Archive for April, 2010
Pension Funds Ramp Up Commercial Real Estate Activity
Apr 30th
Pension funds across the U.S. are expected to ramp up their commercial real estate allocations in 2010, according to a new survey from Institutional Real Estate Inc. and Kingsley Associates. Commercial real estate has long been considered a long-term stable asset for pension fund portfolios, but many funds took a beating during the economic recession over the last two years. Now that the economy is in recovery mode, those funds are poised to invest up to $34 billion into real estate this year, including allocations for safe commercial real estate investments, debt, overseas deals and some riskier private equity deals for land and distressed properties. More >
Outsourcing Lease Renewals: Hidden Costs and Process
Apr 28th
In Part One we discussed how outsourcing your company’s lease renewal process is beneficial to productivity and the bottom line. Now let’s take a look at the potential hidden costs and tips on how you can manage the process:
Hidden Costs
Putting too much faith in the relationship with the landlord (or management company) for cost savings is a mistake many companies make in the lease renewal process. Each landlord has a business to run, and has factored in a renewal commission and allowance for vacancy in their budgets. This 2-4% commission (on average) is often buried in multiple categories, making it difficult to locate. In a straight tenant-landlord negotiation, tenants believe they can negotiate this commission away, whereas landlords find ways to create sources of one-time profit within each renewal. Landlord budgets and rental rates reflect these renewal commissions simply because landlords would be naïve to assume that every tenant will renew in place and commission payments are not required. More >
Retail Is on the Mend, But…
Apr 27th
Retail sales bottomed early in 2009 and will continue to recover more as we add more jobs. It’s self-reinforcing, as a virtuous cycle. However, we have a long way to go to get back to the peak of where we were. We are still some 10% below where we were at our peak. If retail sales grew by 5% a year over the next two years, most people will say that’s a pretty good retail sales recovery. But two years out, you’d only be back to where you were in mid-2008, even though you would have 10 million to 15 million more people added to the population. It’s a flat recovery. More >
NAI Global, Harcourts Set Sights on Vast Opportunity in Australia, New Zealand Real Estate Markets
Apr 26th
I’ve been invited to speak at the annual Harcourts conferences in New Zealand and Australia in May to discuss the launch of NAI Harcourts, a joint venture of NAI Global and Harcourts in Australia and New Zealand. Harcourts is a leading real estate services provider in Australia and New Zealand, with over 180 offices and 1,800 sales consultants in New Zealand, and over 270 offices and 1,280 sales consultants in Australia. Harcourts provides both residential and commercial property services, and the commercial property activities will go forward under the NAI Harcourts banner combining the deep local roots of Harcourts in those markets with the worldwide commercial property reach and expertise of NAI Global. More >
India – The World’s Manufacturing Hub
Apr 26th
The industrial property market is heating up in India. Global companies are considering India as a manufacturing hub for their operations in Asia due to the comparatively low cost of labor (skilled & unskilled), readily available talent pool, improving infrastructure, establishment of Special Economic Zones, tax incentives, concessional power tariffs across various states, multiple sea ports, new airports, and the government’s focus on the industrial development of economically backward states/cities. More >
