NAI Global
NAI Global is the premier network of independent commercial real estate firms and one of the largest commercial real estate service providers worldwide. NAI Global manages a network of 5,000 professionals and 325 offices in 55 countries throughout the world. NAI professionals work together with our global management team to help our clients strategically optimize their real estate assets. NAI offices around the world complete over $45 billion in transactions in a typical year. We also manage over 200 million square feet of commercial space. In 2009-2010, NAI Global received top industry rankings and honors: Named Global Broker of the Year by Private Equity Real Estate magazine Ranked # 1 Network and #3 Overall Corporate Services Provider in Watkins Research Group Survey of Corporate Real Estate Executives Ranked #4 on Lipsey’s Top 25 Real Estate Brands Ranked #6 on National Real Estate Investor magazine’s Top 25 Brokerage Organizations NAI Global is based in Princeton, New Jersey. A dedicated 70-person staff, strategically positioned around the world, provides management, technology, marketing and corporate services support to its network of real estate offices.
Posts by NAI Global
Mexico in Peril
Oct 13th
I have just returned from a conference which is typically attended by the leaders of large, industrial real estate portfolios. A number of Fortune 500 brands’ real estate executives were there as were service providers and municipal leaders from around the country. More >
How to Organize a Real Estate Department
Sep 20th
There are multiple choices for the real estate director on how to organize the real estate department. What are these choices and how do they compare to each other? More >
eCommerce Still Needs Physical Space
Aug 11th
In my recent blog posts I’ve been exploring the question, “As retail evolves, do retailers still need warehouse/distribution space?” As noted previously, American retailers occupy more than 5 billion square feet of warehousing/distribution space. And while leasing volume declined dramatically during the recent economic downtown, retailers do continue to extend and/or renew their lease holdings while reviewing their long-term warehousing strategies. More >
Retailers Evolving Warehouse/Fulfillment Strategies
Jul 22nd
Retailers will continue to need warehouse space, although some have successfully shifted the need to third parties. More >
CMBS Servicing Definitions
Jul 16th
With so much current interest in CMBS debt and dealing with servicers to workout or buy troubled loans and foreclosed properties, it is useful to understand the roles of the various servicers for these loans after they have been securitized. As you will see from the following descriptions, the Special Servicers and the Directing Certificateholders (or B-Piece Buyers) have the most immediate control over the foreclosure and subsequent sale processes. More >
Robust Recovery in 2010 Will Just Return U.S. to Middling Economy, Says NAI Global Chief Economist Dr. Peter Linneman
Jul 8th
Strong, steady economic growth over the next two years will just return the U.S. economy to a pre-2008 level, giving us back what we needlessly lost due to government-induced panic and poor lending practices, according to a new white paper from NAI Global Chief Economist Dr. Peter Linneman. The white paper examines the overall outlook for the job market and provides a forecast for the next three years.
“The key for the real estate sector is job growth, as a recovery without jobs does not fill buildings,” Dr. Linneman noted. “We anticipate that the next three years will continue to see average job growth of 250,000 jobs per month, for a three-year job increase of at least 9 million jobs by early 2013.” More >
Manhattan Sees Decline in Vacancy Rates
Jul 7th
For the first time in more than two years, office vacancy rates in Manhattan are on the decline. Vacancy rates dropped from 11.6% in the first quarter to just 10.8% at the end of the second quarter as nearly 7 million square feet of space was leased across the market.
There are still millions of square feet available, and buyers/tenants currently have the upper hand in sale/lease negotiations. With an uncertain economic recovery ahead, it is unknown if this drop in vacancy rates signals the start of the end of a difficult market, or if a double-dip recession will further delay a recovery market-wide.
Walmart Strategy Demonstrates Retailers’ Ongoing Demand for Warehouse/Distribution Space
Jul 1st
In 2009, American retailers occupied more than 5 billion square feet of warehousing/distribution space. Although significant new leases are way down, retailers do continue to extend and/or renew their lease holdings. Many are attempting to downsize, but all are said to be reviewing their long-term warehousing strategies.
Marc Wulfraat, a transportation industry expert at TranSystems in Montreal, CA, suggests we look at the distribution strategy of Walmart, the world’s largest and most successful retailer, to better understand why retailers will still need distribution centers. “At last count, Walmart’s U.S. network consisted of 147 large-scale distribution centers, comprising flow-through general merchandise facilities, grocery distribution centers, fashion/apparel facilities and dedicated import facilities,” Wulfraat notes. “Walmart’s distribution centers are absolutely massive. The prototype general merchandise distribution center is 1.2 million square feet; the typical grocery distribution center is 880,000 square feet; and its largest import facility in Texas is 4 million square feet. Most of the distribution centers are an average of 125 to 150 miles from the stores—a huge competitive cost advantage compared to retailers who ship from farther away.” More >
The Supreme Court’s New Sarbanes-Oxley Ruling: A Tempest in a Teapot
Jun 29th
The Supreme Court Monday issued its decision in a case involving the constitutionality of provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), and held certain provisions unconstitutional. SOX was enacted in 2002 in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom debacles to tighten up accounting, auditing and reporting requirements for public companies. Under SOX, public companies are required to implement adequate systems and controls, including a process to ensure their real estate assets and liabilities are appropriately valued and to maintain an audit trail to support those valuations.
Among the teeth in SOX were provisions that individual officers and Board Members could be held criminally responsible for the failures of a reporting company to implement appropriate systems and controls. In a 2004 letter to NAI clients and prospects I wrote: More >
Mark De Riemer Joins NAI Global New York City Office as Senior Managing Director
Jun 28th
NAI Global announces Mark De Riemer has joined its New York City office as Senior Managing Director of Investment Services.
In his new position, De Riemer’s primary focus will be investment sales and investment banking assignments for institutional and private clients across the Eastern U.S. He will also work closely with NAI Global’s Special Asset Solutions Group in the origination and disposition of distressed properties and portfolios. More >
