I have been asked by more than a handful of friends and colleagues to write a post on a specific listing in Simi Valley, CA that was recently brought to market by CBRE. I decided to put my thoughts in writing and attempt to explain how exactly I would break this particular deal down and [...]
Dec
02
A Little Shameless Self-Promotion
Here is a “Just Closed” email flyer I sent out this morning for a deal I just closed. I don’t really want to use this blog to promote all things PCI, but I thought I’d share anyway because the fact that this deal closed in 1 week start-to-finish with a holiday and weekend in the [...]
Dec
02
Not a Chance in Hell
Here is an email flyer I got yesterday. These guys are trying to sell 30 acres of raw land for commercial development in Murrieta in a “C” location (on its best day). Who is buying 30 acres for commercial development in Murrieta right now? I don’t know anyone with that strategy in their business plan. [...]
Nov
16
Top 10 Phrases Not Heard from Developers Since 2007
I’ve put together a list of the top 10 phrases that I have not heard for quite some time from developers. Please feel free to add any others you come up with in the comments. #10 "I’m a preferred developer for Rite Aid." #9 "We have excellent banking relationships, financing is not an issue." #8 [...]
Sep
25
Question of the Day
Take a look at the image below. What do you think it is? (Answer below) Answer: A map of every McDonald’s in the United States. Judging by the lack of density in the western half (excluding California, Oregon and Washington) it looks like there may be some development opportunities in places like Colorado, Utah, Arizona, [...]
Sep
23
Gate Tower Building
Below is an email I received from a friend this morning. Nothing newsworthy here but it is quite interesting to see a freeway run directly through the middle of a high-rise office building. I wonder if there is much ambient noise in the adjacent office suites. Floors 4 and 8 must be the low rent [...]
Aug
03
A Trip to California’s Inland Empire
I went out to the Inland Empire this morning to look at a recently developed retail center. The center is market anchored and has built-out shop space and a few national tenants operating on pads. The shop space is approximately 90% vacant. Here is a photo of the interior of one of the shop buildings: [...]
Jul
22
A Developer "Dumbfounded" As Target Renegotiates
From Calculated Risk: “We’re dumbfounded. We’ve been working on this deal for four-and-a-half years. I don’t know how, all of a sudden, the numbers don’t work.” JMW Development Principal Mark Johnson From the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal: SuperTarget planned for Woodbury now on hold. Target recently informed JMW that it would not proceed [...]
Jul
15
To Good Not to Share
I had to share this. I have been talking to a shopping center owner about selling his strip center in SoCal. I just got the rent roll and operating statement. On the rent roll is an additional 25% of GLA (gross leasable area) that is not even built yet! Better yet, they believe they should [...]
Mar
05
Where Did the Good Inventory Go?
If you are on the investment side of the commercial real estate business (as opposed to the leasing side) you may have noticed that there are few, if any, quality properties on the market. Sure, every now and again you will see the occasional quality asset come to market but for the most part the [...]
Mar
05
Retail’s Misfortune in the Inland Empire
This guest post is written by Thomas Galvin of Colliers International. Thomas is a commercial real estate analyst for Colliers International with a regional focus on the Inland Empire. You can learn more at his commercial real estate economic blog www.inlandecon.blogspot.com. The lifeblood of retailers are consumers. The industry adage that “retail follows rooftops” is [...]
Mar
03
Phoenix Ranks Highest Amongst US Cities for Retail Distress
An article in the Phoenix Business Journal points to a survey done by Places Magazine which ranks Phoenix as the worst retail market in terms of vacancy rates and speed of deterioration, new inventory in the pipeline, net absorption and preleasing activity. The remainder of the top 5 were Las Vegas, Kansas City, Atlanta and [...]
Feb
04
Fresh & Easy Changing Strategy
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has altered it’s course. Until now, Fresh & Easy has been a savior tenant for many developers, eating up 14,000 square foot chunks of old space and dark drug stores. They have done deals in existing spaces, build-to-suits and ground leases. Last week I heard that they had changed course [...]
Jan
24
Getting Smoked: A Home Furnishing Nightmare
This article is not really new news but it is totally brutal nonetheless. I wonder who the $35 million buyer is? He should retrade the deal because he can. I really doubt buyers are lined up at the door for this deal. I have been scratching my head about this project since the first leasing [...]