- Condos Left Behind in Housing Rebound “California developer Intracorp Cos. built thousands of condominiums from 2002 to 2008. Since then, it has built none, opting for rental apartments and single-family homes even though they can be less profitable. With the housing market in its fourth year of recovery, construction of single-family homes and multifamily rentals is rebounding. Not so for condo construction.” (Wall Street Journal)
- American Apparel on the Brink of Bankruptcy “American Apparel’s financial situation is threadbare. Bankruptcy is looming for the hipster retailer, which is short on cash and faces a hefty bond payment in less than three months — not to mention mounting legal bills from its ouster of former CEO Dov Charney over alleged sexual harassment.” (New York Post)
- Miami’s Roller-Coaster Commercial Real Estate Ride Since Start of Century “Since the start of the 21st century, Miami has had a real estate boom, a real estate bust and now another real estate boom. New construction seems to be going up all over town, land prices are soaring and everyone is building. The smiles are back indeed if you are selling an office building anywhere in Miami. Ever-increasing prices are almost reaching the top of 2008 of $600 per square foot.” (Miami Herald)
- 2015’s Apartment Sales on Pace to Beat 2006 “With Clarion’s acquisition of Gables and a flurry of one-off deals, 2015’s first half posted sales numbers that pushed this year’s pace above the torrid run of 2006. In the first half of 2015, $63.2 billion worth of apartments changed hands, a 37.6% increase compared with last year, according to Real Capital Analytics (RCA). The second quarter produced $29.7 billion worth of this activity, a 13% increase over 2014’s second quarter.” (Multifamily Executive)
- They’re Either Killing New York or Saving It “The owners of the New York Mets planned to build a shopping mall in a parking area next to Citi Field. They expected resistance—there always is in New York—but not from the son of the architect who helped invent the shopping mall. Unlike his father, Michael Gruen doesn't create shopping malls. He stops them.” (Crain’s New York Business)
- Target’s Struggle to Sell Stores Exposes Canada’s Weak Retail Market “Insolvent Target Canada’s sale of its store leases and other properties fetched far less than the amount the retailer spent initially acquiring its leases – a reflection of the softening retail real estate market in the wake of the U.S. discounter’s exit from Canada. And in a telling move, the retailer, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January and closed all 133 of its outlets, was forced to hand back 75 store leases to their landlords.” (The Globe and Mail)
- Columbia Takes Giant Bite Out of Big Apple “Columbia Property Trust Inc. has agreed to purchase the commercial condominium unit of the former New York Times Building in Manhattan from affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI L.P. for $516 million, Columbia, which is based in Atlanta, announced Friday. The 16-story, 481,110-square-foot Class A office building is at 229 W. 43rd St. in (of course) the Times Square submarket.” (Commercial Property Executive)
- Wayne County Looks to Squeeze Revenue from its Empty Space “In the kingdom of the broke, revenue generators are king. So as it tries to stem the financial bleeding and faces a Wednesday deadline to request a hearing on Gov. Rick Snyder's declaration of a financial emergency, Wayne County and a consortium of local real estate companies are trying to repurpose and better use the space the county owns.” (Crain’s Detroit Business)
- Buying Real Estate at Auction Can Be Tricky, but Profitable “Want to retire as a real estate mogul? You might start at Philadelphia's sheriff sales, where you can buy discounted properties at auction. Don't bring cash, and watch out for the real estate developers who try to intimidate the competition. In an effort to clean up a Wild West atmosphere at the sales, Sheriff Jewell Williams has built an online property database of parcels coming to auction and installed a strong police presence the day of bidding.” (Philly.com)
- The Problem with Trying to be the Next Silicon Valley “Every city wants to be the next Silicon Valley. In the last decade, policy makers and municipal boosters have spent millions on initiatives meant to lure and nurture local entrepreneurs. But no matter how hard cities try to borrow that Bay Area magic (looking at you, ‘Silicon Sandbar’), none have managed to recreate the Valley’s particular formula for tech startup-fueled success—and increasingly it seems like the wrong aspiration.” (Fortune)
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