HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Here are the news stories you might find interesting today regarding commercial real estate and business:
Musical Instrument museum to open April 24
| The $150 million Musical Instrument Museum is getting ready for an April 24 grand opening in north Phoenix with more than 12,000 instruments and objects, representing traditions from folk and popular music to ritual and courtly. |
Caffe Boa spins off Boa-Boa Bistro
| Tempe’s Caffe Boa now has a sister restaurant in Mesa called Caffe Boa-Boa Bistro. |
Plaza Cos. sells bio plaza to UA for $9.85M
| Plaza Cos. has sold Phoenix Biomedical Plaza to University of Arizona Foundation for $9.85 million, after it paid Ribomed Biotechnologies Inc. about $10 million two years ago for the 2.62-acre parcel. |
Beaudry RV lays off 51 workers
| Beaudry RV said Thursday it has laid off 51 employees at its two dealerships in Chandler and Tucson due to a slump in recreational-vehicle sales. |
Big Apple Restaurants sticks with family
| Management of Bill Johnson’s Big Apple Restaurants, one of Arizona’s most iconic brand names, is being passed to the third generation of the Johnson family. Sherry Cameron, 47, granddaughter of founder Bill Johnson, has been named the new chief executive of the company, taking the reins from her mother, Dena Cameron, the eldest daughter of Bill Johnson. Dena became president of the company after Bill Johnson died in 1966 and led the company for more than 40 years. |
Award-winning Souvia tea shop closes
Specialty tea shop Souvia LLC has closed its Scottsdale location. The store, which offered more than 130 kinds of loose-leaf tea in a relaxing, Internet-free atmosphere, had loyal customers but not enough of them, owner Kerstin Wingert said.
Business parks in Mesa ring in new year with tenants
Overbuilt and half-empty office parks in east Mesa are starting to fill up. New office/industrial parks such as Superstition Commerce Park are looking to sign on new tenants in the next month
Tempe RV park residents benefit from light rail
When her husband got a job in downtown Tempe, Pam Greenwood sought out RV parks along the light-rail line where they could park their motor home so he wouldn’t have to make the long commute.
Low real-estate prices lead to cheap insurance
| Cheap real-estate, few natural disasters and other factors have helped keep homeowners-insurance premiums down in Arizona. |
Foreclosures, job concerns top region forecast
| The Valley’s new and existing home markets are expected to show gradual improvement in 2010, but job seekers shouldn’t get their hopes up that Arizona’s economy is going to offer more job opportunities in the new year. |
Housing recovery in Valley likely to slow with stimulus expiration
Throughout 2009, the federal government created a variety of stimulus measures to keep the housing economy moving
Phoenix ranks mid-pack for job seekers
| Phoenix ranks 28th among the nation’s 50 largest metro areas for the ease of finding a job, according JuJu.com’s December list. |
Fate of MF in Lenders’ and Sellers’ Hands
| PHOENIX-Experts tell GlobeSt.com that 2010 should be a year of more investments, as long as lenders and sellers are realistic. |
Phoenix top of the Web for 2009
| As the new year begins, the Phoenix Business Journal is taking a look back at its top Web stories of 2009. |
Global growth in ’10 likely to lift key sectors
Companies with international operations are set to take advantage of a global economic recovery in 2010, continuing the rally that began in 2009.
CMBS Loan Delinquencies Could Reach 7% and Beyond in 2010, says Realpoint
While the calendar is turning the page on a new year, the severe problems facing the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market will ensure that it experiences dj vu for months to come.
REGISTER ASAP! THERE IS A LIMITED NUMBER OF TICKETS AVAIALBLE FOR THIS EVENT! Just a reminder: I am a panelist for the CCIM/IREM Economic Forecast on January 12, 2010. It is at the Phoenix Country Club and starts at 8AM. I will be on the Retail Panel with Daniel Pollack and Kevin Schuck. Our moderator is David Malin from Vestar. If you are in town, please come support me at the event. The website to register is www.iremccimforecast.com.
Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.