Each Wednesday, The Wrap presents a compilation of recent noteworthy
commercial real estate stories from a variety of publications.
Below are five stories that caught our eyes in recent days.
• “Go
West, Young Investor: West Coast Begins to Ride Tall in CRE Recovery” by
Randyl Drummer of CoStar.
The West, which many say was the region hardest hit by the
recession, is finally experiencing a recovery in its commercial real estate markets,
Drummer reports. The region had the strongest pricing gains among the four
major U.S. regions, according to the most recent “CoStar Commercial Repeat Sale
Indices” report.
The West Coast is seeing growth in tech-related office jobs.
In fact, tech-dominated markets in the West made up more than 55 percent of U.S.
office absorption gains in the second quarter, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s
“Second Quarter Office Outlook.”
• “CRE
Fundamentals in Energy Markets Are Outperforming All Others” by Victor
Calanog and Brad Doremus for National Real Estate Investment.
Technology isn’t the only bright spot in an otherwise
struggling economy. The energy sector also is doing well, resulting in improved
office and multifamily fundamentals in energy-centered metros throughout
Oklahoma and Texas.
Energy metros outperformed other areas of the country in
apartment asking and effective rent increases during the second quarter; they
also experienced stronger growth in office asking and effective rents than the
rest of the country in the past year, the authors reported.
• “Office
REITs Cater to Commuters with Electric Vehicles” by Carisa Chappell of REIT.com.
More and more office properties are offering electric-vehicle
charging stations to meet growing demand from commuters, Chappell reports.
REITs like Federal Realty Investment Trust say such stations make their
properties more appealing in the eyes of potential tenants.
“As the product becomes more affordable and readily
available in the marketplace … there will be more electric vehicles, which
will place a higher demand on car charging stations,” John Tschiderer of
Federal Realty told Chappell.
Some landlords also are offering other environmentally friendly options like
Zip Car service and bike-share stations.
• “Competition
for Land Acquisitions Heats Up” by Derek Mearns of Multifamily Executive.
As financing for land acquisitions becomes more readily
available to the multifamily industry, apartment firms are aggressively buying
up land, Mearns reports. But they’re doing so discerningly, taking an in-depth
look at sites before investing.
“Compared to earlier cycles, I don’t think finding sites is
terribly problematic, but you have to be mindful of how those sites should be
priced and how they will ultimately perform,” Jay Hiemenz, chief financial
officer for Alliance Residential, told Mearns.
Developers purchased $2 billion worth of land for new
development in the first half of 2012, which is on track for an annual total
that would match the buying levels of five years ago, according to Real Capital
Analytics.
Developers say they are looking for sites that are in walkable,
up-and-coming neighborhoods.
• “Retail
Tenants Pushing The Envelope” by Carrie Rossenfeld of Globe St.
Landlords anxious to fill up shopping centers as the market
recovers are giving in to the demands of smaller tenants, Rossenfeld reports.
In the past, owners were inclined to only yield to the demands of large
department stores and big-box tenants that once ruled, Hans Lapping, an
attorney with Miller Starr Regalia, told Rossenfeld.
There’s been an uptick in deal flow over the past few
months, but retailers are not forgetting the recession, Lapping said. Retailers
of all sizes are insisting on the protection offered by co-tenancy clauses.