Industry Sectors
In July of 2012, the community of Mammoth Lakes in California filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. The third most-visited ski area in the United States, the community is fighting its way back from the brink.
This year’s finalists for the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Urban Open Space Award are the Yards Park in Washington, D.C.; Wilmington Waterfront Park in Wilmington, Calif.; Cumberland Park in Nashville, Tenn.; Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York, N.Y.; and the Village on False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Far from the gloomy tone of last year’s discussion on the same topic, lifestyle resort developers at ULI’s 2013 Spring Meeting in San Diego were saying: “Viva Mexico!” and touting the success of developments from Virginia to Montana to Hawaii.
America’s 80-million-strong generation Y, the most tech-savvy generation yet, has not forsaken shopping in stores for online purchasing, says a new ULI report released at the Spring Meeting in San Diego.
Ten projects incorporate unconventional technical strategies to enhance efficiency, sustainability, and aesthetics.
The Trepp survey for the most recent period showed spreads coming in a further 10-plus basis points as securitized and conventional lenders continue their war of attrition, compressing lending spreads in response to investors continuing to drive down yields on super-senior tranches of recent CMBS offerings.
Super-senior CMBS bonds are currently trading in the range of 72 basis points over ten-year interest rate swaps; half of what they were a year ago. According to ULI Senior Fellow Stephen Blank, spreads have narrowed to the point that securitized lenders are giving conventional, portfolio lenders a run for their money.
Real Estate Research Corporation’s fourth quarter 2012 Real Estate Investment Criteria survey showed investment conditions and capitalization rates mixed quarter-over-quarter with the markets seemingly needing time to catch its collective breath after a frenetic quarter during which equity capital flooded the markets.
According to the FTSE NAREIT Equity REIT Index, equity REITs produced total returns equal to 18.06 percent in 2012, including dividends equal to 3.70 percent. REITs outperformed the S&P 500 Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the NASDAQ Composite Index making 2012 the fourth year in a row that REITs have outperformed the other indices.
Against a background of estimates of roughly $60 billion in issuance in 2013, the commercial mortgage-backed securities market will get its first test of the year when a $1.4 billion offering comes to market this week.