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:
Industrial Developers Unleashed! Under Construction Hits Record Number, By Jarred Schenke, Bisnow
Key Excerpt:
“As of Q3, developers have nearly 19M square feet of prime industrial space under construction throughout the Metro Atlanta area, according to a newly released report from Cushman & Wakefield. That’s the single largest amount of square footage under construction for a single quarter in Atlanta’s history, shattering our previous record of 14.8M square feet, set in 2000.”
How Equity Crowdfunding is Changing the Face of Real Estate Investment Banking, NuWire
Key Excerpt:
“The investor appetite for real estate is warranted. Real estate has a few key features that make it more appealing to investors than many other fluffy, blue-sky startups. For starters, real estate is an asset-backed security. Unlike other corporate investments, real estate includes an underlying hard asset that—in the event of default—can be liquidated.”
Survey Shows Commercial Real Estate Markets Continuing to Firm, By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, REIT.com
Key Excerpt:
“The consensus outlook of 51 economists and analysts from leading real estate organizations, conducted by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate, anticipates that vacancy rates will remain low and may move lower, supporting further gains in both rents and property prices.”
SunTrust Buying Pillar Financial to Expand Multifamily Lending, CoStar
Key Excerpt:
“The same week it reported that mortgage and commercial real estate lending helped boost its third-quarter revenue, Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks announced an agreement to acquire the multifamily lending business of Pillar Financial, a boutique agency lender that holds licenses with all three agencies — Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.”
Four Developments Leading Multifamily Green Building Efforts, By Drew Vass, Multifamily Executive
Key Excerpt:
“With more than 75 percent of owners passing the costs for gas and electricity on to their tenants, in most cases—minus philosophical views—a financial impetus is absent. But multifamily executive found four developers who say that, with the costs for such things as photovoltaic and geothermal installations dropping and more energy-saving products than ever suited to multifamily buildings, there are no excuses left for not ‘greening up.’”