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Owners should be delighted to see the value of their property increase, but in our current tax environment, higher property values have become synonymous with higher property taxes. School districts, municipalities, counties, and other taxing units have the power to limit property tax bills by lowering their respective tax rates as property values rise. Instead of doing this, however, many taxing entities opt for a tax revenue windfall. Remarkably, as they collect this additional revenue, these same taxing units claim that they have not raised taxes because they have not increased their tax rate. This distinction has afforded taxing units a convenient escape from the ire of taxpayers. But is it fair? The Texas property tax system has two components: appraisal districts and taxing authorities. First, appraisal districts assess the market value of taxable property within their boundaries. They then participate in protest hearings initiated by property owners about those values and subsequently certify appraisal rolls for taxing entities. Second, the governmental bodies that levy and collect taxes prepare budgets and, with their certified appraisal rolls in hand, adopt tax rates sufficient to meet those budgets. Then these municipalities, school districts and other institutions send out tax bills and collect tax …

In retail, nothing remains the same for long. A century ago, America saw the rise of mega department stores as category killers. In the middle of the 20th Century, regional malls were beginning their rise. That was followed by the power centers and lifesyle centers of 1990s and 2000s. Today, experience is the name of the game; consumers would rather spend time doing what they enjoy than shopping for common goods. They strive to make every trip an experience. In some ways, it is akin to the original days of the department store and regional mall, where every turn was met with something unexpected and new. Like the entertainment industry, the shopping center industry now touts more “original content” than replication in its medium, the physical retail format. Every venue strives to be different, and in some cases chain retailers have strived to make their locations differ from one another. REBusiness Online’s sister publication Shopping Center Business recently spoke with Garrick Brown, vice president of retail research at Cushman & Wakefield, one of the foremost retail analysts in the industry, to see what trends he is watching as the industry enters 2017. Brown will be one of the keynote speakers at Entertainment Experience Evolution, February 7-8 in Santa Monica, produced by Shopping Center Business. SCB: What trends are you seeing as we move through the holiday season this year? Brown: We are definitely seeing another shift towards entertainment, …

Portfolio sales occupy their own unique category of commercial real estate transactions. The challenges, complexities and procedural nuances that make portfolio sales so distinctive also limit the number of parties that can make such purchases. In a standard commercial real estate transaction, familiar steps in a fairly standard process give prospective buyers plenty of time and opportunity to conduct their due diligence. From a buyer’s standpoint, there is little to no risk until your due diligence process is complete. You aren’t spending any money until you have the project under contract and, as long as you have the deal in hand, no one else can move on it. From the initial letter of intent through to the purchase agreement, and even up to the eventual closing, buyers can pull out of the deal for any number of reasons. Consequently, the overall obligation and financial exposure for prospective buyers is fairly minimal. Portfolio sales completely reverse the risk equation/analysis. The portfolio is marketed privately and the sale is conducted almost like a managed auction. Prospective buyers will typically submit letters of intent. Once the seller thinks they have a winner on the economics of the deal, they will move forward. Unlike a …