Moreover, the lending environment in Texas appears even [...]]]> Things are looking up in the world of commercial real estate lending.  According to National Real Estate Investor’s annual Borrower Trends Survey, more than half of lenders (56 percent) and 44 percent of borrowers are predicting that credit will be more widely available in the coming year. 

Moreover, the lending environment in Texas appears even stronger than many other areas of the country, according to Dr. Mark Dotzour, Chief Economist and Director of Research for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, who recently said, “Fortunately, Texas banks are much stronger than the national average and have capacity to make real estate loans.”

Click to read the full article: Borrower Trends 2012: Capital Markets Recovery Holds Steady (National Real Estate Investor, 2-1-12) and Dr. Dotzour’s blog: Loan Delinquencies Show Moderation (except for real estate loans) (1-30-12).

Cedar Park MOB

Duke Realty acquired a four-story medical office building on the campus of the Cedar Park Regional Medical Center.  The purchase price of the 83,383-square-foot building was not disclosed.

The acquisition brings Indianapolis-based company’s holding in the Austin area to more than 180,000 square feet of medical office space, and its total Texas portfolio [...]]]>  

Cedar Park MOB

Duke Realty acquired a four-story medical office building on the campus of the Cedar Park Regional Medical Center.  The purchase price of the 83,383-square-foot building was not disclosed.

The acquisition brings Indianapolis-based company’s holding in the Austin area to more than 180,000 square feet of medical office space, and its total Texas portfolio to nearly 1.2 million square feet.

Click to read full article: Cedar Park Regional building sold (Austin Business Journal, 1-27-12) and Duke Realty press release.

C-III is led by CEO Andrew L. Farkas, who founded and was Chairman and CEO of Insignia Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:IFS).

“The completion of this transaction [...]]]> C-III Capital Partners LLC (C-III) announced today that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of NAI Global, the largest and premier network of independent commercial real estate firms worldwide.

C-III is led by CEO Andrew L. Farkas, who founded and was Chairman and CEO of Insignia Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:IFS).

“The completion of this transaction represents a significant step forward in our strategy to build a fully diversified commercial real estate services company,” said Mr. Farkas. “With the NAI Global acquisition, we are gaining the world’s leading commercial real estate network and a tremendous foundation for future growth.  As we begin a new year, we look forward to partnering with the NAI team to provide enhanced services to the commercial and institutional real estate markets they serve as well as continuing to take advantage of other opportunities to grow and expand our platform.”

Click to read the full announcement: C-III Capital Partners completes acquisition of NAI Global (NAI Global Corporate Blog, 1-26-12)

In direct correlation with an improving job market, Austin office market fundamentals continued to improve in the final quarter of 2011.  Healthy leasing activity, especially in the North and Northwest submarkets, contributed to positive net absorption that topped one million square feet for the year.  Citywide vacancy remains elevated at 17.4% [...]]]>

Source: NAI REOC Austin

In direct correlation with an improving job market, Austin office market fundamentals continued to improve in the final quarter of 2011.  Healthy leasing activity, especially in the North and Northwest submarkets, contributed to positive net absorption that topped one million square feet for the year.  Citywide vacancy remains elevated at 17.4% but significantly improved compared to more than 20% recorded at the close of 2010.  The Austin CBD closed the year with a vacancy rate of 13.7%. 

With demand on an upswing, landlords are beginning to test the market with slightly increased quoted rental rates but buildings with space to fill continue to offer some concessions, generally in the form of a few months free rent and above-standard tenant finish-out allowances.  The citywide average full-service rental rate increased thirty cents or 1.2% over last quarter to reach $25.88 per square foot per year.  Rents for Class A office space climbed to $29.01.   

Consistent with the previous three quarters, the market saw no new deliveries in the fourth quarter; the pipeline of speculative projects remains restricted keeping the focus on leasing up existing vacancies.  As such, owners have an opportunity to fill vacant space ahead of the next construction cycle.  Looking ahead, the momentum of leasing activity is expected to continue heading into 2012 which will help the local office market move closer to equilibrium in order to set the stage for the next expansion cycle.

Think about entering into a sale-lease transaction. You buy the warehouse personally and then [...]]]> Let’s say you own a C corporation that needs to raise some cash and you’re considering the sale of a warehouse that has been depreciated to zero. But the company still uses the warehouse and doesn’t want to lose control of it.

Think about entering into a sale-lease transaction. You buy the warehouse personally and then lease it back to the company.

Click to read the Tax advantages of older properties (Sol Schwartz & Associates, P.C., 1-20-12)

According to the survey of more than 37.2 million square feet of industrial space, new leases and expansions generated a healthy 465,975 square feet of positive net absorption in the fourth quarter.  The gain was more than enough to push the year-end total above 1.1 million square feet – a feat [...]]]>

Source: NAI REOC Austin

According to the survey of more than 37.2 million square feet of industrial space, new leases and expansions generated a healthy 465,975 square feet of positive net absorption in the fourth quarter.  The gain was more than enough to push the year-end total above 1.1 million square feet – a feat not accomplished in the local market since 2007.

Since 2009, demand for space has been on an upward trend; gains in 2010 made up for losses in the previous year followed by a 55% increase in absorption in 2011 over 2010 showing that the market is headed in the right direction.  Citywide vacancy rate closed the year at 17.8% compared to 19.0% last quarter and 20.3% recorded a year ago. The Southeast submarket experienced the greatest amount of absorption in 2011 – more than double the amount of the North submarket which was the next highest sector.   The Southeast submarket closed the year with a vacancy rate of 18.5% compared to 22% at the end of 2010.  The North submarket ended 2011 with a vacancy rate of 17.4% which is improved compared to 19% recorded a year ago.

Looking ahead, speculative construction remains limited, although several proposed projects stand waiting for demand to trigger development.  In the meantime, horizontal movement may characterize the majority of leasing activity due to stiff competition amongst landlords seeking to fill space but theAustinindustrial market is expected to continue to benefit from broad-based expansions of existing companies as well as key new locations similar to US Farathane.

Click to read the full 4Q 2011 Industrial Market Source report

Live Oak-Gottesman LLC purchased The Shops at Ladera Bend (7300 RM 2222) in Northwest Austin from Wells Fargo on Friday for an undisclosed amount.

Live Oak-Gottesman plans to lease and manage the property. Retail spaces ranging from around 1,050 square feet to 13,000 square feet are available for lease. Current tenants [...]]]>

The Shops at Ladera Bend

Live Oak-Gottesman LLC purchased The Shops at Ladera Bend (7300 RM 2222) in Northwest Austin from Wells Fargo on Friday for an undisclosed amount.

Live Oak-Gottesman plans to lease and manage the property. Retail spaces ranging from around 1,050 square feet to 13,000 square feet are available for lease. Current tenants include Collins Endodontics and Anytime Fitness. 

Click to read full article: Live Oak-Gottesman buys NW Austin shopping center (Austin Business Journal, 1-17-12)

Large institutional owners will remain active [...]]]> Industrial real estate may not grab headlines, but the sector has recovered slowly throughout 2011 and insiders expect the trend to continue in 2012 and beyond.  Industrial’s recovery is uneven, however, with larger distribution markets experiencing strong growth while outlying markets have higher vacancy rates and are drawing less interest.

Large institutional owners will remain active in primary markets – the East and West Coasts, Texas and Chicago– while value-add investors and private equity firms may dip into second-tier markets.

When it comes to leasing, as on the investment side, activity has been strongest in core markets.

Click to read full article: Investors keep buying industrial real estate…expect a big 2012 (REDNews, 12-31-11)

Excerpts from November 30, 2011 article in The Oakstone / LAX Morning Minute.