Here are the news stories you might find interesting today:
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Council quits light-rail board membership
Shopping center disappears under recession
Arizona Mills still closed after fire
$20 MILLION, 59,700-SQUARE-FOOT PERFORMANCE INSTITUTE PLANNED
CASA GRANDE, ARIZ. – The city of Casa Grande has selected Phoenix-based Accelerated Construction Technologies as general contractor for the development of Performance Institute, a 59,700-square-foot facility in Casa Grande.
$1.46 Million Office Space Sale in Scottsdale, Ariz.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – The sale and acquisition of two office suites, totaling approximately 8,515 square feet, within Bell 101 Executive Center, which is located at 8937 E. Bell Rd. in Scottsdale. Cabral Holdings acquired the space from EBH LLC for $1.46 million or $172 per square foot. Cabral plans to occupy the second floor suite. A mortgage company currently occupies the first floor suite.
Unemployment rising: Arizona 8.2 percent, Phoenix metro 7.9 percent in May
| The unemployment rate increased to 8.2 percent in Arizona and to 7.9 percent in the Phoenix metro area in May, according to new numbers released Thursday by the Arizona Department of Commerce. |
Leading Economic Index up in May for second consecutive month
| A closely watched economic index in May showed the largest jump in more than five years, a promising sign that the worst of the recession may be over. |
Fine’s Cellar closes as business sours
| Fine’s Cellar, a bistro restaurant and wine bar in Old Town Scottsdale, has quietly closed its doors. |
CyberMetrics Buys Phoenix Office for $1.9M
| CyberMetrics purchased the office building at 1523 W. Whispering Wind Drive in Phoenix from LGE Corp. for $1.93 million, or $135 per square-foot. The two-story, 14,331-square-foot building was built last year in the Deer Valley/Airport submarket. CyberMetrics… |
Mesa explores condemning Fiesta Village
| Mesa City Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh has asked the city attorney to explore the possible use of eminent domain on the fenced-off Fiesta Village site in west Mesa. |
MBA: Outstanding Mortgage Debt Remains Unchanged in First Quarter
The level of commercial/mortgage debt outstanding remained relatively unchanged in the first quarter, at $3.48 trillion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s analysis of the Federal Reserve Board Flow of Funds data. The $3.48 trillion in commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding recorded by the Federal Reserve was a decrease of $33 million from the fourth quarter of 2008. Multifamily mortgage debt outstanding grew to $908 billion, an increase of $5 billion, or 0.6 percent from the fourth quarter.
Real Estate Capital Markets
Real estate capital markets remain unstable and in poor condition, with the only bright spot coming from the REIT sector, which provided a 2.2 percent total return for the month of May following a strong performance in April, according to NAREIT; however, total returns for the past year are dismal at -47.5 percent. The NCREIF Property Index turned in a dismal first quarter, with total returns of -7.3 percent, primarily due to rapid depreciation. Following on the -8.3 percent total returns in the previous quarter, these are the worst consecutive quarterly performance numbers in the history of the index; the year-to-year change stands at -19.2 percent.
Commercial/Multifamily Investment Property
Office vacancy rates stood at 17.5 percent in 1Q 2009, up from 16.8 percent in the 4Q 2008 and 230 basis points above the same quarter a year ago, according to Property & Portfolio Research (the source of all data presented in this section). Completions increased slightly as a percentage of inventory, from 0.4 percent in 4Q 2008 to 0.5 percent in 1Q 2009, slightly below the 0.7 percent historic average. The absorption of -18 million square feet was not quite as bad as the -22 million square feet absorbed in 4Q 2008. Rents fell in 1Q 2009 and are off 4.5 percent from the same quarter a year ago.
See the commercial/multifamily investment property table
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