morgan. Sometimes, when these transactions happen, there arises an opportunity — a real estate owner can purchase his own debt at a discount or a building could be sold in order to avoid a default on a maturing mortgage. Given that today’s climate makes it incredibly difficult to refinance real estate, lenders and owners need to be able to take advantage of new opportunities, and they must do so quickly. But it’s impossible to take advantage of such a situation without the proper information in place. The process of performing due diligence can be time consuming and arduous. In the past, all due diligence …

By Ruta Greiner, ka architecture With the current state of the economy and slowdown in new development, many development and asset management organizations are now focusing on investment in existing properties to compete with lifestyle centers for tenants and customers. Neglected existing properties have become outdated and out of position with the current shopping demographic. The use of graphics in a mall renovation can have an enormous effect on its revitalization. The redesign of a signage, identity and way-finding system can create the perception of a new community destination drawing more tenants and customers and, in turn, increasing profits for the developer. Expanding and Rebranding Identity repositioning can be very useful as the demographics of communities change, as is shown with Brookfield Square Mall in Brookfield, Wisconsin. This CBL & Associates Properties (CBL) asset is located in a region that was once considered more rural, but over the past decade, the demographics changed making it a wealthier community with a very progressive new group of residents whose needs could not be met with the old facility. The community was ready for upscale restaurants and a more dynamic atmosphere. A high standard was anticipated for the repositioning from planning, to image …

By John W. Colagrande Jr., P.E.,Vice President of Engineering, Whitman When it comes to purchasing a commercial property, there are definite benefits to performing a pre-purchase assessment of the property. Commercial property investors have two potential tools available to them. A Property Condition Assessment (PCA), which can provide information on the condition of an existing building, and an Environmental Phase I, to evaluate potential environmental risks associated with the property. PCA’s can assist buyers of commercial real estate by providing information on the physical condition of the building and internal components prior to acquisition. This information allows the purchaser to factor the existing conditions of the building into their evaluation and may also provide an opportunity to further negotiate with the seller. This is accomplished by having a PCA conductor observe the physical features of the property as outlined in the American Society for Testing and Materials Standard. Depending on the complexity of the project and the size of the structure, a typical PCA can take a few days or several weeks and consists of four parts: Documentation review and interview A walk through The preparation of opinions of probable costs to remedy any physical deficiencies The property conditions report …

By Leland Hahnel, CresaPartners St. Louis While at first glance the correlation is anything but obvious, the need to protect dwindling populations of blue crab and striped bass in Chesapeake Bay earlier this decade is making it more costly to develop, maintain and purchase goods at a shopping center in St. Louis County today. Late in 2006, the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) adopted new standards which significantly changed the ground rules for the planning and design of new commercial and residential developments. Prompting the overhaul were wide-ranging new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines governing the treatment and release of storm water — a perpetual concern for the regulatory body. It turns out the new guidelines adopted by MSD parallel those employed by the state of Maryland late in 2000 as it sought to halt the ecological decline of iconic Chesapeake Bay. The good news is that even though eco-improvement is slower than originally projected, the measures are producing positive, quantifiable results. Underwater grasses — a prime habitat — improved to cover 65,000 acres of the bay in 2007. Striped bass populations have rebounded, in part due to the re-opening of 2,266 miles of freshwater stream habitat for migratory …

By Amy Bigley RIALTO, CALIF. — The City of Rialto Housing Authority and National Community Renaissance, known as National CORE, have transformed a troubled neighborhood in Rialto into Citrus Grove, a 152-unit affordable housing community. “The area was severely blighted and was infested with gangs, drugs and violence, and the properties were not being maintained by the absentee property owners,” says Greg Lantz, economic development manager of the city of Rialto. “The area was unsafe, and the only way to rid the community of the cancer was to take decisive and effective action.” Originally developed in the 1960s as low-cost condominiums for first-time buyers, neglect and absentee landlords caused the area to become less desirable. The city used a combination of acquisition negotiations and eminent domain to purchase the condominiums for the redevelopment project. The city and National CORE raised $37 million to fund the project through numerous sources, including $14 million in Redevelopment Agency housing set-aside funds, tax-exempt bonds, tax credits, HCD Multi-Family Housing Program funds, San Bernardino County HOME funds and other public sources. “The timing of this redevelopment project was inspired primarily by the city’s redevelopment agency’s desire to turn what had become a troubled neighborhood into …

By Jay Goldstein In economic times such as these, when cutting costs is necessary yet client service is critical, creative solutions can make or break your bottom line. From developers, brokers, tenants and property managers, outsourcing is a viable solution. It may be time to outsource segments of your business. Benefits A variety of proven benefits of outsourcing include reduced overhead and workload adaptability. However, there are also many obscure advantages to outsourcing, which are specific to real estate. Here are just a few: • Limit your financial exposure to costs attributed directly to your projects. Real estate developments are intermittent and for finite periods of time. Outsource certain day-to-day aspects of your development process so in-house staff can find and negotiate more future deals. • Concentrate on your company’s core competencies. Utilize the core competencies of service providers to supplement your business. Keep the dealmakers in-house and outsource project execution. • Focus on multiple projects without spreading yourself too thin. If several of the deals that you’ve been chasing suddenly all hit at once – no worries. Supplement your in-house staff with outsourced service providers. • Engage the experts. With constantly changing codes, requirements, technologies, etc., rely on an …

By Susan M. Traino, CPA, CCIM Increased Demand Currently in the United States, the adult population that is over the age of 60 is growing at an increasingly rapid rate due to aging baby boomers, thus the outlook for the future of this industry is on the upswing. As is evidenced by the chart below (Figure 1), the older population will continue to grow significantly in the future. This growth slowed somewhat during the 1990’s because of the relatively low number of babies born in the 1930’s, as a result of the Great Depression. Conversely, the older population will burgeon between the years 2010 and 2030 when the “baby boom” generation reaches age 65. It is estimated that the population 65 and over will increase from 35 million in 2000 to 40 million in 2010 (a 15 percent increase) and then to 55 million by 2020 (a 36 percent increase for that decade). By 2030, there will be about 71.5 million older persons, doubling 2005’s figures. People 65 and older are expected to grow to be 20 percent of the population by 2030. The 85 and older population is projected to increase from 4.2 million in 2000 to 6.1 million …

By Dorothy Jackman Can sound management and smart operations increase the economic value of a student-housing development? Certainly developers can build sought-after properties with market-leading amenities that drive rental rates, but without a strong property management company, they’re dead in the water. Not only must the management company set a rent structure at the highest level the property can command, collect rent on time and process late fees, but more importantly it must be responsive to resident needs and reduce overall operating expenses. To that point, one of the biggest mistakes property managers can make is treating student residents poorly because “they are just students.” Nothing causes a property to gain the bad reputation as a “place to hang out, but not to live,” faster than a lack of responsiveness to problems in the units. Managers must also realize that parents, often the financing source for the residents, want to feel confident that they are leaving their children in capable and responsible hands. Responsiveness goes hand-in-hand with resident retention and is an important way to control operating costs. It’s far less expensive to re-sign current residents that it is to turn units and recruit new students. The Retention Game What …