commercial real estate
Reviving Mesa's CRE Market One Business at a Time
Submitted by Peter_Madrid on Thu, 07/22/2010 - 3:20pm
There’s at least one businessman in Mesa I know of who can smile these days. That would be Ed Tobin, marketing director and a partner in the management team that owns the rights to manage AZ Country USA.
The country bar opened recently at the intersection of Southern Ave. and Country Club Dr. in the building that formerly housed Julio Cesar Chavez’s Campeones, a boxing-themed sports bar that opened in November but closed in June.
AZ Country USA drew a whopping 4,000 patrons opening weekend, according to Tobin. The new establishment features a restaurant and bar, 11,000 square feet of dancing space, and plenty of billiard tables.
Avoiding Financial Pitfall (Again)
Submitted by Allie_Bell on Tue, 05/04/2010 - 11:12am
Anthony Downs, a columnist for the National Real Estate Investor, wrote a piece titled "The Art of Financial Reform" that poses six questions for Congress to consider when adopting new financial regulations.
1. How can potentially destabilizing policies within the financial sector be detected far enough in advance to prevent major crises?
2. How can mortgage borrowers be protected from fraudulent and harmful lenders? And how can investors in mortgage-related securities be informed enough about the quality of those securities to avoid a high probability of defaults or losses?
3. How can all types of financial derivatives be registered in public exchanges so as to provide accurate data to regulators about the nature and extent of derivatives? |
It's no secret that the cause of the Great Recession hinged on what occurred to the financial sector — so how do we avoid it happening again?Star Partners in Energy
Submitted by Allie_Bell on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 9:59am
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IFMA created a master account within the EPA's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and extends an invitation to facility professionals to create their own accounts, add information about their facilities and share that information with IFMA. The reasoning behind getting members on board with this effort is to create a better database, whereby facility performance may be measured in a consistent manner, benchmarking energy and utility use, and sharing and implementing efficiency measures and best practices. ENERGY STAR can then use this database to help organizations save money, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve facility performance, and qualify for tax incentives and rebates. |
The The Money Roof
Submitted by Allie_Bell on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 10:40am
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National Real Estate Investor recently published a guest column on the topic, written by Gary Kassem who is the president and CEO of SingleSource in Pittsburgh. The article pointed out a few important things to consider regarding roof-mounted solar power generation and feed-in tariffs (FITs). But before I dive into those points, let's get some background on the subject from Kassem: |
Owners can generate more than just solar power by renting out their roofs. Whether you're standing on rooftops, gardening on them or just happy that you have one over your head — roofs are more than just the highest part of a structure, and building owners are figuring out how to turn the forgotten space into a money maker. Commercial real estate building owners are realizing they are excellent candidates for solar roof rentals.One CAN Makes a Difference
Submitted by Allie_Bell on Fri, 02/19/2010 - 9:21am
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The 4th Annual Canstruction competition is being held Feb. 19-20 at Fiesta Mall, located at Alma School Road and U.S. 60 in Mesa, Ariz. Eight teams will showcase their talents by designing and building giant structures (10’ x 10’ x 8’h) made almost entirely out of canned foods. |
CANstructionULI Housing Update
Submitted by Allie_Bell on Mon, 02/15/2010 - 4:04pm
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Two key predictions from Housing in America for the decade ahead: home appreciation will slow considerably, to about 1 percent to 2 percent annually; and the current U.S. homeownership rate, now at 67 percent (a decline from the record high of 69 percent at the height of the housing boom) will fall further, to about 62 percent. |
As the U.S. economy recovers, emerging trends in demographics and consumer behavior will become major drivers of new housing opportunities, resulting in a residential market vastly different from the one that existed prior to the recession, according to Housing in America: The Next Decade, a new research paper authored by John K. McIlwain, senior resident fellow, Urban Land Institute/J. Ronald Terwilliger Chair for Housing.Glimmer of Hope: 2010 Forecast
Submitted by Allie_Bell on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 3:33pm
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In his Linneman Letter, Dr. Linneman says, "we hit bottom around April 2009. However, let's be clear: government panic and subsequent market incursions both lengthened and deepened the cyclical recession that was underway in mid-2008, creating our third post-WWII 'super recession.'"
But it's not all bad news out there, Dr. Linneman continues later on in his letter to say, "The good news is that real GDP bottomed in May, while monthly job losses have slowed to near zero. Once job declines end, there will have been a net loss of about 7.24 million jobs over the duration of the current recession. This is equivalent to about 4 years of normal job growth, which is about 1.8 million jobs per year." |
"The recession is over!" Or at least that's what Dr. Peter Linneman says, who is the chief economist for Stimulated Construction
Submitted by Allie_Bell on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 9:17pm
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The Associated General Contractors of America recently put out a 2010 construction outlook forecast that stated nearly 9 in 10 contractors say there will be no recovery in 2010. Further outlook doom and gloom within the forecast included: |
Anyone who says things don't look bleak out there hasn't looked outside their window in the past few days. But as they say — "when it rains it pours" — and Arizona has not been the exception, it's been the definition.Walking a Fine Line
Submitted by Allie_Bell on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 3:18pm
I come across a lot of different viewpoints on where the commercial real estate industry stands daily. Each viewpoint ranges from overly optimistic to drumming up the depths of doom and gloom, but all of them convey the same message — one of fear and hope. Sometimes the two are so close together, some would not be able to tell the difference. In one recent CoStar article, a local capital services company was quoted as saying, "The commercial real estate industry is a disaster waiting to happen." In that same article just a few paragraphs later, an East Coast firm states that there are still "signs of life in each sector." So which is it? CoStar tried to draw a fine line between the two, only to confirm that 2010 will meld both hope and fear into one sphere. |
Sustainable New Code
Submitted by Allie_Bell on Fri, 01/08/2010 - 3:16pm
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While going through various construction industry news, I came across an article on Reed Construction Data's Web site by Wayne Engebretson. The article talks about the International Green Construction Code (IGCC)'s draft to be the first International Code (I-code) to address sustainable design and green construction practices for all commercial building types. The code is scheduled for release in March 2010. |
When I was younger I used to think of codes as having to do with the CIA, or being a super spy. It was fun to try to work on the various combinations of letters and symbols to see if I could create and or "crack" a friend's code. Then I grew up... Now, I'm not saying that codes are a bad thing, they are just not as much fun as I remember them being. There is a lot more paperwork involved, but at least the ending is aimed at the same goal of making things "better" in one sense or another.
