Archives for September 2014

A Canadian/U.S. company that provides sophisticated customer support and data analysis to Fortune 500 companies worldwide is planning to open its third U.S. location in part of the Hewlett Packard building in the Rio Rancho city center.
The company will hire 100 employees during its first year, rising to 425 employees over the next few years. Average annual pay will be $38,000 plus bonuses and benefits, Gov. Susana Martinez said.
S&P Data CEO Dan Plashkes announced his company’s plan to come to New Mexico at a news conference in Rio Rancho on Wednesday accompanied by the governor and a host of city and state officials.
S&P Data has 1,500 employees and locations in Toronto, Canada; Troy, Mich.; and Cleveland, Ohio. Its clientele includes household names like American Express, Mercedes Benz and McDonald’s.
Martinez said S&P will invest $4.4 million to upgrade the infrastructure for its facility in Rio Rancho and the state will provide $500,000 in Local Economic Development Act funds.
S&P will also apply for job training assistance funding through the state’s J-TIP program. It’s unclear how much funding the company is seeking. Economic Development Department spokeswoman Angela Heisel said S&P will file its application on Friday.
Plashkes said his company chose New Mexico because it is looking for places where its business can create value. The Cleveland facility in that city’s downtown helped spur inner-city revitalization, Plashkes said.
“S&P Data is really excited by its entry into New Mexico. First and foremost, our decision to locate in New Mexico was based on the quality of the people and the availability of technology, research and development,” Plashkes said in a news release later in the day. “New Mexico topped the list for quality of labor and affordability of lifestyle.”
He said during the news conference that the company always studies the educational institutions in a location.
“I think the quality of education here is great,” Plashkes said.
He told the Journal the company will begin hiring in October.
The jobs will require extensive computer knowledge and specialized skills, Sandoval Economic Alliance interim CEO Jami Grindatto said.
City staff expect the new company to be operational within a few months.
“It’s my understanding that they want to be functioning by the holidays,” Matt Geisel, Rio Rancho’s business relations manager, said after the news conference.
Bringing the company to Rio Rancho was a collaborative effort among the state Economic Development Department, Rio Rancho, Albuquerque Economic Development, the newly formed Sandoval Economic Alliance and other state agencies, said AED President Gary Tonjes.
Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Jon Barela praised the collaborative effort saying the state needs to continue to diversify its economy.
“We need to move from a culture of complacency and dependency on the federal government,” Barela said.
In an interview after the news conference, Mayor Gregg Hull said the S&P jobs would help make up for the loss of jobs when Intel reduced its Rio Rancho workforce last year.
By: Rosalie Rayburn (Albuquerque Journal)
Click here to view source article.

It’s been a big year for big data. Tech titans like Google, IBM, Facebook and Twitter acquired companies that traffic in big data, and it seemed that just about everybody else announced some sort of big-data initiative. At this point it’s clear that we are living in a data-driven world.
“Today data lets real estate talk in a whole new way. It tells us more about productivity, growth opportunities, talent retention and sustainability. It helps real estate strategy communicate with business strategy, sales, operations, HR and IT.”
Dave Sawdey, Senior Vice President of Business Intelligence at JLL.
Still, when most of us think big-data in our lives we think about retail, media and mobile. You’d be hard pressed to find a savvy consumer who doesn’t know their every purchase, website visit and Google search is being recorded, dropped into a database and used to help marketers find ways to make them buy more.
What they may not realize is that big data is reaching far beyond their shopping and web-surfing. It’s increasingly part of their workdays as well. Sophisticated employers and property managers are gathering data about how buildings operate, how offices function and how people work. They’re using that data to make their workplaces more efficient, their employees more effective and their businesses more profitable.
“Today data lets real estate talk in a whole new way. It tells us more about productivity, growth opportunities, talent retention and sustainability. It helps real estate strategy communicate with business strategy, sales, operations, HR and IT,” said Dave Sawdey, Senior Vice President of Business Intelligence at JLL.
What the building told me
Building data can tell a company who is using their offices, when and how. Tracking sensors placed around the building can tell leadership when employees come and go, when the kitchen is busiest and when conference rooms are emptiest. Office occupancy data may tell a company its space is underutilized or that it needs on-demand, flexible space to account for mobile workers. That shift could create significant savings and remove idle office space from the balance sheet. Seeing how workers move about can help inform office design, leading to the creation of more collaborative space, or more private space or a more inviting cafeteria.
Buildings can also reveal their energy consumption and how well they are functioning. Using JLL’s 24/7 real-time remote monitoring and control service, called IntelliCommand companies can find out exactly how their buildings are performing. Using wireless sensors to collect and send data from various building automation systems to a remote command center, this machine-to-machine (M2M) technology can tell the building ops team where a system is failing and where energy consumption can be improved.
Last year a global consumer goods giant tested this on 12 its buildings in North America. Its energy costs were slashed by 10 per cent across all buildings in just under a year.

Nothing to fear
The data revolution is new enough still to be a little scary. Some workers might understandably see shades of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 in the data collection that seems to track their every movement, even at work. But real-estate data is nothing like the so-called dark data that hackers and unsavory actors collect online. It’s generally not connected to any person’s identity, and useful more in the aggregate than on an individual level. And the truth is, businesses have been gathering and analyzing data for years.
“Companies have always used data for customer insights and competitive advantage,” says Sawdey, “Now they are looking at every aspect of their business for meaningful data — the new frontier is data from their buildings.”
Still, many companies have no idea that their buildings can speak to them. But given the relentless beat of the big-data drum, it’s probably only a matter of time until everybody is listening.
By: Joanne Bestall (JLL)
Click here to view source article.

Chinwe Onyeagoro, CEO, Fundwell
[Today’s post is the first in an exciting new series on the intersection of commercial real estate and financing with special guest blogger and FundWell CEO Chinwe Onyeagoro. FundWell is part of the REach 2014 class of companies, recognized for their work to expand financing options for the commercial market. See FundWell’s website for more info and stay tuned here on The Source for updates about how to register for our upcoming webinar with Chinwe later this month! –WG]
There are many different kinds of financing options for commercial real estate deals. And understanding the mix of commercial loan products available to you and your clients could make the difference between completing a transaction and losing it. 2013 was a very good year for commercial real property investors. According to CoStar COMPs data, sales of office, industrial, retail, multifamily, hospitality and land totaled $366 billion. The vast majority of these commercial real estate acquisitions were financed using third party firms like banks, non-bank SBA lenders, and commercial real estate lenders.
The Five Commercial Real Estate Loan Products
There are five basic types of commercial real estate term loan products. (A term loan is a loan with a specific, fixed principal amount and a set maturity date and repayment schedule, which does not include line of credit financing (e.g., revolving construction lines)).
Permanent Loan
Mini Permanent Loan
7A Loan
504 Loan
Bridge Loan
Below is a cheat sheet on these five loan products and some fun facts about each:
1. Permanent Loan
Description: Conventional, long-term commercial real estate financing from a bank
Eligibility Criteria: You must be near perfect. Translation: you need to have a 700+ credit score (or a good story as to why you don’t), lots of positive net cash flow businesses and/or investment properties, high balances in your business and personal bank accounts, and the property needs to have at least 1, but ideally 2 years of positive net operating income (NOI).
Permanent Loan Pros:
15 to 30 year terms
Prime to near-prime interest rates
Permanent Loan Cons:
Hard to qualify
30-60 days approval time
2. Mini Permanent Loan (Mini Perm)
Description: Conventional, short-term commercial real estate financing from a bank
Eligibility Criteria: You pretty much need to meet all of the criteria for a permanent loan, except the target property does not have to have positive net operating income (NOI). However, your Sources and Uses statement needs to show how you will use the loan funds to make the subject property income producing (e.g., acquire property, do construction/rehab, lease up, etc.) so you can qualify for long-term financing before your Mini Perm loan matures.
Mini Perm Pros:
1 to 5 year terms
Prime to near-prime interest rates
Mini Perm Cons:
Hard to qualify
30-60 days approval time
3. 7A Loan
Description: Alternative funding for commercial real estate, equipment, and/or working capital from a bank or non-bank lender certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration
Eligibility Criteria: Can only be used by eligible small businesses. If you are close, but do not yet qualify for a conventional loan from a bank you may qualify for this funding.
7A Pros:
Up to 25 year terms
6 to 10% interest rates
Can also use for working capital and equipment
7A Cons:
Max loan amount: $5 million
30-60 days approval time
4. 504 Loan
Description: Alternative funding for commercial real estate and/or heavy equipment from a bank and a non-bank lender certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration
Eligibility Criteria: Can only be used by eligible small businesses who own or occupy 51% or more of the commercial property. If you are close, but are not yet qualified for a conventional loan from a bank you may qualify for this funding.
504 Pros:
10 to 20 year terms
6 to 10% interest rates
Can also use for working capital and equipment
504 Cons:
Lots of paperwork required
45-90 days approval time
Max loan amount: $20 million
5. Bridge Loan
Description: Alternative funding for commercial real estate from a private and/or hard money lender
Eligibility Criteria: If you don’t yet qualify for funding from a 7A or 504 lender and you have a plan to acquire and/or improve an asset that will eventually secure better funding, then you may want to try a bridge loan. However, it won’t be a cake walk, the cardinal rule still applies. You need to show you have a history of mostly paying your bills on time (minimum 620 credit score) and enough cash flow from personal and investment income to cover the property operating expenses and the debt service (principal and interest) for all existing loans that you have and the new loan you are applying for.
Bridge Loan Pros:
1 to 5 year terms
Easier to qualify
Bridge Loan Cons:
10-20% interest
30-60 days approval time
There they are: the five jewels of the commercial real estate financing market. Depending on who you are, what your financial profile is, and how you plan to use the commercial real estate, one or more of these loan products will be right for you.
Now that you have a good handle on what the options are and the pros and cons of each, you should take a look at your existing commercial real estate investment portfolio and make sure you are currently getting the best possible deal with respect to interest rate and term. If you are not, you could save yourself a lot of cash by refinancing. That’s cash that could be used to reinvest in your business, buy more commercial real estate properties, or reserve for a rainy day. And for those that work with and/or support commercial real estate investors, encourage them to explore their options and evaluate the financing on their current properties and/or planned purchases. If you help save them some money today, I can assure you, that you will continue to be their go to resource for commercial real estate in the future.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chinwe is the CEO & Co-Founder of FundWell. Chinwe has a strong personal interest and a professional track record devoted to helping organizations raise capital. She co-founded, capitalized, and operated a boutique consulting firm that over the last seven years has successfully raised a total of $120 million in grants, competitive loans, tax incentives, government subsidies, and owner equity financing on behalf of clients across the country. Chinwe’s consulting experience includes McKinsey & Company, where she provided financial and strategic business advisory services to Fortune 1000 company executives, and while at Monitor Company (now owned by Deloitte) she provided strategy and financial analysis for public and private sector clients, and managed a $3 billion dollar real estate account. Chinwe has a B.A. in Economics from Harvard College and is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.
ABOUT FUNDWELL
FundWell (www.fundwellre.com) is an online resource that prequalifies and connects commercial real estate investors and small businesses seeking funding with a growing number of bank loans, non-bank debt funding, and other credit related financing options.
FundWell delivers a 75% loan approval rate in a marketplace where they typically face a 30% approval rate. FundWell helps commercial real estate brokers increase deal flow and speeds up closings by referring their clients to prequalified lenders that will fund their real estate needs and business expansion plans. FundWell also helps real estate brokers access financing to grow their businesses.
Since 2012, FundWell’s online financing marketplace and financial health information has reached over 24,000 small businesses, working in partnership with over 300 lending partners across the country that span 13 different types of loan products from conventional bank loans and SBA loans to factoring, equipment loans and commercial real estate loans.
By: Wayne Grohl (The Source)
Click here to view source article.

At Wednesday morning’s NAIOP forum on building an innovation economy, it quickly became clear the developers and business leaders in attendance weren’t just being asked to listen, they were being asked to contribute their time, talent and dollars to the push.
“If we expect things to happen, we have to take risks. We have to do,” said Stuart Rose, founder of the Bioscience Center and one of the forum panelists. “We have to start thinking about the upside of opportunities and not the downside.”
A central focus of the local push to grow an economy around entrepreneurship is Innovate ABQ, a public-private partnership among the University of New Mexico and local education, government and business groups that aims to bring entrepreneurs, students and business leaders together to live, work and learn. Panelist UNM President Dr. Robert G. Frank explained how Innovate ABQ was built on the ‘rainforest’ model of economic development.
Rose riffed on that to further his argument about the need for Albuquerque to build a startup economy that can withstand, learn and grow stronger from failure: In the rainforest, he said, “things die and decay, the DNA mixes and new life forms are created.”
And panelist Bill Bice, chairman of business accelerator ABQid, said Innovate ABQ “has energized entrepreneurs in this community to come together to make things happen.”
But to keep the momentum going, panelists said, Albuquerque’s private sector must embrace the concept. Frank noted the importance of the $3 million funding commitment for Innovate ABQ by New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union.
Rose called on attendees to invest in and mentor startups, create services that meet startups’ needs, and start initiatives that can solve New Mexico’s problems. One of his startup ideas that he hasn’t had time to fully develop, he said, is a homegrown airline that could address the state’s challenges with passenger air service.
Moderator Paul Silverman of Geltmore Inc. took up the call, urging attendees to get involved in the Innovate ABQ push and to turn out to support Wednesday night’s City Council vote on ABQid funding.
“We’ve been so focused on building buildings,” he told the commercial real estate development group. “If we don’t build the economy, we’re not going to build very many buildings.”
By: Rachel Sams (Albuquerque Business First)
Click here to view source article.