Features

Unpredictability Lies at the Heart of Successful Experiential Retail, Say EEE Panelists

by Taylor Williams March 31, 2022

By Taylor Williams With the COVID-19 pandemic largely in society’s rearview mirror and warm weather months approaching, Americans are fired up to recoup lost time at their favorite restaurants, bars and entertainment venues. But the collision of this pent-up demand with 40-year inflationary highs means that many consumers are going to be more selective about where they eat, drink and source entertainment. To that end, meals, drinks, games and activities must offer a truly unique experience to justify consumer spending of their stretched dollars and to capture the Holy Grail of repeat spending/visits. That’s not to say that run-of-the-mill, traditional food and beverage (F&B) and entertainment concepts won’t rebound to some extent. But the concepts that deliver their offerings to customers in ways that are truly unique and memorable will be the ones that recognize the strongest sales growth and build the most enduring brand loyalties. Strategies, philosophies and exemplary practices that go into making this endeavor a reality were at the forefront of a panel discussion at the seventh-annual Entertainment Experience Evolution conference that took place in mid-March in Los Angeles. Hosted by Shopping Center Business, the flagship publication of Atlanta-based France Media Inc., the event drew more than …

March 31, 2022

Outdoor Hospitality quote from Jesse Pine, NAI

Content Partner Features Hospitality Loans Midwest NAI Northeast Southeast Texas Western

Outdoor Hospitality Properties Draw Greater Investment Interest Following Rapid Growth During the Pandemic

by Sarah Daniels March 29, 2022

Where do people go to “get away from it all” — especially when the world shuts down? Many seek relaxation and recreation in the great outdoors. Interest in camping — especially the subset of high-end camping often referred to as “glamorous camping” or “glamping” — grew steadily in the years before the pandemic. The arrival of COVID and the desire for socially distanced vacations created a rapid increase in demand and revenue. The result for commercial real estate has been a large increase in the number of investors interested in outdoor hospitality properties. “Before 2020, the trend was already very strong; the pandemic just accelerated it,” says Sean Wood, associate broker at NAI Outdoor Hospitality Brokers. Wood cites the Kampgrounds of America (KOA) 2021 Annual North American Camping Report: “From 2014 to 2018, there was consistent growth of about 2 million new households per year getting into camping across North America. From 2018 to 2019, we saw a jump from 39.2 million to 41.9 million households that went camping. And then in 2020, we saw an explosion in interest: from 41.9 million households to 48.2 million households camping each year.” The specialists at NAI Outdoor Hospitality Brokers expect this renewed …

March 29, 2022

Mark Fletcher Bohler Development Teaming

Bohler Content Partner Development Features Midwest Northeast Southeast Texas Western

Four Factors to Build Successful Teams in a Development Project

by Sarah Daniels March 24, 2022

When it comes to commercial real estate development, thoughtfully curated teams are critical to success. “It’s important that the extended team works well with each other, so they can deliver results for clients,” explains Mark Fletcher, director of Strategic Partnering at Bohler, a land development design and consulting firm. Developers don’t want to work with a variety of disjointed processes and personalities. They want to work with one team, a multi-discipline team that effectively manages time and resources, focusing on streamlined processes and speed to market. This sort of team unity promotes both cohesiveness and consistency in outcomes. Building a great design and consulting team means having the property developer’s end goals in mind from the very start of the process: dependability, speed to market and turnkey solutions. The importance of fostering cohesion extends to finding an architect to optimize the building and a contractor to strategize materials and phasing. It may be necessary to engage an attorney who can work well with the team to address land use and zoning. Finally, the right site design and consulting firm can streamline communications, maintain timelines and entitlements and keep the project moving forward. Here’s how Bohler’s approach to assembling a team …

March 24, 2022

Features Georgia Southeast Southeast Feature Archive

Architects Draw the Short Straw with Heavier Workloads, Fluctuating Availability of Construction Materials

by John Nelson March 22, 2022

If you know any architects, you may want to check in with them because chances are they’re exhausted from having more work now than ever before, with no end in sight. That’s because despite all the headwinds facing real estate design — namely supply chain disruptions and staffing woes — developers are in growth mode, and architects are needed as they are uniquely equipped to game plan for what users want and need. The volume of work has not only accelerated for architects but they’re also tasked with mapping out new requirements while maximizing flexibility, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. The workload is getting so substantial that demand is exceeding the supply of architects in some instances. “The backlog is so significant that we are having to contemplate turning away work, which drives us crazy,” says Steve Goggans, principal and architect at SGA | NW, a GF design company. “We are trying to be most responsive to repeat clients, but we may find ourselves unable to produce and perform if we continue to take on work, so we are having to be a little more judicious than we ever have before.” Goggans says that SGA | NW’s logjam is also …

March 22, 2022

Features

Sentiment Report: Investors Shift Outlook Due to Inflation; Price/Volume on the Rise

by Jeff Shaw March 17, 2022

CARLSBAD, CALIF. — Commercial real estate investors are navigating a delicate balancing act as strong demand across many sectors is hitting some headwinds from inflation, construction costs and labor issues. A first-quarter report by LightBox RCM highlights inflation’s double-edged sword as a driving force behind capital migration into the industry and increased costs across investment and construction sectors. The 2022 Q1 LightBox RCM Investor Sentiment Report found that 52.3 percent of industry professionals expect that investment activity will be somewhat or significantly higher than in 2021, despite a marketplace that faces increasing headwinds from price increases on materials and consumer goods, among other factors. An additional 20 percent expected slightly higher levels. At the same time, 35.4 percent of industry professionals believe investment sales pricing will be somewhat or significantly higher in 2022 than in 2021 and 36.9 percent say it will be slightly higher. “Today’s capital markets climate may be one of the most dynamic and intricate we’ve seen in many years,” says Tina Lichens, senior vice president of broker operations at LightBox, a Carlsbad-based analytics firm. “Investors are navigating a complex environment with significant opportunities as well as economic headwinds that are dictating a more nuanced approach. We expect to see …

March 17, 2022

Conference Coverage Features Multifamily Seniors Housing Western Feature Archive

Seniors Housing Occupancy on the Mend, but NOI Trails, Say Industry CEOs

by Jeff Shaw March 15, 2022

LOS ANGELES — After bottoming out at 78.7 percent in the second quarter of 2021, private-pay seniors housing occupancy has been on a slow, steady climb, according to data from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care (NIC). The most recent data — for the fourth quarter of 2021 — showed occupancy at 81 percent. However, the pace of recovery varies widely among individual markets, individual companies and even individual properties. “Some people are able to manage the turmoil. Some are even thriving, or at least doing pretty well,” said J.P. LoMonaco, president of Valuation & Information Group. “Other people are really floundering. The questions I’m getting all revolve around occupancy, inflation, maintaining margins and revenue growth.” LoMonaco’s comments came as moderator during a panel titled, “The Power Panel: CEOs Discuss the State of the Industry” at France Media’s InterFace Seniors Housing West conference in Los Angeles on Feb. 24. Nearly 225 industry professionals attended the event. Other panelists included Chris Belford, CEO, Sinceri Senior Living; Rob Leinbach, principal, Cadence Living; Bill Pettit, president, R.D. Merrill Co.; Courtney Siegel, president and CEO, Oakmont Management Group; and Dave Sedgwick, president and CEO, CareTrust REIT. All the panelists reported their …

March 15, 2022

Features Hospitality

JLL: Hotel Industry Has Opportunity to Enact Real Change with Sustainability

by Kristin Harlow March 10, 2022

By Zach Demuth, Head of Americas Hotels Research, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Amid one of its most transformative periods in history, the U.S. lodging industry has an opportunity to enact real change through a renewed commitment to sustainability. As the world looks to reduce its carbon emissions, hotels play an important role, as they are the most energy- and water-intensive of any commercial building type globally. Not only will a commitment to sustainability help to slow climate change, but failure to do so also has the potential to result in lower asset value, increased operational costs and decreased consumer demand. Following the pandemic’s unprecedented impact on lodging demand, which was worse than that of 9/11 and the financial crisis of 2007-2008 combined, the industry demonstrated its resilience in 2021 with U.S. revenue per available room (RevPAR) reaching 83 percent of 2019 levels. While demand rebounded more quickly than most prognosticators expected, the industry continues to struggle to generate consistent profits, with gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) only recovered 71 percent relative to 2019. This has been driven by rising costs, lack of ancillary revenues and a historic labor shortage. As the industry looks to right-size profits, sustainability should …

March 10, 2022

Features Heartland Feature Archive Multifamily

Multifamily Brokers Anticipate Another Busy Year Despite High Inflation, Expected Interest Rate Hikes

by Kristin Harlow March 8, 2022

While 2021 was a record year for multifamily investment sales, brokers see no sign of a slowdown. Some dealmakers anticipate that 2022 could be an even bigger year. In 2021, U.S. multifamily property and portfolio sales nationally totaled $335.3 billion, up 128 percent over the prior year, according to Real Capital Analytics. In 2021, Chicago-based Interra Realty sold or put under contract more than $527 million of apartment properties on behalf of clients, representing just under 3,000 units. Brad Feldman, senior managing partner, says that while some of those transactions carried into 2022, the total amount sold or under contract so far this year is more than 83 percent of the 2021 sales total. In one particular deal in 2021, Feldman represented a family trust in its sale of a Chicago multifamily property for the first time in 50 years. Situated in the city’s Lakeview neighborhood, the building features 21 apartment units and two commercial spaces. A private buyer paid $5.2 million for the asset and plans to renovate the units, hallways and common areas. Feldman completed about 30 showings and received more than six written offers. While today’s market tends to favor sellers, both sides of the transaction are …

March 8, 2022

Features Multifamily Seniors Housing

Seniors Housing Demand Hit Record High in Second Half of 2021

by Jeff Shaw March 4, 2022

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Demand for seniors housing hit an all-time high in the second half of 2021, signifying continued growth out of the depths of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). The analysis came in the form of a blog post by Beth Mace, NIC’s chief economist. NIC is an Annapolis-based nonprofit firm that tracks industry data gathered from 31 primary metropolitan markets through its NIC MAP Vision product. The demand was measured by absorption, with the market absorbing 21,029 units in the third and fourth quarter of 2021. “Notably, this is a clear reversal in trend from the loss of 42,129 units during the pandemic in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021,” wrote Mace. The post listed five major takeaways from the fourth-quarter 2021 data, the first of which is that occupancy has recovered 230 basis points from the low point of the pandemic, from 78.7 percent in the second quarter of 2021 to 81 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021. However, it remains 640 basis points below its pre-pandemic level of 87.4 percent. Mace noted, though, that …

March 4, 2022

Affordable Housing Content Partner Features Midwest Southeast Texas Western

M&T Realty Capital Increases its Commitment to Multifamily Sector to Expand Loan Volume

by Sarah Daniels March 2, 2022

M&T Realty Capital Corp. is beginning 2022 with ambitious plans to increase its multifamily financings as part of an effort to double its real estate loan volume over the next two to three years. To achieve those goals, it is leveraging a new leadership structure and a recently announced strategic partnership with the Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. M&T Realty Capital, M&T Bank’s commercial mortgage banking subsidiary, recorded $5.1 billion in loan volume in 2021, a level that was just below its high watermark of $5.2 billion in 2019, says Michael Berman, CEO of M&T Realty Capital. Multifamily loans made up of the lion’s share of financings, he adds, and the sector provides a significant growth opportunity going forward. “Multifamily is a hot a sector right now — everyone is trying to invest in it,” he says. “It’s just an extraordinarily healthy asset class because of its supply and demand dynamics.” Indeed, the U.S. apartment market enjoyed a banner year in 2021 across all measures. Investment volume reached a record $335.3 billion, nearly 75 percent above the record volume of $193.1 billion posted in 2019, according to commercial real estate brokerage CBRE. Meanwhile, renters absorbed 617,500 apartment units in 2021, …

March 2, 2022

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