Here are the news stories you might find interesting today regarding commercial real estate and business:
To view this week’s, “The Watch List,” by Costar, click here. The article, “Cash is King, But How Will it Rule?” is worth a quick read.
Limited Supply Stabilizes Tucson Medical Office Market Although the city added to its medical office space inventory during the most recent building boom, most of the product was absorbed by users and ongoing demand is keeping the market stable. For example, Tucson Heart Hospital-Carondelet LLC recently signed a long-term lease 18,976 square feet at 4892 North Stone Ave. to expand is medical offices. View article…
Bankruptcy case delays auction of downtown Phoenix luxury condos A bankruptcy court dispute delayed the Wednesday foreclosure auction of 182 unsold downtown Phoenix luxury condos. Three creditors of the posh 44 Monroe tower, which is located near First Avenue and Monroe Street, have filed petitions to force 44 Monroe, LLC into Chapter 7 bankruptcy View article…
Talking Stick Resort and Casino ready to welcome gamblers Sometime around dawn, the 15-story Talking Stick Resort is scheduled to welcome gamblers to the Valley’s largest casino hotel. The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community is completing a $440 million project with a 240,000-square-foot Casino Arizona gambling hall. Players can try their luck at 800 slot machines and 50 tables of blackjack, poker and other card games. View article…
Arizona planners envision new role, routes for light rail Regional planners are mapping new light-rail lines in places that were inconceivable a few years ago, as they grapple with how urban Arizona takes shape in the coming half-century. Preliminary studies show that sufficient demand will exist for light rail to succeed on 44th Street, Camelback Road, south Central Avenue, Bell Road and other routes not previously planned, building a web far more expansive than what is currently envisioned. View article…
Panel OKs plan that could bring homes near Gateway airport Queen Creek’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a general-plan amendment request Wednesday that could clear the way for hundreds of homes and a sorely needed north-south transportation corridor. View article…
Arizona House approves bill to halt tribal casino in Glendale The Arizona House has given approval to legislation that could help Glendale halt construction of a tribal casino by the Tohono O’odham Nation near its sports and entertainment district. The House approved the measure, Senate Bill 1109, on a 32-24 vote Tuesday. View article…
UA forecast calls for rebound in Valley housing market this year The Valley’s new-home market is on its way to recovery, according to a University of Arizona forecast. The UA Economic and Business Research Center report predicts that new-home permits in metro Phoenix this year will jump 54 percent from last year to 13,320. Then, permits will more than double to 28,060 next year. View article…
Arizona’s jobless rate worst since 1983 The state’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate inched up another tenth of a point last month to 9.6 percent, equaling a rate not seen since August 1983. The change, announced Thursday, came as the construction industry lost 2,300 jobs month over month, more than wiping out the small gain in February. Total construction employment in Arizona now stands at 109,900, just 44.4 percent of what it was at its peak in June 2006. View article…
Phoenix No. 117 on best places for business list Phoenix slipped four spots on this year’s Best Places for Business and Careers list by Forbes Magazine, and failed to crack the top 100. Forbes ranks Phoenix No. 117 out of 200 on its Best Places 2010 list, down from No. 113 last year. Phoenix ranked well in the colleges category at No. 26. Expected job growth in Phoenix, however, ranked at No. 172. Des Moines, Iowa, ranked No. 1 on this year’s list, followed by Provo, Utah, at No. 2 and Raleigh, N.C., at No. 3. View article…
Report: 77 percent of Americans expect stable or rising home prices Seventy-seven percent of Americans expect home prices in their areas to rise or stay the same in the next 12 months, according to a Gallup survey released Thursday. The survey showed that 34 percent of Americans expect the average price of houses around them to increase in the next year, a 12 percent jump from last year and a sign that confidence in the residential real estate market is on the rise. View article…
Unemployment Rate Could Reach 10.2%, Economist Tells ULI The Great Recession unofficially ended in August 2009, but the national unemployment rate will likely climb higher before receding. Moody’s Economy.com projects the unemployment rate will peak at 10.2% later this year, up from the current level of 9.7%. “The downturn that we went through was the worst since the Great Depression, and it’s been about double the typical recession,” said Augustine Faucher, director of macroeconomics for Moody’s Economy.com, during the opening session of the Urban Land Institute’s Spring Council Forum in Boston. The three-day conference has attracted about 3,000 attendees. View article…
Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.