Each Wednesday, The Wrap presents a compilation of recent noteworthy commercial real estate stories from a variety of publications. Below are links to five stories that caught our eyes in recent days.
• Turner Field to be sold to Georgia State and developer Carter by Katie Leslie and Scott Trubey of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Key excerpt:
"The Carter-Georgia State team plan involves a $300 million mix of student housing, apartments, retail and the conversion of Turner Field into a football stadium. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed publicly endorsed the Georgia State team when it first announced its interest in the site early last year.
In October, the authority listed 67 acres, including Turner Field, for sale under a competitive bid process. Only two other bidders, both little-known, made a play for the ballpark and surrounding parking lots, making it apparent to most observers that Carter and Georgia State would be the winner.”
• 2016 Economic Outlook: Rent Growth by Kayla Devon of Multifamily Executive.
Key excerpt:
"MPF projects 4.3 percent rent growth for 2016. While that’s a 130-basis-point drop from last year, it’s still well above the historical average of 2.5 percent to 3 percent—but the slowdown in general could indicate that above-average growth won’t last much longer. 'We’ve got maybe two or three more years of rent growth above historical averages,’ [Greg] Willett says.”
• ‘Emerging Trends’ Study Details Key Markets, Investor Opportunities for 2016 (Part 1) by Byron Carlock of National Real Estate Investor.
Key excerpt:
"The most obvious finding in the report is the strong feeling of optimism currently pervading the industry. Over the past four years, as the economic recovery gradually took hold, the most positive view of real estate professionals—those who assessed the industry’s well-being as “good to excellent”—rose from 55.9 percent (for 2013) to today’s robust 84.0 percent, while those on the fence dwindled from 41.8 percent to just 14.9 percent. In fact, the level of optimism is the highest it’s been in the past 10 years, and it appears to be heading upwards (mark your calendars for the 2017 “Emerging Trends”).”
• Two Big Atlanta Retail Predictions by Jennifer LeClaire of Globe St.
Key excerpt:
"'Across the nation the retail market is experiencing a lack of space, especially in class A core markets,' [Monetha] Cobb tells GlobeSt.com. 'Towards the end of 2016 or early 2017, we’ll begin to see the deliveries of new construction, which will loosen the competition for available space.'
As Cobb sees it, this should slow down rent escalation in core markets. With new space being delivered six to 12 months down the pipeline, she says, retailers are using this time to figure out how to expand their brands beyond bricks and mortar locations.”
• A Logical Move By the Fed? Real Estate Experts Weigh In On Interest Rate Hike by Matt Valley of REBusinessOnline.
Key excerpt:
"'Based on a strengthening and stabilizing economy, I believe this was a logical move by the Fed,' says [Jeffrey] Rinkov. 'While the Fed is driven by data, I think this signifies its belief that the economy can operate in an environment with a normalizing monetary policy. Relevant to real estate investment, long-term interest rates should remain at historical low levels, which will continue to incentivize investment.'”