Commercial Real Estate Finance

Posts Tagged ‘CRE’

Thankfully, I don’t fly nearly as often as I used to. I’m okay with flying–it’s the airports I have a problem with. No matter how uncomfortable a four-hour flight on Southwest may be, it’s still preferable to the endless, serpentine Security line.

Though waiting and finally getting through the metal detectors is rarely an airport highlight, I can think of one group of people who are extremely grateful for the work the TSA does (no matter how many water bottles and toenail clippers the TSA confiscates). That group is the retail sector.

After all, the TSA keeps airline passengers captive until (hours later) their plane finally begins boarding. For retailers, few things are more desirable than a captive audience. Where but airports (okay, and movie theaters, and theme parks) can you find sodas selling for $5 apiece?

While the freedom to charge exorbitant prices for simple comestibles provides a great advantage for companies that operate airport terminal retail, it hasn’t caused these operators to become complacent. In fact, some are now working to emulate the strategies of North America’s most successful, high-end shopping malls, bringing in the sort of luxury retail associated with Fifth Avenue.  Read the rest of this entry »

Obsessively tracking and compiling lists of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, I’ve been told, is “such a guy thing.”

Either way, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), an organization dedicated to such a guy thing, has lots of great lists and features on their website. Here’s their current ranking of the Top 10 Future Tallest Buildings in the World:

10. Manara Warisan Merdeka, Malaysia (height: 1,969 ft.)

9. Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel, Saudi Arabia (1,972)

8. Lanco Hills Signature Tower, India (1,982)

7. Triple One, S. Korea (2,034)

6. Shanghai Tower, China (2,073)

5. Wuhan Greenland Center, China (2,087) Read the rest of this entry »

Mensch:

Noun, informal. A decent, upright, mature and responsible person.

Schlemiel:

Noun, slang. An awkward, clumsy, or unlucky person whose endeavors tend to fail; a loser.

*

The Mensch of the Week:

Alec Wynne, Avison Young (Denver) 

 Today’s Mensch is also one of CoStar Group’s People of Note. Alec Wynne, formerly with iCG Denver, LLC, is joining Canadian commercial real estate firm Avison Young as a principal and managing director for its new Denver office. Canada’s largest independent CRE services company, Avison Young is expanding its landlord/tenant and financial services to the States, yet another instance of a Canadian CRE firm (REIT or otherwise) ramping up its presence south of the border.

Mr. Wynne has many years of experience in commercial real estate services in the western U.S., and (according to his LinkedIn page) has previously held senior-level positions in such respected firms as CBRE (NYSE: CBG) and Grubb & Ellis.

While Denver’s commercial real estate hasn’t reached Manhattan-levels of activity, it’s an exciting  place to work in CRE and looks extremely promising for future investment. As a commercial hub, Denver is a natural fit for many office and other tenants because there are so few comparable cities in its region. One of the country’s most progressive major cities, Denver’s public transit system is far superior (i.e., better funded) than those of other cities. The city boasts a highly educated work force and a cluster of high-profile research universities. Read the rest of this entry »

Straight from Standard & Poor’s U.S. REIT Index, here is a ranking of the Top 10 Largest REITs by Market Cap. If you’re familiar with the world of real estate investment, I’m sure all of these names will be quite familiar.

10. Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE: HCN) 

From Million-Dollar-Blog, here’s a ranking of the World’s Largest Pension Funds by total assets:

10. Employees Provident Fund, Malaysia (total assets in USD, in billions: 153.9)

9. Canada Pension, Canada (158.7) 

8. Central Provident Fund, Singapore (159.8)

7. Local Government Officials, Japan (199.5)

6. California Public Employees, US (220.6)

5. Federal Retirement Thrift, US (281.4)

4. National Pension, Korea (313.9) Read the rest of this entry »

Since the recession, things have been quite challenging for those working in office real estate.  Which isn’t to say office real estate has suffered the way, say, single-family has, but there’s no disputing the fact that the financial downturn has affected white-collar industries as much as blue-collar and service industries. With declining values and gaping vacancies in many, once-thriving office buildings, it seems increasingly difficult to find stable markets and tenants for office properties.

While Manhattan, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. have been the nation’s stalwarts in terms of office values (thanks to these cities’ privilege as hubs of finance, technology, and government, respectively), other markets are less fortunate. The secret to office activity, in today’s economic climate, is hosting an industry less susceptible to a down economy. And while big banks, Congress, and Twitter have all (alas) proven resilient, few other sectors have been so lucky.

Except one unlikely and (certainly undeserving) sector…

Read the rest of this entry »

Consider the iPhone.

It’s small and easily portable, stylish but not obtrusive, and can perform more tasks than most computers could a few years ago. It affords its users the ability to communicate via voice, text, and video; to launch birds at pigs via slingshot; to locate obscure (and almost always trivial) information at the push of a button. The iPhone is the most versatile, and in many (but not all) ways most practical example of consolidated technology since the Swiss Army Knife. Hence the iPhone’s enormous success and numerous imitators.

Consolidation is often a natural phase in the evolution of a product, whether we’re talking about electronics, cars, or even real estate. The logic of consolidation–of deriving the greatest amount of utility from the smallest possible space–seems especially relevant today. With the recession and different sensibilities of today’s young professionals, the SUV and McMansion enormity we saw in the 90s has given way to denser urban living. Single-purpose real estate has given way even more to the mixed-use model, where it’s not unusual to find retail, residential, office, and hospitality projects sharing the same structures.

In keeping with this culture’s emphasis of sleekness and consolidation, I present the advantages of this strategy in real estate via tiny, Apple-approved bullet points: Read the rest of this entry »

I guess you could say the most vital resource in commercial real estate–or any business for that matter–is information. It should be no surprise that a great many firms, large and small, have emerged with the sole purpose of analyzing data. No investment activity, no funding, development, or representation–simply amassing and interpreting facts.

Data is an essential branch of this industry. Major CRE services like Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) and CBRE (NYSE: CB) have developed their own in-house research divisions, while specialized data firms like CoStar Group and its Showcase.com and Loopnet services generate significant revenue through their exclusive comps and property listings.    Read the rest of this entry »

Here is a list of the Top 10 Largest Buildings in the World, based on floor space (as opposed to usable space):

10. The Palazzo, Paradise, Nevada (6.9 million SF)

9. Central Park Jakarta Complex, Jakarta (7 million SF)

8. Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur (7.5 million SF)

7. The Venetian Macao (Macau) (10.5 million SF)

6. Beijing Capital International Airport’s Terminal 3, Beijing (10.6 million SF)

5. Aalsmeer Flower Auction, Aalsmeer (NL) (10.6 million SF)

4. CentralWorld, Bangkok (11 million SF) Read the rest of this entry »

A while back, we looked at Real Estate Alert‘s Ranking of the Top 10 Industrial Brokers for the First Half of 2012. Since the industrial real estate sector has grown significantly in recent months, let’s take a look at the top-performing industrial brokers of 2011 for comparison.

Top Industrial Brokers of 2011:

10. Grubb & Ellis (now Newmark Grubb; 2011 transaction amount, in millions: $55.3)

9. Voit Commercial ($82)

8. Stan Johnson Co. ($137)

7. HFF ($206.4)

6. Cassidy Turley ($345.8)

5. Jones Lang LaSalle ($385.1) Read the rest of this entry »