Features

By Margie Holly In commercial real estate, the importance of curb appeal cannot be underestimated, particularly in today’s market. . In order to keep vacancies low and property values high, it is essential for buildings to look their best year round. To keep commercial properties in tip-top condition, a well-maintained landscape is a must. Unfortunately, in Southeastern states like Georgia and the Carolinas, frequent droughts and stringent water restrictions have turned landscaping into a real challenge in recent years. However, with a little forethought and careful planning, there are ways to keep a commercial landscape green during even the driest of months. Consider the following information as while working with a landscape contractor to develop a drought-tolerant landscape plan. Careful plant selection is vital to the success of landscapes in areas that are subject to severe or frequent droughts. For that very reason, native landscaping, also called natural landscaping, is gaining popularity wherever there are limited water supplies. Because indigenous plants are adapted to the soil, climate and hydrology of their local area, they are able to flourish with minimal care and assistance. Plants native to the Southeast are better suited than other plants for the high temperatures and sporadic …

By Margie Holly, Brickman In commercial real estate, the importance of curb appeal cannot be underestimated, particularly in today’s market. In order to keep vacancies low and property values high, it is essential for buildings to look their best year round. To keep commercial properties in tip-top condition, a well-maintained landscape is a must. Unfortunately, in Southeastern states like Georgia and the Carolinas, frequent droughts and stringent water restrictions have turned landscaping into a real challenge in recent years. However, with a little forethought and careful planning, there are ways to keep a commercial landscape green during even the driest of months. Consider the following information as while working with a landscape contractor to develop a drought-tolerant landscape plan. Careful plant selection is vital to the success of landscapes in areas that are subject to severe or frequent droughts. For that very reason, native landscaping, also called natural landscaping, is gaining popularity wherever there are limited water supplies. Because indigenous plants are adapted to the soil, climate and hydrology of their local area, they are able to flourish with minimal care and assistance. Plants native to the Southeast are better suited than other plants for the high temperatures and sporadic …

By Bob Spratt, president, Hill Partners To lifestyle centers, in particular, the overall brand and image of the center is paramount. From the merchandising, to the architecture and the aesthetics, to the marketing, everything works in unison to create one larger than life reputation — the brand image. A proper image can effectively set the tone for the property, especially with new developments that continually arise, and with the changing moods, wants and desires of shoppers. At the end of the day, it’s the image of the property that will prevail, setting the tone for quality from day one. But how can lifestyle centers predict whether their branding efforts overall are effective, and whether the brand is being built or eroded? Telltale signs exist every step along the way, but the acid test is whether shoppers buy, and continue to return to buy, at the prices these premium lifestyle retailers command. Poor shopper support, retailer support, and in general, community support are all signs of a brand that has been eroded over time. Best Foot Forward Perhaps the first and most noticeable brand to the community is the name of the property. Many real estate firms have been successful in …

By Nick Stomski, Industrial Broker with NAI Avant Columbia is located within a 1,000-mile radius of three quarters of the U.S. population and 100 miles from the Port of Charleston. It is located at the intersection of Interstates 20, 77, and 26 giving it exceptional access to the eastern part of the country. The metropolitan area is home to 715,000 persons making it the 69th largest MSA in the United States. At yearend, the market had a total of 34.2 million square feet of industrial space. Approximately 97.6 percent of this space was occupied at the end of 2007 following a year in which 775,000 square feet was absorbed. The Columbia market is influenced by a number of positive factors unique to this area. In addition to proximity to the Port of Charleston, the quality of the Columbia workforce has been a plus. The region has one of the highest rates of adults with a college degree or greater, and adults with a high school diploma or greater — a trait not shared by many of the surrounding rural areas. Third, the exchange rate of the dollar has improved the export oriented manufacturing market, in which South Carolina is a …

By John Burpee, president, NAI Tampa Bay Unless you have been living on a mountaintop in Tibet with no cable TV for the last 6 months you already know that the credit markets are on a rollercoaster ride and the Fed is desperately trying to bring order back to the schoolyard. So what does the Fed and Wall Street have to do with the value of apartment properties across the country? Everything. First, every buyer in the market today and every lender behind them is only concerned with actual income not projected rents or future ancillary income from sub-metering or cable contracts. Lenders will only use the current rent rolls for underwriting purposes and place no value on future rent growth projections. Many markets are predicting rent decreases for the next 18 to 24 months so pro-forma growth forecasts carry no weight in the underwriting procedures for today’s loans. Most lenders have started using internal expense models to validate operating costs relevant to certain markets. A lesson learned from the amount of condo foreclosures, they are now forced to return to rental markets that make no financial sense. An example would be that in coastal states whose insurance rates will …

By John Bailey and William Bailey, Marcus & Millichap ‘ Chicago Investors looking to diversify their holdings should continue to consider buying student housing properties. Whether in major cities or smaller communities, most colleges and universities don’t have enough beds for all the students enrolled. Reports indicate that there are only between 25 percent and 30 percent of necessary beds on-campus at colleges and universities versus enrollments. At the same time, more and more students are registered and attending classes each year. Are there many opportunities to buy a student housing property? Nationally, there are over 4,300 degree-granting institutions and branches. An opportunity may be closer than you think! A recent trend is development of student living units being built near regional campuses that previously had been considered only commuter schools. What is the best way to begin looking for an opportunity? Finding the right college town to match your investment criteria may be as simple as listing to the younger generation of friends and family who are applying to college. As they go off on their college tours trying to decide which institution is best, they pay nearly as much attention to the town, retail amenities, environment and accessibility …

By Cara Aliek Uptown Village at Cedar Hill Cedar Hill, Texas (March 12) The recently opened Uptown Village at Cedar Hill was birthed 4 years ago when veteran retail developer Buddy Herring of MGHerring Group went down to Cedar Hill to check out JCPenney’s new prototype store, one of the first in the nation to open up. He had been hearing about the Trade Area of Cedar Hill/DeSoto/Duncanville/Lancaster, all just south of Dallas and decided to look around the area while on that trip. After putting more than 200 miles on his car, Herring discovered that based on the housing, income and growth of the area, the residents of Cedar Hill needed a major department store, more retail and upscale restaurant options. And so Uptown at Cedar Hill was born. Gar Herring, Buddy Herring’s son and president and COO of MGHerring Group, says that the open-air shopping center is aimed at providing a place for residents to meet at and relax. “One of the features we’re really proud of is Uptown Village being a hub for the community. We have a Village Green with an interactive water fountain, a stage and a park for families and people to congregate and …

By Brian Patton, CCIM, Capital Realty Advisors LLC The bad news of the residential market over the last few months begs the question of what will happen to the commercial real estate market this year. In order to gauge investors’ expectations for 2008 in this market segment, a group of leading research companies recently surveyed more than 1,000 developers and investors. The survey group included 92 institutional investors with an average of 19 years experience and an average real estate portfolio of $36.6 million. Among the findings is that the majority of the respondents, 57 percent, believe that the economy will stay the same or improve over 2007. When compared to past surveys, it’s obvious that respondents are less optimistic than in years past, but 16 percent are of the opinion that it will improve this year. Investors are most optimistic about apartments and mixed-use projects. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed expect to see an increase in rents for one or more property types and especially look to apartments as a segment with good promise for rental increases. It appears that most of the interest in the apartment sector is because of the mortgage crisis and the obvious negative effect …

By Cara Aliek It seems everywhere you look these days, the message of environmental consciousness is grabbing for our attention. Gargantuan gas-guzzling SUVs are slowly being passed over for more environmentally-friendly hybrids, retailers are reaping the benefits of offering products that donate a portion of their sale to environmental protection efforts, and a growing trend — if not the largest in terms of size and money — is re-establishing the functionality of land and buildings. In some cases, these properties are designed using energy-efficient Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) principles, a trend still continuing to explode. This spring (May 5-7) Detroit hosts The National Brownfields Conference and with many sites still untouched, (it’s estimated 1 million brownfield sites are available in the U.S.) investors and developers are taking advantage of their benefits. In this article, we’ll take a look at a few upcoming brownfield projects and what they’re doing to reuse, reduce and recycle community eyesores. We’ll also introduce a company that helps persuade companies to donate their vacant industrial property so they can be used for small businesses. LIBERTY HARBOR Brunswick, GA During World War II, the J.A. Jones Company Shipyard cranked out 99 Liberty ships in …

By Bill Donges, CEO Lane Co. Despite recession fears and the contraction in the real estate market, the apartment sector remains a bright spot, which may grow even brighter in the next few years. Many things are happening simultaneously: * Echo boomers are graduating from college in massive numbers, which means a growing pool of 25 to 32-year-old renters. * Many baby boomers are downsizing and looking for a lifestyle less burdened by the maintenance and upkeep of their homes. * Families caught in the credit crunch are looking for apartments instead of homes. * Immigration is increasing, and immigrants are more likely to rent than buy. Many institutional investors see these changes on the horizon, and don’t want to bet against such a large demographic movement. Apartment investment has done better than the S&P 500 index over the last 10 years, and properties could continue to grow in value. Because of the frenzy of condo conversions, and the state of the capital markets, there is a significantly lower supply of rental housing than in the past. Plus, developers are less likely to start new projects. Preliminary Census Bureau figures indicate that last year, starts of buildings with five or …