Archives for January 2019

Albuquerque is No. 1.
For the first time since 2010, the city tops the list from MovieMaker as the best place to live and work as a filmmaker.
In the trade magazine’s annual list, the Duke City leads the pack in the big cities category.
Rounding out the top 10 are Atlanta, Vancouver, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, Austin, Montreal and Memphis.
In 2018, Albuquerque was ranked No. 6.
Albuquerque has made the list since 2007. However, it fell out of the top 10 in 2013, to No. 11.
“Albuquerque has gone from an attractive boutique city on the production map to a marquee player, attracting over 50 major productions in the last three years,” according to MovieMaker.
The list is compiled by looking at each city’s film activity – which means number of productions, economic activity generated and shoot durations.
It also looks at infrastructure, which includes health of film commissions and nonprofits, number of film schools and visual effects houses.
In addition, the population and geographical size, state and local film incentive programs and ease of movement and traffic are considered to determine the rankings.
According to MovieMaker, in 2009 44 states were offering some form of incentives, but that dropped to 31 by 2018.

According to MovieMaker, in 2009 there were 44 states offering some form of incentive, but retrenchment has pared that down to 31 as of 2018.
New Mexico offers a 25 percent tax rebate to film companies for most direct, in-state expenditures, although long-running television programs are eligible for an additional 5 percent – or 30 percent in all.
“A new industry titan has emerged – Atlanta – and some rival cities are being held in check by the disinterest of their state governments … while others make the right moves to become a regional powerhouse, such as our pick for No. 1 this year, Albuquerque,” according to the MovieMaker article.
The No. 1 listing comes as New Mexico lawmakers are debating whether to raise or lift completely the $50 million annual cap the state has placed on its film rebate program. It is estimated that there will be a $250 million backlog in unpaid rebate money by the end of this fiscal year, on June 30. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says lifting the cap would bring more film business, while many lawmakers wonder whether that’s fiscally responsible.
High-profile projects
A few of the projects highlighted by MovieMaker include the highly anticipated Nicole Kidman drama, “The Goldfinch,” as well as the Amazon series, “Too Old to Die Young.”
According to the New Mexico Film Office, the productions were planning to hire 173 and 100 local crew members, respectively.
Netflix’s purchase of Albuquerque Studios in October is an industry game changer. The deal was helped with $14.5 million from LEDA funds from both the state and the city.
The streaming giant is making Albuquerque a production hub and is expected to drop $1 billion into the economy over 10 years.

Netflix’s history in New Mexico began with Adam Sandler’s 2015 film “The Ridiculous 6.”
Since then, Netflix has brought productions such as “Godless,” “Longmire,” “Messiah,” “Chambers,” “Rattlesnake,” “Daybreak” and “Walk. Ride. Rodeo.”
Ty Warren, Netflix vice president for physical production, said that between the infrastructure and existing crew base in New Mexico, it was a win for the company to move here.
“I think you look at the amount of content that we’re making, specifically, here in Albuquerque … it makes economic sense for us to have a hub here,” Warren said.
Enchanting growth
MovieMaker also highlighted the Sabrina Carpenter-starring road movie “The Short History of the Long Road,” which began production in April 2018. Director Ani Simon-Kennedy offered praise for the state’s unique natural architecture and the work ethic of Albuquerque crews.
“The crew we had was unparalleled,” Simon-Kennedy said in the article. “The level of heart they poured into our low-budget feature went above and beyond. Everyone was resourceful and reliable; New Mexico was the perfect setting for our road trip movie, since you can get such varied landscapes. We shot in the spring, when the weather was cooperative, but it can get unpredictable – from gorgeous blue skies to crazy thunderstorms and back in an hour.”
Of course, the “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” effect is still being felt in the city, with merchandise and tours still offering a glimpse into that universe.
The city of Albuquerque last week joined forces with Central New Mexico Community College for space to house the forthcoming CNM Film Production Center of Excellence.
The center will expand the 15-year-old film program at CNM.
Top 10 Big Cities
2019
1 . Albuquerque
2. Atlanta
3. Vancouver, B.C.
4. New York City
5. Los Angeles
6. Chicago
7. Toronto, Ontario
8. Austin, Texas
9. Montreal, Quebec
10. Memphis, Tenn.
By: Adrian Gomez (ABQ Journal)
Click here to view source article.

University of New Mexico research shows that Los Alamos National Laboratory’s average annual economic impact on New Mexico from 2015 to 2017 was $3.1 billion, according to the lab.
The lab, in a news release this week, also touted that it is increasing preferences for local contractors and creating a new office on business partnerships.
The “preliminary independent research” on economic impact was conducted by UNM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. LANL could provide no additional detail on the BBER findings.
The lab released some its own statistics on employment and payroll at LANL, the lab’s spending on goods and services and its stimulation of local business growth.
Those include:
– The lab employed 11,743 people in 2018 — up 660 from 2017. Forty-five percent of the workforce lives in Los Alamos County, 21 percent in Santa Fe County and 16 percent in Rio Arriba County.
– The lab paid out more than $1 billion in salaries in the 2018 fiscal year. LANL’s total budget was $2.7 billion.
– Of the more than $756 million in goods and services purchased by the lab in fiscal 2018, 55 percent (more than $420 million) went to New Mexico businesses, up from 45 percent the year before.
– The contracts awarded to New Mexico businesses in FY2018 totaled $269 million, compared to $262 million in 2017.
– Los Alamos worked on 534 economic development projects with New Mexico small businesses in 2017. The lab provided grants, and through the New Mexico Small Business Assistance program, lab expertise and resources went to help local businesses solve various issues or challenges.
– The laboratory’s economic development projects created or retained 1,494 jobs at New Mexico companies in 2017, with salaries totaling more than $52.6 million.
LANL also said it is doubling from 5 percent to 10 percent the local price preference given to contract bids from businesses which based in the seven counties surrounding the lab and that there is an additional preference for qualifying pueblo businesses.
In addition, the lab is establishing a new Office of Partnerships and Pipeline to stimulate new industry partnerships and high-tech start-ups.
“Los Alamos National Laboratory is a key economic driver in the region, and we are committed to both growing the local workforce and strengthening the local companies that are crucial in supporting the work we do,” LANL director Thom Mason said in the news release. “Our impact is felt not just in the number of people we employ and the goods and services we procure, but also in the economic development and workforce development initiatives that we proudly support.”
Mason has been lab director since Nov. 1, when LANL’s new operating contractor Triad National Security LLC took over. Triad consists of the University of California, Texas A&M and Ohio-based scientific non-profit Battelle Memorial Institute.
By: Mark Oswald (ABQ Journal)
Click here to view source article.

The primary markets have become a bit too competitive and too pricy, which means many investors, are looking beyond urban centers.

Over the last three years, a portion of the multifamily investment community has begun to look beyond urban centers like New York, Boston, and San Francisco. It is not that the fundamentals in these markets haven’t held up. If anything, they are continuing to flourish — and the consensus is that whatever oversupply exists is inevitably temporary. Rather, for these investors, the primary markets have become a bit too competitive and too pricy. With cap rates nearing 3 percent, there is precious little room for error. Initially, these investors began looking to markets on the periphery of cities and in the suburbs, especially in areas served by urban and suburban rail systems.
Increasingly, however, a growing group of multifamily investors is now looking farther afield, entertaining transactions in secondary and tertiary markets. As Capital One’s annual RealShare Apartments survey suggests, this trend is likely to continue through 2019.
Investors Spread Out from the Primary Markets
Each fall, Capital One polls industry professionals to elicit their views on the direction of the market. The results for the last three years succinctly summarize this shift in focus from primary markets to secondary and tertiary ones. In 2016, almost half of our survey respondents saw the greatest opportunities going forward in urban markets, but this number dropped in our next two surveys to around 20 percent. During the same period, those seeing the greatest opportunities in secondary and tertiary markets rose from 20 percent to 40 percent.
The markets which investors chose to enter, in part, track the recovery from the recession. Cities like Denver, Nashville, and Austin were among the first to see their economies bounce back and, accordingly, to see sustained interest from outside investors. For instance, it is not surprising today to see investors taking a close look at Austin, especially as rising home prices have pushed apartment demand to record levels. The results: vacancy levels are low, and rents are pushing steadily higher. Cap rates for high-quality assets now average around 5 percent.
More adventurous investors are currently targeting cities that have only recently emerged from the recession, places like Indianapolis, Oklahoma City, and Jacksonville. For instance, Jacksonville was the last major Florida market to feel the effects of the recovery, with multifamily development resuming in earnest only in 2014. Absorption continues to surpass pre-recession highs, pushing down vacancy and elevating rents. Cap rates are running in the 6 percent range.
Geographic proximity has also played a role in investor selection of specific secondary and tertiary markets. As prices rose in Boston, investors turned to the southern New Hampshire cities of Manchester, Nashua, and Portsmouth. The same phenomenon is also apparent in Phoenix. After several years of record rent growth in central Phoenix, investors and developers are seeking opportunities in surrounding cities like Chandler, Mesa, and Deer Valley, where they can find cap rates exceeding 6 percent
Finally, multifamily investors are rediscovering cities like Omaha that have long flown under the radar. These are markets with sound fundamentals, a diverse and growing economy, and steady rent growth. They are not flashy, but they are reliable.
Making Room for Secondary and Tertiary Markets
Not surprisingly given current economic and political dynamics, the respondents to Capital One’s 2018 RealShare Apartments survey expressed some uncertainty about the future. Fourteen percent refused to pick favorites, expressing a belief that opportunities for 2019 would be distributed across all markets.
Perhaps this more evenhanded view will gain more advocates. While it is likely that as the cycle progresses, the pendulum will start to swing back to urban markets, it is equally likely that the current enthusiasm for secondary and tertiary markets will have a lasting effect. Having expanded their horizons and discovered opportunity outside the primary markets, investors are likely to find a permanent place in their portfolios for the most promising of these markets.
By: Brian Skyes (GlobeSt)
Click here to view source article.

RPR is excited to announce that practitioners now have the option to run custom Commercial Trade Area Reports that can compare 3 minute, 5 minute, and 10 minute drive or walk times; or 1 mile, 3 mile, and 5 mile radiuses starting from a single point. As a highly requested enhancement, we’d like to thank commercial members for weighing in and making their voices heard to add this functionality to RPR Commercial.
Ready to get started? Here’s how to use this new feature in 3 easy steps:

1. Find the subject property or area you want to analyze on one of RPR Commercial’s maps.

2. Select the Use a map pin dropdown at the top of the map and choose Drive Time or Distance as your setting. If you are using the “drive/walk” time tool select the 3, 5, or 10 minute option under the Length of Journey dropdown. If you selected Distance, start with either the 1, 3, or 5 mile radius options. And, then click Apply.

 
3. Once the map generates the area click anywhere inside of the colored section and select the Create Trade Area Report option.

Now you can apply a custom name or just select OK and you will be redirected to the reports page. Here you have the options to run a standard report, add custom pages or modify the data sets you want to include.
Here’s a Drive Time and Distance example from the Commercial Property report.
By: RPR
Click here to view source article.