In the News

Gulf Oil Spill Harming Market

June 29, 2010    

For the past few years, commercial property owners in the Gulf Coast haven't had much to celebrate. Now the problem has gotten worse as a result of the BP oil spill.

Drop in Commercial Property Values Stalls Rebound

May 31, 2010    

U.S. commercial real estate values fell in March, pushed lower by a quarterly drop in retail and office properties in the biggest metropolitan areas, according to the most recent report from Moody's Investors Service, Inc.

The Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Index fell 0.5...

Seattle's Biggest Owner Banks on Strategic Default

April 27, 2010    

Seattle's biggest office owner, Boston-based Beacon Capital Partners, has already defaulted on one major loan and has stopped making payments on a $2.7 billion loan that it used to buy two major Seattle-area properties and 11 others in Washington, D.C., in 2007, at the height of the market...

Strong Pulse for Boston's Commercial Real Estate Markets

April 11, 2010    

Greater Boston's commercial real estate community appears to be among the healthiest in the country, in terms of the percentage of properties that have remained current on their debt payments. Currently, only 2.7 percent of the region's property loans packaged in commercial mortgage-...

State Commercial Properties for Sale to Highest Bidders

February 26, 2010    

State and local governments in Arizona, Connecticut, and California are compensating for budget shortfalls by selling their office high-rises, prisons, and even capitol buildings. Arizona recently invited investors to buy bonds secured by several landmark state government buildings, while...

Tucson Nonprofits Take Advantage of Market

February 1, 2010    

Although the purchases were independent of one another and don't necessarily signal a trend, two nonprofit groups, Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona and the American Red Cross Arizona Blood Services, recently acquired Tucson, Ariz., commercial property in transactions that their...

REITs in Buying Position

December 28, 2009    

Real estate investment trust (REIT) returns outperformed the broader real estate market in November. The FTSE NAREIT Indexes are now up more than 100 percent from their March 6 lows. The growth is largely being fueled by the recapitalization of the REIT industry, where REIT public equity and...

Fed Supports Prudent CRE Loan Workouts

November 23, 2009    

The Federal Reserve Board has adopted a policy statement supporting prudent commercial real estate (CRE) loan workouts. The policy statement, adopted by each of the financial regulators (including the Reserve's Board of Governors and FDIC), provides guidance for examiners and financial...

New Report: Green Retrofit Market Growing

October 31, 2009    

Green building is booming, but new buildings account for less than 2.5 percent of the U.S. building market each year. Retrofits of existing structures, a tremendous market opportunity for green builders, owners, and building product manufacturers, are the focus of McGraw-Hill Construction's...

Annapolis Hopes Public Art Will Yield Real Estate Flourish

September 27, 2009    

Annapolis, Md., Mayor Ellen Moyer kicked off a grant application process on September 14, offering up to $10,000 to commercial property owners who add some artistic flair, such as murals, artistic lighting, or other works of art, to their buildings.

The city's Commercial Facade...

Real Estate Roundtable Spent $780K Lobbying Fed

August 30, 2009    

The delinquency rate on commercial property loans pooled together into investments—estimated at around $750 billion—hit nearly 3 percent in the second quarter, almost tripling from where it was at the end of last year, according to Reis Inc. The Real Estate Roundtable, which...

New Interest in TALF Lending Program

July 26, 2009    

Investors are showing a new interest in a government program aimed at spurring lending in the troubled commercial real estate market. The program is part of a larger consumer lending effort called the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), which is a prominent part of the efforts by...