- Albertsons in Exclusive Talks to Buy Price Chopper—Sources “U.S. supermarket chain Albertsons Companies Inc is in advanced talks to acquire closely held grocery store operator Price Chopper for around $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. A deal would underscore the wave of consolidation sweeping the U.S. grocery industry, as regional chains struggle to compete against online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc., big box stores such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and discount chains such as ALDI Inc. These challenges put pressure on the Golub family, which has owned Price Chopper for more than eight decades, to explore a sale.” (Reuters)
- Construction Spending Rises 0.5% in October “Outlays for U.S. construction projects rose 0.5% in October, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch forecast a 0.7% gain. Spending in October was 3.4% higher than in October a year ago, and spending in the first 10 months of the year was 4.5% higher than the same period last year. Private residential construction spending rose 1.6% during the month, while private nonresidential construction was 2.1% lower.” (MarketWatch)
- The Fed Confirmed Some of the Most Troubling Trends in Manhattan Real Estate “The Federal Reserve on Wednesday supported recent data showing some worrying trends in parts of Manhattan's real-estate market. The Beige Book compiled anecdotes from contacts of the 12 regional banks, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It is not a hard data release. There are too many luxury apartments in the city, with more developments still rising from the ground. A report from Douglas Elliman Real Estate released last month showed that new development inventory surged in the third quarter after four straight periods of declines.” (Business Insider)
- We Need a Miracle on 34th Street “Forty four percent of consumers surveyed across the country said they had taken to the internet for their early Christmas purchases, while 40 percent shopped in stores, according to the National Retail Federation. Yet while brick-and-mortar retailers have come to play more of what Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with the NPD Group, calls a ‘supporting role’ in the landscape of peak holiday season, a longing appears to persist for social dimensions of consuming and for something more fulfilling than a series of solitary scroll-and-click transactions on a hand-held device.” (The New York Times)
- If Trump Heeds Calls to Liquidate, He Could Reap Billions in NYC Alone “Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that he is taking steps to "take me completely out of business operations" at his Trump Organization. It's not entirely clear what that means, but if he were to liquidate his real estate business to minimize conflicts of interest during his presidency, it would answer the longstanding question of what his holdings are worth. Crain's estimates that his New York City portfolio alone could fetch $2 billion.” (Crains’s New York Business)
- Chicago Worst of U.S.’s 100 Largest Real Estate Markets in 2017 “Chicago will have the coldest real estate market among the nation's 100 largest metro areas next year, according to a forecast released yesterday...The forecast sees Chicago-area home prices rising by 1.95 percent in 2017 and the number of home sales growing by 2.27 percent. Neither figure is the lowest in its category, "but because the forecast for both was weak.” (Crain’s Chicago Business)
- Millennial Shoppers Are Heading to J.C. Penney “From magic mirrors to selfie walls, retailers' haphazard attempts to court millennial shoppers have not been short on gimmicks. Perhaps that's what makes J.C. Penney's approach refreshingly simple. Instead of throwing the latest trends and technologies in the face of these shoppers, Penney's has honed in on one specific subset of the diverse generation: millennial moms. Numbering more than 14 million in the U.S., according to Pew Research, this group of women accounts for 45 percent of Penney's revenue.” (CNBC)
- Nike Swooshing Into New 60K-Plus SF Mega-Store on Fifth Avenue “Nike has sealed a 15-year deal for a store that exceeds 60,000 square feet and spans more than five stories at 650 Fifth Avenue near West 52nd Street, Commercial Observer has learned. The asking rent for the ground floor was $4,000 per square foot. It’s not clear if Nike is abandoning its Niketown space at Trump Tower at 6 East 57th Street at Fifth Avenue, but the company has been looking for space for a while.” (Commercial Observer)
- KeyBank Lends a Helping Hand in Washington “AVS Communities, a real estate development company active in the greater Seattle and Puget Sound region, recently received $95.2 million in tax-exempt bond financing from KeyBank’s Community Development Lending & Investing (CDLI) group to create more affordable housing in the area. The California-based developer will use the financial help for the Villas at Auburn and the Reserve at Auburn, two multifamily projects that will bring on the market a combined 592 units of affordable housing for residents making 60 percent or less of the area median income.” (Commercial Property Executive)
- Pop-Up Serving as Band-Aids for Retail Landlords “Uncertainty continues to plague the city’s retail market. Asking rents have dipped across large parts of Manhattan, according to a recent retail report from the Real Estate Board of New York. Availability rates increased year-over-year in almost every retail submarket of the borough last quarter, according to an analysis by Cushman & Wakefield. Faced with a market in which tenants aren’t signing up for pricey long-term leases, landlords have had to adjust, and are more open to short-term leases.” (The Real Deal)
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