Housing complex is planned for city’s west side.

From the Grand Rapids Business Journal written by David Czurak

The Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority gave its blessing to a new residential project for the city’s northwest side, which is the first step to make the proposal a reality.

Rockford Development plans to invest $2.4 million into a four-building residential complex on the corner of Douglas Street and Seward Avenue, just a block south of Bridge Street. The property was home to an American Legion building that closed in 2007. The site offers about 17,000 square feet of buildable space.

“Our plan is to build four residential units,” said Mike Mraz, vice president of development for Rockford Development.

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Riverside Senior Care gets authority’s OK

Northern Michigan developer wants to convert school into senior housing.

From the Grand Rapids Business Journal written by David Czurak

A Harbor Springs multi-family housing developer had its plan amendment approved by the Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority for a new senior living center on the city’s northeast side.

G.A. Haan Development wants to turn the former Riverside Elementary School at 2420 Coit Ave. NE into an assisted living and memory care facility for up to 55 seniors. The Grand Rapids Public Schools system closed Riverside in 2010 and sold the 36,000-square-foot building and its site to Haan Development last year.

“The property qualifies as being functionally obsolete,” said Jonathan Klooster of the brownfield authority.

“Total investment in the project is estimated to be $6.8 million, resulting in 51 new jobs with wages ranging from $11 to $35 per hour,” added Klooster.

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New development on Ionia to get underway soon

Brookstone Capital will add new residences and retail downtown.

From the Grand Rapids Business Journal written by David Czurak

At its last meeting, the Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority unanimously approved an amended work plan to redevelop a vacant parcel at 240 Ionia Ave. SW and authorized a development and reimbursement agreement for the project being done by Brookstone Capital.

Brookstone Capital of Midland plans to build a $15 million, seven-story residential and retail structure on the property across Ionia from Heartside Park. The project includes creating 60,000 square feet of space for 48 one- and two-bedroom apartments, mostly the low-income variety, and 4,600 square feet of space for ground floor retail.

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The blood drive will be held from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm in Suite 200 of our building at 100 Grandville Ave SW, Grand Rapids, MI  49503

To help save a life and register for a time slot, please contact Ann Yarnal at 616-242-1119 or by email at anny@naiwwm.com.

Dave Smies and Stu Kingma were both given awards for Top Industrial Leasing Brokers, Bill Tyson was recognized as a Top Retail Leasing Broker, and Stan Wisinski and Mary Anne Wisinski-Rosely were both recognized as Top Sales Brokers.

In addition, NAI Global as a whole was well represented, bringing in 132 individual awards and 91 firm awards across the country.

Dave Smies

Stu Kingma

Bill Tyson

Stan Wisinski

Mary Anne Wisinski-Rosely

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said rental housing demand has been exceptionally strong.  “Rent increases have been higher in multifamily housing where supply is not matching strong demand, thereby allowing landlords to raise rents at faster rates,” he said.  “Overall commercial real estate leasing activity continued to grow in most markets during the closing months of 2012, which is modestly lowering vacancy rates in all of the commercial sectors early this year.”

National vacancy rates over the coming year are expected to decline 0.4 percentage point in the office market, 0.4 point in industrial, 0.3 point for retail and 0.1 point in multifamily, with that sector experiencing the tightest availability.

“Business spending is expected to rise faster in 2013 because of record high corporate profits.  Low interest rates also are permitting companies to improve their balance sheets,” Yun said.

NAR’s latest Commercial Real Estate Outlook¹ offers projections for four major commercial sectors and analyzes quarterly data in the office, industrial, retail and multifamily markets.  Historic data for metro areas were provided by REIS, Inc.,² a source of commercial real estate performance information.

Office Markets

Vacancy rates in the office sector are forecast to fall from a projected 16.0 percent in the first quarter to 15.6 percent in the first quarter of 2014.

The markets with the lowest office vacancy rates presently (in the first quarter) are Washington, D.C., with a vacancy rate of 9.4 percent; New York City, at 9.6 percent; and Little Rock, Ark., 12.1 percent.

Office rents should increase 2.6 percent in 2013 and 2.8 percent next year, following a 2.0 percent gain in 2012.  Net absorption of office space in the U.S., which includes the leasing of new space coming on the market as well as space in existing properties, is expected to total 34.0 million square feet this year and 42.3 million in 2014.

Industrial Markets

Industrial vacancy rates are likely to decline from 9.6 percent in the first quarter of this year to 9.2 percent in the first quarter of 2014.

The areas with the lowest industrial vacancy rates currently are Los Angeles and Orange County, Calif., each with a vacancy rate of 3.6 percent; Miami, 5.6 percent; and Seattle at 6.0 percent.

Annual industrial rents are projected to rise 2.3 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2014, after increasing 1.7 percent last year.  Net absorption of industrial space nationally is likely to total 121.8 million square feet in 2013 and 103.5 million next year.

Retail Markets

Retail vacancy rates are forecast to slide from 10.7 percent in the first quarter of the year to 10.4 percent in the first quarter of 2014.

Presently, markets with the lowest retail vacancy rates include San Francisco, 3.5 percent; Fairfield County, Conn., at 4.2 percent; and Orange County, Calif., 5.2 percent.

Average retail rents will probably rise 1.5 percent in 2013 and 2.1 percent next year, following a 0.8 percent gain in 2012.  Net absorption of retail space is seen at 11.9 million square feet in 2013 and 16.4 million next year.

Multifamily Markets

The apartment rental market – multifamily housing – should see vacancy rates ease from 4.0 percent in the first quarter to 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2014; vacancy rates below 5 percent generally are considered a landlord’s market with demand justifying higher rents.

Areas with the lowest multifamily vacancy rates currently are New Haven, Conn., at 2.0 percent; New York City, 2.1 percent; and Minneapolis and Syracuse, N.Y., each at 2.5 percent.

Average apartment rents are expected to increase 4.6 percent this year and 4.7 percent in 2014, after rising 4.1 percent in 2012.  Multifamily net absorption is projected at 270,600 units in 2013 and 253,200 next year.

The Commercial Real Estate Outlook is published by the NAR Research Division.  NAR’s Commercial Division, formed in 1990, provides targeted products and services to meet the needs of the commercial market and constituency within NAR.

The NAR commercial community includes commercial members; commercial real estate boards; commercial committees, subcommittees and forums; and the NAR commercial affiliate organizations – CCIM Institute, Institute of Real Estate Management, Realtors^® Land Institute, Society of Industrial and Office Realtors^®, and Counselors of Real Estate.

Approximately 78,000 NAR and institute affiliate members specialize in commercial brokerage and related services, and an additional 232,000 members offer commercial real estate services as a secondary business.

The National Association of Realtors^®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.  For additional commentary and consumer information, visit www.houselogic.com and http://retradio.com.

¹Additional analyses will be posted under Economists’ Outlook in the Research blog section of Realtor.org in coming days at: http://economistsoutlook.blogs.realtor.org/.

²Beginning in the third quarter of 2011, NAR commercial forecasts have been generated based on historical data provided by REIS, Inc., and do not correspond with prior historical information from previous forecasts.  This source permits coverage of more metro areas than were previously covered.

The next commercial real estate forecast and quarterly market report will be released on May 28 at 10:00 a.m. EDT.

Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the “News, Blogs and Videos” tab on the website. Other commercial information and reports are posted in the Commercial Research area of the “Research and Statistics” tab.

Grand Rapids, MI (February 11, 2013)

Today, NAI Wisinski of West Michigan announces the launch of their free mobile application for the iPhone and iPad. Their app, found in the App Store by searching NAI Wisinski, has multiple features on it that will appeal to many types of users. “This app is not only about getting our listings out in front of people, but also being able to add value for our customers,” says Jim Decker, President of NAI Wisinski. “These features and tools allow users to do some really cool things and you don’t necessarily need to be in commercial real estate to benefit from them.”

The app includes:

• Map-Based Property Searches: Search properties near you on a map and get detailed listing information including directions with the press of a button.
• Contact Information: Ability to add listing agents directly to your contact books and call or email them right from the app.
• Map-Based Measuring Tool: Ability to select points on a map and measure the distance in feet between them. Great for determining a rough estimate on square footage or frontage.
• Financial Analysis Tools: Includes a TVM Calculator, NPV/IRR Calculator, Mortgage Calculator, and an Investment Analysis tool.
• Report Generator: Generate pdf reports from your financial calculations complete with charts and tables. You then have the ability to email, print or send these reports to your Dropbox.
• Media Section: Stay up-to-date with commercial real estate news and stats.

The app has been almost a year in the making. It all started back in early February 2012  at the NAI Global Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. “While at the convention, I met with about 40 other marketing directors from other NAI offices around the world. NAI Latter & Blum in Louisiana had already developed a similar app and became a gateway to us finding our developer. As soon as we got back from Vegas, we got right to work,” said Shane Ikola of NAI Wisinski’s Marketing Department. “These past months have been an exciting time and this is a testament to the power of the NAI Global Network.” The developer is based out of New Jersey, and has worked on mobile application solutions for commercial real estate companies all around the country.

The app hasn’t come without it fair share of hurdles. “We had to determine the most economical and efficient way of transferring the data of over 900 listings into the app, manually uploading and making changes to each property individually wasn’t an option,” Ikola explained.

The NAI Wisinski app and all of its features are free to download from the App Store. “We really wanted to provide a service and making this app free ensures that everyone has the chance to benefit from this app. In return we just hope it shows everyone what our brand is about,” Decker explains.

Note: While the app is currently available for the iPad in addition to the iPhone, an iPad-native version is being developed that will be more user friendly for iPad users and provide more functionality.

Grand Rapids, MI (February 7, 2013)

At the Commercial Alliance of Realtor’s Annual Award Reception on Tuesday, Mary Anne Wisinski-Rosely of NAI Wisinski of West Michigan was named this year’s Realtor of the Year. “I feel honored to have received this award, especially since I was selected by my peers,” Mary Anne said of the accomplishment. Not only did she broker nearly $50 million in commercial real estate transactions in 2012, but she sat as the President of CAR’s board and represented CAR at multiple Michigan Association of Realtor (MAR) and National Association of Realtor (NAR) events.

This is now NAI Wisinski’s fourth Realtor of the Year award in five years. Last year Rod Alderink took home the award. Prior to that was Doug Taatjes (2010) and Stu Kingma (2009). “Our company has been well represented with this award,” said Jim Decker, President of NAI Wisinski. “We have much to be proud of and thankful for.”

Collection Goal: 13 Pints

Donors Registered: 15

Pints of Blood Collected: 12

First-Time Donors: 1

Congratulations to Jennifer Wetzel for reaching her first gallon! A big thank you goes to Jimmy John’s and Peppino’s for providing food for donors. Stay tuned for more information on our next blood drive planned for May 21st.

Visit www.carwm.com and click on “ArtPrize” in the lower left corner for more information on the contest and which buildings are included.