Average Lease Size Shrinks Nationally

Grubb & Ellis :: Market Research :: Weekly Market Insight: "Average Lease Size March 23, 2009"

excerpted:

There are several reasons behind this trend. Tenants signing new leases may have implemented previous staff reductions and are taking the opportunity to right-size their space. A related trend is that tenants may be less optimistic about expanding in the future and so are taking less space now. A third reason could be that smaller, more nimble companies are willing to grab the good deals being offered by landlords while large, publicly traded companies are waiting for the recovery to take hold.
Source: Grubb & Ellis

Words to Live By from Yale's $8B Man

Yale Alumni Magazine: "the most sensible approach is to come up with specific asset allocation targets that you can implement with low-cost, passively managed index funds and rebalance regularly. You'll end up beating the overwhelming majority of participants in the financial markets."

RREEF Report: Recession Fails to Diminish Demand for Green Real Estate - CoStar Group

RREEF Report: Recession Fails to Diminish Demand for Green Real Estate - CoStar Group: "In fact, going by the numbers, green building could have one of its best years ever. The large backlog of projects that are registered for LEED certification -- about 18,500 at the start of this month -- makes it extremely unlikely that the growth of certified green buildings will tail off, the study stated."

Investors snap up old flats - Business - News & Observer

Investors snap up old flats - Business - News & Observer: "The average vacancy rate at apartments built in the past five years jumped to 9.5 percent in January, from 7.7 percent a year earlier, according to Real Data, a Charlotte apartment research firm. Average monthly rent, meanwhile, fell 5.4 percent to $888 per unit.

Apartments that are 16 to 30 years old, however, saw the average climb to just 7.5 from 6 percent. At the same time, rents have dipped just 1.3 percent to $690."

$7M for Pinecrest Pointe Shopping Center

Midland Atlantic Buys Pinecrest Pointe Shopping Center - CoStar Group

excerpted:

Midland Atlantic Properties acquired the Pinecrest Pointe Shopping Center at 9101 Leesville Road in Raleigh, NC, from a private family trust for $7 million, or approximately $78 per square foot.

Spitzer back in Commercial Real Estate

Eliot Spitzer’s father buys D.C. office building - The Business Review (Albany):

Spitzer buys building one block from the Mayflower Hotel, were he uh well, you know failed to uphold the high standards he set for himself, etc...

VC says fund R&D not his Competitors

Blogger: US should fund research, not venture capital - The Boston Globe

Scott makes great points herein. Of course, he is a VC and I always find it interesting that the handful of VCs think there are too many in the business. Seems they prefer competition of the free market for every but themselves.

Still, a good take on the industry.

He also says there are 3 things we need to fix to thaw out the IPO market:
1. Sarbanes-Oxley
2. Increase HB-1 visas (as long as they are not working as VCs I guess)
3. Keep capital gains taxes low