This is my first post in a very long time. The only reason I am posting today is because I didn’t really have to do anything to put this post up. The following analysis is from an email I just received breaking down a recently listed retail center. Needless to say, the property is way [...]
Mar
30
Phoenix Retail Sucking Wind
The Phoenix Business Journal published a not-so-surprising article this past Friday about the state of retail shopping centers in the Phoenix MSA. The article paints a dismal picture for the state of retail in Phoenix. According to David Wetta, director of Marcus & Millichap’s national retail group, there are 1,753 retail properties in the Valley [...]
Mar
02
Are CAP Rates Heading Back Down?
That is a pretty broad question. I can’t say for sure for every single product type nor do I really care about CAP Rate trends for multi-tenant office/industrial/multi-family/etc. buildings in the midwest/south/east/etc. I can make an intelligent guess and say no, CAP Rates are not heading back down, they are continuing to rise – industry-wide. [...]
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. [...]
Oct
28
Quick Comments on NYC Office Sublease Market
DealBook has an article up today about the office sublease market in NYC and the impact lower offering rates are having on space offered directly by building owners. Every time I read about NYC rents my head just spins. The numbers are just astronomical. According to the article, average asking rents for Class A office [...]
Oct
07
Office Vacancy at 16.5%
Another post from Calculated Risk showing office vacancy rates since 1991. We are not as bad as we were in 1991 but it looks like we are heading there. Graph below from CR.
Oct
07
Inland Empire Vacancy
Calculated risk put up a post yesterday about a topic that is near and dear to my heart: the Inland Empire commercial real estate market. In summary, the retail vacancy rate continues to rise in the Inland empire. I also thought it was humorous that the primary source for this data was CB Richard Ellis. [...]
Sep
29
Inland Empire Shopping Center For Sale – Calling All Investors Seeking To Lose Money
The package embedded below (see update below) just came across my desk today. It is an offering for a shopping center in Moreno Valley, CA (Inland Empire). The property consists of three ground leased fast food pads (El Pollo Loco, Del Taco and Wendy’s) as well as approximately 22,670 square feet of retail shops in [...]
Sep
24
Citi Considering Reducing Retail Branch Count
Citigroup may be looking to sell or shut down some of its 1,001 retail bank branches in the U.S. and Canada. Citi wants to focus on their core markets of New York, Washington, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. DealBook has more here. Needless to say, this is not good news for capitalization rates [...]
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 [...]
Sep
21
Comments on Commercial Real Estate Values
Today, Moody’s Investors Services posted its most recent Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Index. The results show continued price declines in US commercial real estate across the board. According to the report, CRE values are now 30.8% below those of 1 year ago and 38.7% below peak levels of October 2007. I found this article published [...]
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
24
Commercial Real Estate in College Towns – Recession Proof?
Kevin Kleen has a good post up today about the market stability of college towns. He references an article from The Creative Class which looks at unemployment rates in various cities. I’m going to stop short of saying that the article concludes that college towns are definitively recession-proof but I do believe the data offers [...]
Jul
22
Per Capita Retail Space in Various Countries
This is an interesting chart. I don’t think it means these other countries don’t have problems but I do think it means our problems are significantly larger than most. The chart could also be used as a springboard for social commentary on the consumerist nature of Americans. (HT – Zero Hedge)
Jul
14
Manhattan Office Rents Off 44%
I don’t know what is more brutal, a 44% decline in effective rental rates or the fact that office rates ever reached $70 PSF in the first place. Calculated Risk has the post here which summarizes an article from Rueters. I love the analogy put forth by the guy CR calls Brian in which he [...]