By Daniel J. Hogan The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt more severely in Southern California than in most areas of the country. The Southland’s high concentration of employment in the tourism and entertainment sectors made it especially vulnerable to the effects of social distancing protocols and the reluctance of many to board commercial aircraft. Not only were job losses particularly acute in the initial months of the pandemic — the subsequent recovery has been lethargic. The rate of unemployment for July in each of the four large Southern California metropolitan markets remained materially above the national average, and in the case of Los Angeles County (18.2 percent) was the highest of any metropolitan area west of the Hudson River save for Yuma and El Centro. As it always has, Southern California will recover and is likely to do so in even more spectacular fashion than before. In the interim, how can multifamily investors position themselves to prosper? San Diego is the ideal market to scrutinize possible changes in renter behavior during the pandemic and consider their potential investment implications. Indeed, a deep dive into this market may provide clues to some of the great mysteries of …
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SOUTHFIELD, MICH., and CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A national survey of independent living community residents, staff and prospective residents showed that those in the community overwhelmingly felt safe so far during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, respondents said they were confident that communities had taken appropriate precautions to keep them safe. Plante Moran Living Forward, the Southfield-based senior living development consulting division of Plante Moran Cresa and an affiliated entity of Plante Moran, partnered with Retirement Dynamics, a Charlotte-based senior living consulting firm, to complete the research. In June and July of this year the companies surveyed more than 23,000 residents and staff at senior living communities across the country, along with prospective future residents. While prospects worried about social isolation, shopping and other daily tasks when living in their own homes, survey results showed only a slight decrease in their likelihood to move into an independent living community as a result of the pandemic. The survey also revealed: 92 percent of staff felt the community where they worked responded well to the COVID-19 pandemic. 93 percent of residents felt their community took all precautions to keep them safe. 85 percent of staff agreed residents “are safer in their community than in …
Healthcare has very different drivers when it comes to growth and demand. While highs and lows in the economy influence healthcare in many of the same ways other industries experience, it’s also governed by trends that are unique to how people seek — and pay for — their medical treatments. Chris Jacobson and Susan Wilson, both vice presidents and healthcare advisors for Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services, took some time recently to talk to REBusinessOnline about today’s healthcare real estate trends. Taking a broad look across the sector, some healthcare systems have lost revenue due to suspending elective procedures during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s going to take them a while to recoup that revenue,” Wilson says. “Additionally, now that they have reopened, they are spacing people out in waiting rooms, so they’re seeing fewer patients. There are currently opportunities for subleases with some major health systems. This could be an opportunity for some of the larger, more successful health systems to take over some of that space.” Jacobson has observed that there are three types of investments occurring right now. The first of those are large healthcare systems presently focused on COVID-19-related care. The …
Sale-Leasebacks are a Popular Choice for Cash-Strapped Companies During the Pandemic, Says Stonemont’s Berryhill
by John Nelson
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced commercial real estate owners to explore every possible avenue to raise funds, and one of the more popular transactional methods to secure capital in recent months has proven to be sale-leasebacks. Jeff Berryhill, principal of Stonemont Financial Group, says that companies that have traditionally owned their real estate are turning to sale-leasebacks because it mimics many aspects of ownership, such as long-term control of the asset. “During recessionary times or periods of extreme capital markets volatility, a sale-leaseback can appear more attractive to companies that historically owned real estate,” says Berryhill. “However, leasing real estate has always been appealing to both large and small companies, and strong and weak credit profiles.” According to research from Real Capital Analytics (RCA), sale-leaseback deals accounted for 5 percent of all investment sales in the U.S. industrial, office and retail transactions in the second quarter. For the previous three quarters, sale-leasebacks accounted for 2 percent of investment sales in those sectors for deals $2.5 million and greater. Recent sale-leaseback deals include Jervey Eye Group selling and leasing back a portfolio of medical office facilities in Upstate South Carolina; Crash Champions selling a portfolio of auto body shops in metro …
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In Search of Relative Value in Orange County’s Apartment Sector
Orange County offers residents all the key elements of the American dream. Its virtues are numerous and faults few. Indeed, Moody’s Analytics ranks the quality of life in the OC 10th highest among the 378 U.S. metros it reports on, just a half-step behind leaders Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. Orange County is a terrific place to live, but is it a good place to invest? Gauging by observed capitalization rate trends, one may conclude that county apartment properties are highly prized gems. Class A trophy properties trade to going-in yields in the 4.00 percent to 4.10 percent area, and Class B and C garden complexes are typically priced to yields in the mid-4s, all only 25 basis points or so behind Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area comparisons. But judging from transaction velocity, one might draw a different conclusion. Only six Orange County multifamily properties of 50 units or more have changed hands since mid-year 2019, and not a single sale has closed since February. Even by the cautious norms of the moment, this stands out as a market in search of price discovery. Slow transaction velocity can be ascribed, in part, to the prevailing buy and …
KANSAS CITY, MO. — The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to highlight the importance of strong tenant-landlord relationships, particularly in the retail sector. Tyler Enders, co-owner of local Kansas City shop Made in KC, works with roughly 10 different landlords and has experienced a variety of different approaches to the COVID-19 conversation. “Some local landlords have been very communicative and have come to us with a creative solution. Others have been responding late and are bogged down,” said Enders. “Ultimately, we’ll continue to look at vibrant centers, but we’re going to care way more about who owns it than we have in the past.” Enders’ comments are indicative of the importance of relationships in today’s marketplace. Enders joined a panel of retail experts Wednesday, Sept. 16 for a webinar entitled “Greater Kansas City Retail Outlook” hosted by Heartland Real Estate Business and Shopping Center Business. Fellow panelists included David Block, principal and president of Block & Co.; Erin Johnston, vice president of retail brokerage for Copaken Brooks Commercial Real Estate; Dan Lowe, managing partner for Legacy Development; and Andy Crimmins, founding partner of Crossroads Retail Group. David Waters, partner with Lathrop GPM, moderated the discussion. Block said that his firm has …
SAN FRANCISCO — A majority of U.S. restaurants and cafés that closed their doors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will remain closed for good, according to crowd-source review giant Yelp. In its September economic impact report, the San Francisco-based firm tallied 32,109 restaurants that were open and operating on March 1 were closed on Aug. 31. Of that total, 19,590 (61 percent) indicated they were permanently closed. Yelp tracks business closures via business owners marking their business as closed, including by changing their hours or through a COVID-19 banner on its Yelp page. The tech firm concedes that closure counts are likely an estimate as businesses not included in the report include those that remain open with curtailed hours and staffing, or because they have not yet updated their Yelp business pages to reflect closures. Yelp only counts closures that have been vetted by its User Ops team or have been updated directly by a business owner. According to Yelp’s findings, breakfast and brunch restaurants, burger joints, sandwich shops, dessert places and Mexican restaurants are among the types of restaurants with the highest rate of business closures. Restaurants that work well for delivery and takeout — such as pizza …
The commercial real estate industry is still managing the COVID-19 pandemic and the heavy toll it has enforced on the national economy. The National Bureau of Economic Research declared in early June the U.S. economy was officially in a recession, less than three months after government-mandated shutdowns began en masse. Jay Olshonsky, president and CEO of New York-based NAI Global, says the sudden economic impact of the pandemic on the commercial real estate industry has already exceeded the global financial crisis. “The immediate magnitude of this is much greater than 2009,” says Olshonsky. “Some economists are predicting this could be 20 times as bad as far as the number of properties that are affected and could potentially go into default. The numbers are pretty staggering.” But Olshonsky is quick to point out that the current situation isn’t a doomsday scenario, nor is it permanent. “It will slowly get back to normal,” says Olshonsky. “There are a multitude of side effects. For every sell there’s a buy, for every loss there’s an opportunity. There will be opportunities that will be created.” Among those are distressed real estate assets, which can take the form of properties in foreclosure or mortgages that are …
Someone once remarked that eighty percent of success in life is just showing up. Human experience verifies that being in the right place at the right time often is the intangible ingredient that leads to triumph. The strong performance this year of the Inland Empire multifamily market is a variation on this theme. During the pandemic, many renters sought refuge from the high density and high costs associated with big city life, and the work-from-home phenomenon made this objective feasible. For many Angelinos, Empire living was the best solution — close enough to Los Angeles to maintain contact with family and friends or to go into the office when necessary but substantially less densely settled and more affordable than most L.A. neighborhoods. By way of quantification, the average Riverside and San Bernardino County monthly rent in July was about $1,578 — and that is 28 percent less than the L.A. County average. The percentage savings for Class A space were about 1 percent greater, and parking, an omnipresent issue for Southern Californians, is typically free. The cost economies found in the Empire are more than trivial. Moreover, renters are more likely than in the past to find the unit and …
A key to establishing realistic taxable values for commercial real estate is to exclude intangible qualities — such as a commercial brand — and value only the real estate. While this concept is a standard appraisal practice and imbedded in most states’ tax codes, it continues to elude many tax appraisers who assess properties by business values that extend well beyond brick and mortar. Assessment Methodology In valuing hotels, apartment complexes, malls, shopping centers and other income-producing properties, appraisers most often apply the income approach, calculating value based on the real estate’s revenue stream. To value hotel properties, for example, an appraiser would determine income flow using occupancy rates, expenses incurred in service delivery and maintenance costs. Income approach calculations require an overall capitalization rate or the owner’s annual return on their initial investment. The assessor divides a hotel’s net income from occupied rooms by the total capitalization rate to determine the property’s value. The overall capitalization rate comes from two other calculations. One determines a mortgage capitalization rate based upon the mortgage equity ratio, placing a percentage value on the mortgage against the property. The appraiser also must determine an equity capitalization rate from the equity component of the …