Andrew Zezas, author of the blog Corporate Advisor recently published a post about a couple of brokers operating on the wrong side of the line. You can read his post here. In this day and age, how does someone think they can get away with shady practices without being called out in a very public [...]
Mar
08
Nov
12
Comments on CoStar Article About Institutional Transactions
This morning, CoStar published an article entitled Institutional Investors Throwing Big Money Around Class A Quality Retail Property. The article highlights several recent large transactions that have taken place and interviews guys from CBRE, Marcus & Millichap and Jones Lange LaSalle for opinions. A few of the points/quotes caught my attention and I thought I’d [...]
Oct
28
CRE Takeaways From Bill Gross’ Investment Outlook
Bill Gross, PIMCO’s revered managing director, has just published his most recent investment outlook. In it, he calls the end of the recent market rally and warns of a necessity to come to grips with the fact that a new normal is headed our way. The closing sentences sum up his point nicely and he [...]
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
28
Vitamin Shoppe Completes I.P.O.
Vitamin Shoppe has just completed an IPO, raising about $155 million. You can read more about it at DealBook. What I thought was most interesting was the fact that this was first I.P.O. by a traditional retailer since December 2007! The proceeds from the offering are being used to pay down debt and to pad [...]
Oct
22
A Few More Words on Vacancy Factors in CRE Underwriting
I wanted to make another quick point on CRE underwriting as it relates to vacancy. Some of the more “with it” sellers have begun allowing vacancy factors underwritten into their offering memorandums. What is often overlooked is the actual relation of the vacancy factor to operations. Often you will see a vacancy factor of 3% [...]
Oct
22
Is A New Underwriting Trend Emerging in CRE?
I received a marketing brochure today that, quite frankly, left me a bit shocked. The property is a multi-tenant retail building in a power center in Southern California. The shocking part of the offering was that the seller and broker were NOT attempting to capitalize income from the vacant suites. Maybe CRE practitioners are starting [...]
Oct
08
Interesting Fresh & Easy Article
Below is an interesting article published by the Arizona Republic on Tuesday. Based on the published numbers of $267 million in first half sales from 130 stores, Fresh & Easy’s full year sales should be approximately $534 million or $4.1 million per unit. The average Fresh & Easy store is 14,000 square feet so their [...]
Oct
01
Calls From Appraisers Increasing – Banks Clearly Worried About Losses
Lately I have been receiving a high volume of calls from appraisers. Appraiser calls are nothing new. Normally, I receive a handful a month calling to ask questions about properties I have sold or asking for my opinion on a particular property they are trying to value. Now, I am receiving several appraisal calls per [...]
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 [...]
Jul
22
REIT Analyst Report – “Deteriorating Fundamentals” For CRE Through 2012 or 2013
The following are exerpts from a report just issued today by CreditSights‘ REIT analyst Craig Guttenplan titled “REIT 2Q Fundamentals: Protracted Pain Despite Gain.” From the report (emphasis mine): Commercial real estate (CRE) fundamentals for the core domestic property types continued their downward progression during the second quarter. Vacancy rates rose and market rents declined [...]