- Private credit funds find opportunity in real estate “In one telling example, construction company Orion Group Holdings refinanced a $42.5 million revolving loan led by Regions Bank with a $103 million deal from a private credit company, White Oak Global Advisors.” (The Real Deal)
- Simon Property Considers Stepping Up Sales and Acquisitions “Simon Property Group, the nation’s biggest mall owner, may become even more active in terms of rejiggering its portfolio by shedding underperforming retail sites and doing acquisitions and redevelopments, according to its CEO.” (CoStar)
- Investors Looking To Seize On Depressed Property Valuations Create New Crop Of REITs “It may seem like an odd time to launch a new commercial property venture, with interest rates at a 22-year high and valuations of basically every property type dropping, but a fresh wave of nontraded REITs has arrived to take advantage of those very same conditions.” (Bisnow)
- Opportunity Zone Fund Raising Improves Quarter-Over-Quarter, But Still Sluggish “Novogradac announced that qualified opportunity funds tracked by the consulting firm reported raising $2.01 billion in equity over the first six months of 2023, including $1.33 billion during the second quarter of the year, the lowest half-year total for any period since Novogradac began tracking qualified opportunity fund equity data.” (The DI Wire)
- Big Brokerages Increase Cuts, Lower Forecasts For Rest Of 2023 “Cushman & Wakefield, Newmark, JLL, CBRE, Colliers and Marcus & Millichap reported drops in revenues in their second-quarter results. Profits all but disappeared relative to the second quarter of 2022, additional cuts were announced, and many firms lowered their outlooks for the rest of 2023.” (Bisnow)
- Google is offering an on-campus hotel ‘special’ to help lure workers back to the office “The company said full-time employees can book a room at an on-campus hotel in Mountain View for $99 a night in what it’s deeming a ‘Summer Special,’ according to materials viewed by CNBC. The description states that the special will run through Sept. 30 in hopes it’ll ‘make it easier for Googlers to transition to the hybrid workplace.’” (CNBC)
- Amazon To Double Number of Same-Day Delivery Centers After Initial Success “Amazon had at least 45 of the facilities called sub-same-day fulfillment centers, totaling about 7.6 million square feet, for an average building size of just under 170,000 square feet, in the United States as of the first quarter, according to MWPVL International, a Montreal-based logistics consulting firm that tracks projects across North America.” (CoStar)
- Another Big Chinese Property Domino Is Wobbling “Plunging sales translate into less cash to repay liabilities and finish projects. Country Garden has nearly $2 billion of bonds that will come due or be eligible for early redemption this year. The company had been considered one of the stronger private developers still left standing.” (The Wall Street Journal)
- Is Crowdfunding Still Viable In Today’s Market? “When evaluating the options, it’s important to note that there are different structures, and some cater to accredited investors while others accept non-accredited investors. The way funds are raised on platforms can vary too. While certain crowdfunding sites enable sponsors to have direct contact with investors, others keep the relationship anonymous.” (Forbes)
- AI is driving the return to office “So while office growth is slow coming out of the pandemic, AI is one of the industries keeping commercial real estate afloat. That’s partly due to the way these companies work, according to Katy Redmond, co-lead of JLL’s integrated real estate portfolio services for the Americas.” (Fast Company)
- The back-to-office backfire: Companies ending WFH perks lose out on top talent, who view flexible work as equivalent to an 8% raise “Forcing workers back to the office is slowly backfiring for employers as the tightening labor market increasingly values remote work as a key benefit.” (Insider)
- Allowable Fees and Charges for All Residents at LIHTC Properties “Operating a low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) property comes with a laundry list of fees and charges. Although some of these can be absorbed by the property owners, there are fees, charges and services that residents pay.” (Novogradac)
- Divvy Wants to Make Rent-to-Own Deals Easy. Many Customers Find Them Hard. “The start-up’s innovative business model has helped some renters save for a down payment on their home, but others have walked away frustrated by the company.” (The New York Times)
Source: “13 Must Reads for Real Estate Investors (Aug. 7, 2023)“
