Each Wednesday, The Wrap presents a compilation of recent noteworthy commercial real estate stories from a variety of publications. Below are links to four stories that caught our eyes in recent days.
• Searching for Higher Rents Near Higher Education by Mark Heschmeyer of CoStar.
Key excerpt:
“Regardless of how students choose to get to campus — be it on foot, bike, subway, or accompanied by an assistant on a golf cart (see critically acclaimed film ‘Van Wilder’) — they overwhelmingly prefer to live close by. Proximity to the center of student life means easier access to friends, dining options, educational resources, and the like.
Multifamily investors looking at deals with a higher education angle should understand how campus proximity translates into returns.”
• US Office Supply/Demand Remains Balanced by Carrie Rossenfeld of Globe St.
Key excerpt:
“The U.S. office market is taking a very strong position among the Americas, and recovery is expected to increase through 2015, according to research executives at Cushman & Wakefield, who recently held a global office forecast webinar [in Irvine, Calif.]. The US office market is in the acceleration phase of the real estate cycle, and it has plenty of company, the firm reports.”
• Big-Box Opportunity Knocks—And It’s a Big, Big Door by Craig Meyer for NREI.
Key excerpt:
“Big-box distribution real estate remains a hot segment of the U.S. industrial market, with demand steaming ahead for 2014. This is a big driver behind the 96.7 million sq. ft. of new industrial construction presently underway — roughly half of which is speculative development with no pre-leasing by tenants, according to Jones Lang LaSalle's Big Box Outlook.”
• Nonprofits With Sought-After Buildings Take Advantage of a Hot Market by Julie Satow of the New York Times.
Key excerpt:
“A handful of nonprofits fortunate enough to own their headquarters are also selling their properties and signing long-term leases elsewhere. Recent deals include one involving St. John’s University, which sold 101 Murray Street in TriBeCa to residential developers for more than $200 million and is now said to be negotiating a lease at 51 Astor Place. Last year, the City University of New York sold 20 East End Avenue, which is slated for a condominium conversion, for nearly $62 million and signed a 30-year lease at the former Pfizer headquarters at 205 East 42nd Street.
Real estate brokers say a confluence of factors makes these types of transactions work. The residential condominium market is strong, with prices surpassing those reached during the last real estate cycle, enabling developers to pay top dollar for properties. At the same time, the commercial market remains sluggish, so landlords looking to fill large spaces are more willing to entertain leases with nonprofit tenants.”