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:
Underground sale changes psychology of downtown, By Douglas Sams, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Key Excerpt:
“With the sale of Underground Atlanta officially complete, south downtown’s collection of early 20th century brick buildings and underused parking lots are poised for the largest wave of private investment and development in decades. The city of Atlanta closed on the Underground Atlanta transaction March 31, selling the nearly 12-acre property for $34.6 million to South Carolina real estate company WRS Inc.”
In Brief: Multifamily market springs to life with solid gains, By Brett Widness, Urban Land Institute
Key Excerpt:
“After a lackluster winter, U.S. rents posted solid gains in March, according to Yardi Matrix’s monthly survey of 121 markets, although the rate of growth continued to decelerate. Average monthly rents rose $6 to $1,312, with the largest rent growth seen in California’s Sacramento, Inland Empire, and Los Angeles markets. On a year-over-year basis, rents were up 2.7 percent nationwide in March, down 10 basis points from February and exactly half the 5.4 percent growth rate of a year ago.”
Retail REIT CEOs address shifts in sector, By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, REIT.com
Key Excerpt:
“Retail REIT executives say they continue to see solid growth potential in their sector, despite disruptive forces that are changing the operating landscape. Speaking April 6 at a NYU Schack Institute symposium, executives sought to counter the impression that the entire retail REIT sector is facing pressure as the retail business has been hit with a wave of national store closings.”
Older apartments feeling brunt of new supply, By Jarred Schenke, Bisnow
Key Excerpt:
“While rents climbed 2.4 percent from the first quarter of 2016 to this year to an average monthly rent of $1,682, that was mainly driven by new apartment deliveries that charge higher rents to justify construction costs. And, by and large, those developers have been achieving those numbers, Haddow vice president Ladson Haddow said.”
Nonresidential construction employment continuing to post early gains in 2017, By Randyl Drummer, Costar
Key Excerpt:
“U.S. Commerce Department figures show that nonresidential construction added 13,300 jobs in March, offsetting the loss of 7,600 jobs in the residential sector, as a key indicator of new construction projects entering the development pipeline advanced for the sixth straight month.”