Inside skyscrapers just a short drive from the Atlantic and housing developments overlooking the Pacific, agents and lenders are comparing hopeful hints of rejuvenation to the first wobbly steps following near-death experience.
Albeit the upturn is weak and still mainly confined to the coasts, the commercial real estate industry is rising to the dawn of a national rebound, say market insiders in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle. But because these small waves of good business vibes haven’t yet lapped into the heartland, a debate is raging among industry experts as to the authenticity of any rebound.
“I am firmly on the side of recovery,” says David Rifkind, managing director of George Smith Partners, an L.A.-based real estate investment banking firm. While he acknowledges that capturing an accurate national snapshot of commercial real estate is “more art than science,” Rifkind believes he feels the early rumbles of a revival. He cites two reasons why many agents, developers and investors in New York and California “are busy” — and why, a country-wide commercial resurgence is looming.
1. Cartoons 1. Mortgage mess
Our cartoonists take a light look at real estate troubles.
“Most commercial real estate recoveries begin in core markets — usually the two coasts and with activity in core (investment-grade) properties. This is how this recovery is behaving,” Rifkind says. “After some time, the recovery spreads from there.
“It is precisely because we are in the beginnings of a market recovery that there is so much debate,” Rifkind adds. “Recoveries do not usually announce themselves ... Our colleagues in Kansas City, Atlanta and Dallas are not experiencing much in their local markets just yet.”
Credit is “opening up” and banks are starting to “step off the sidelines” for commercial deals, Rifkind contends. He points to the June 11 sale by J.P. Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp. of a $716.3 million bond backed by commercial mortgages – the second deal of its kind this year and the first to include a portion without an investment-grade rating.
In Los Angeles, some recent commercial sales attracted more than 30 bids – the majority being cash offers, Rifkind says. In Manhattan, at least five transactions have been closed this year for buildings of more than 100,000 square feet and seven similar-sized deals are said to be under contract. In 2009, there were only nine such deals in Manhattan (compared to 101 in 2007).
SOURCE:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38150802/ns/business-real_estate/
Albeit the upturn is weak and still mainly confined to the coasts, the commercial real estate industry is rising to the dawn of a national rebound, say market insiders in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle. But because these small waves of good business vibes haven’t yet lapped into the heartland, a debate is raging among industry experts as to the authenticity of any rebound.
“I am firmly on the side of recovery,” says David Rifkind, managing director of George Smith Partners, an L.A.-based real estate investment banking firm. While he acknowledges that capturing an accurate national snapshot of commercial real estate is “more art than science,” Rifkind believes he feels the early rumbles of a revival. He cites two reasons why many agents, developers and investors in New York and California “are busy” — and why, a country-wide commercial resurgence is looming.
1. Cartoons 1. Mortgage mess
Our cartoonists take a light look at real estate troubles.
“Most commercial real estate recoveries begin in core markets — usually the two coasts and with activity in core (investment-grade) properties. This is how this recovery is behaving,” Rifkind says. “After some time, the recovery spreads from there.
“It is precisely because we are in the beginnings of a market recovery that there is so much debate,” Rifkind adds. “Recoveries do not usually announce themselves ... Our colleagues in Kansas City, Atlanta and Dallas are not experiencing much in their local markets just yet.”
Credit is “opening up” and banks are starting to “step off the sidelines” for commercial deals, Rifkind contends. He points to the June 11 sale by J.P. Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp. of a $716.3 million bond backed by commercial mortgages – the second deal of its kind this year and the first to include a portion without an investment-grade rating.
In Los Angeles, some recent commercial sales attracted more than 30 bids – the majority being cash offers, Rifkind says. In Manhattan, at least five transactions have been closed this year for buildings of more than 100,000 square feet and seven similar-sized deals are said to be under contract. In 2009, there were only nine such deals in Manhattan (compared to 101 in 2007).
SOURCE:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38150802/ns/business-real_estate/
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