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The 2nd quarter of 2008 ended with a slight economic rebound – an extremely lethargic one – that raises new fears of a recession.  The Commerce Department reported that the GDP increased at an annual rate of just 1.9 percent from April through June.  Although an improvement over the feeble 0.9 percent reported during the […]

In a transaction that demonstrates the inherent strength of the red-hot student-housing market, an Australian firm recently purchased the 725-bed Illini Tower in Champaign, IL, for approximately $60 million.  Do the math and you’ll find that the cost-per-bed adds up to a whopping $82,758.  The building serves students of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. […]

According to a recent Crain’s Chicago Business article, suburban office vacancy rates shot up to 13.1 percent during the second quarter of 2008.  That is the highest level in more than two years. According to the commercial real estate services firm, Transwestern Commercial Real Estate, the vacancy rate is at its highest level since the first […]

Despite all the doom-and-gloom reports on the residential real estate market, there are some bright spots.  In several markets, housing has become surprisingly affordable to families earning a median household income of $61,500.  And there’s more good news.  Mortgage rates are again nearing the record lows of a few years ago; and family incomes jumped […]

The surge in the construction-loan delinquency rate – both residential and commercial – suggests that lenders will remain reluctant to make loans for new construction. Developers usually finance projects through short-term construction loans.  Once the project has stabilized, the developer seeks long-term debt.  With the current economic downturn, developers are finding it difficult to obtain […]

Buildings four stories and higher use 65 percent of electricity generated in the United States, according to a recent article on the website http://www.tmcnet.com/. Several states – notably California – are requiring all new government buildings to qualify for green certification.  Additionally, California is looking at the possibility of granting preferences to private building owners […]

One of the biggest issues we’ve faced is the stability of the capital markets, which are slow but showing some signs of life.  You have to look closely, but there are some positive signs.  At the end of March, two office properties sold for more than $500,000,000 each.  These included the UBS Tower in Chicago, […]

Have you noticed that some of your favorite stores are disappearing?  Tough economic times have made people rethink their discretionary spending, and that is impacting specialty retailers.  According to a study by Commercial Property News and Claritas, a CPN-sister company specializing in retail-related demographic and marketing research, retailers are rethinking their 2008 growth plans. The Standard […]

Buildings as old as 100 years now can attain coveted LEED certification, courtesy of the innovative LEED Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) program.  According to an article in the April, 2008, issue of Midwest Real Estate News, green design has become a given in commercial construction.  Now, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has extended the […]

You know what they say about polls.  Still, a recent one is an interesting temperature reading for the new economy.   Overseas investors in United States real estate prefer retail versus office or industrial space right now, according to an issue of Commercial Property News. This is just one conclusion in a survey that examined […]