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.
• Analysis: Hotel Occupancy Levels Expected to Hit 30-Year High by 2016 by Sarah Borchersen-Keto of REIT.com.
Key excerpt:
“Limited new development in the hotel sector is expected to push national hotel occupancy rates to their highest level in 30 years, according to a report from financial and professional service firm JLL.
JLL projected that hotel occupancy would approach 65 percent by 2016, resulting in growth for the average daily rate (ADR) for rooms charged in the industry.”
• Fed Sees Tighter Lending, But Construction Rolls Along by Les Shaver of Multifamily Executive.
Key excerpt:
“Specifically 12 percent of banks reported tighter lending standards on loans secured by multifamily residential properties, while only 10.7 percent reported easing. That means, on net, 1.3 percent of all banks reported tighter lending standards.
Construction firms have yet to notice an impact.
‘I’m turning jobs away,’ says Marc Padgett, principal at Jacksonville-based Summit Cos. ‘There is no way banks are tightening up.’”
• Cultivating Independent Tenants Can Be a Worthwhile Investment, Panel Says by Shopping Centers Today.
Key excerpt:
“Independent chains may not be able to offer the lower prices a chain can achieve, [but] they can compete on service, panelists said. Even with a highly cost-conscious public, customers who receive excellent service from an independent are often willing to pay a higher-than-chain-store price, said Dwayne Rancifer, owner of more than 20 Boost Mobile stores in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri.”
• 3 Things You May Not Know About Commercial Real Estate by Alex Kopicki of Fox Business.
Key excerpt:
“As the tenant, whether you’re a large or small business, it’s nice that you don’t have to come up with the initial cash to fix up your space. However, in the long run, a landlord still passes on the cost of the improvements to the tenant by building them into the rent schedule. Most landlords amortize TI costs into the rent schedule at an interest rate of 10 percent or higher, and they typically do so over a short period of time. These costs add up very quickly and may leave you wondering why your budgeted rent of $500 per employee actually comes out to $600 when all is said and done.”
• The True Power of the Crowd: 5 Real Estate Projects Which Made History by David Drake for Huffington Post.
Key excerpt:
“The true power of the crowd lies in its ability to find its place in the market and to make investment decisions itself. Nowhere is this more true than in the real estate crowdfunding space. Despite the present limitations required in the JOBS Act that only accredited investors can play the equity crowdfunding game, the power of the crowd is already being unlocked and is now awaiting for a full blast once non-accredited investors enter the game.”