Private lenders that used to float on the fringes of the commercial real estate financing sector are stepping out of the shadows and becoming a more accepted financing alternative. One of the primary drivers behind the shift is the abundance of capital. There is a lot of new money flowing into private lender shops from a variety of sources, including hedge funds, private equity and even sovereign wealth funds who are trying to capture higher yields…Read more »
Experts believe that construction costs will continue to climb in 2016 as labor and many materials become more expensive. The squeeze should push many developers and owners to forgo ground-up development, and instead to adapt and reuse existing commercial buildings. This will be especially true for affordable housing projects, many of which already have tight budgets with little room to spare. But experienced builders also say this strategy can provide a lot of benefits… Read more »
Kroger Co., the parent company of Fry’s Food Stores here in Arizona, is about to open a new store brand focused on fresh produce, food-preparation advice and high-quality prepared foods. It will open its first Main & Vine shop in the Seattle-area town of Gig Harbor, Washington. Cincinnati-based Kroger, the nation’s largest operator of traditional supermarkets, already runs Quality Food Center and Fred Meyer supermarkets in the Seattle area…Read more »
By any measure, it’s been a good few years for the multifamily industry—rent growth and occupancies have surpassed highs from the last cycle and even set records. As that has happened, builders have started doing what they do best—building. In 2015, the industry delivered more than 240,000 new apartments in the top 100 markets. So now that the calendar has flipped to 2016, do builders and economists think the good times will continue to roll? They seem to be betting on it, with more than 300,000 units set to be delivered in 2016… Read more »
After jumping 65% year-over-year in October, sales fell 34% in November with deal activity down across the board, according to New York-based research firm Real Capital Analytics (RCA). There is a silver lining however—the market is still up 21% year-over-year for these two months… Read more »