Eagle Quest Properties

The Census Bureau today released the Report on Residential Vacancies and Homeownership. This data covered fourth quarter 2009.

From the release…

• National vacancy rates in the fourth quarter 2009 were 10.7 percent for rental housing and 2.7 percent for homeowner housing.
• The rental vacancy rate was higher than the fourth quarter 2008 rate 10.1 percent and not statistically different from the rate last quarter 11.1 percent.
• For homeowner vacancies, the current rate was not statistically different from the fourth quarter 2008 rate 2.9 percent or from the rate last quarter 2.6 percent.
• The homeownership rate at 67.2 percent for the current quarter was not statistically different from the fourth quarter 2008 rate 67.5 percent, but it was lower than last quarter’s rate 67.6 percent.

via Census Bureau: 130.6 Million Housing Units in the US; 18.9 Million are Vacant.

The new congress center for the 4th World Solar Cities Conference, which takes place in September 2010, is now complete. Located in Dezhou of the Shandong Province, the 75,000 square meter (807,293 square feet) center includes exhibition centers, scientific research facilities, meeting and training facilities, and a hotel. It'll be a showcase of solar design, solar desalination, and, of course, about 50,000 square-feet of solar panels on the exterior.

With advanced roof and wall insulation, the conference center is supposed to be about 30% more efficient than China's national standard. And, notwithstanding its size, renewable energy will power 95% of the center's energy needs.

via Massive Solar Powered Sundial Building Now Complete in Dezhou, China.

A surge in office construction in Toronto’s downtown may push the city’s vacancy rate higher than New York and Boston after developers added space during the first recession in 17 years.

The proportion of empty space in Toronto’s office market, lower than the 12 largest U.S. business districts last year, will more than triple by 2011 to 13.6 percent, according to Cushman & Wakefield Inc. Brookfield Properties Corp., Cadillac Fairview Corp. and Menkes Developments Ltd. each added a glass skyscraper to the downtown of Canada’s most populous city in the last five months.

via Toronto Office Vacancies May Top Boston, Manhattan (Update1) – Bloomberg.com.

Avison Young, Canada’s largest independently-owned commercial real estate services company, announced today the opening of a newly-formed Washington, DC office, and that industry veteran Keith Lipton has been recruited as Managing Director.

The new American office, the first of several planned for the region, will be located in downtown DC. It will mark Avison Young’s second location outside of Canada and represent the next step in the company’s aggressive growth and expansion strategy.

Lipton, who also becomes an Avison Young Principal, was most recently Executive Vice-President and Managing Director of Grubb & Ellis’ Washington, DC area offices. In his new role, he will be responsible for building Avison Young’s DC metro region – Washington, DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia. Also joining the Washington office are Margaret Donkerbrook as Vice-President, U.S. Research, and Sarah Peyton as Regional Operations Manager. Both were formerly with Grubb & Ellis in Washington, DC.

via AVISON YOUNG (CANADA) INC. | Avison Young opens new U.S. Capital-region office in Washington, DC.

In 2005, ING Clarion Partners bought Atlanta-based Gables Residential Trust for $2.8 billion in cash. That same year, Morgan Stanley Real Estate’s Prime Property Fund announced that it would buy Chicago-based AMLI Residential Properties for $2.1 billion. Then, in October 2007, the big domino fell—a fund of Tishman Speyer and Lehman Bros. bought Denver-based Archstone for $22.2 billion just as the credit crunch was gripping the world.

Now, almost two full years to the day after Tishman and Lehman bought Archstone, the buzz is increasing that some of these companies could find themselves re-entering the public markets.

via Former REITs May Reconsider Public Life – Reits, Leadership, Stock Prices – Multifamily Executive Magazine.

While small businesses are still struggling in this weak economy, many are catching a break when it comes to negotiating with landlords.

The weakness in the commercial real estate market comes in part from high vacancy rates in many parts of the country. And many landlords are increasingly willing to cut a deal with renters so they can keep their buildings occupied.

“The balance of power in negotiating a lease or renegotiating a lease in some areas is now with the tenant,” said Janet Portman, an attorney and co-author of “Negotiate The Best Lease for Your Business.” “If the market is awash with space, then you can assume the competition will be tight for rents and you’re going to have some real clout.”

via Weak rental market gives small business owners leverage in talks with landlords.

From his Memphis, Tenn. office, Simon Wadsworth conjures the Oracle of Omaha when assessing the current environment. “Warren Buffet once said, ‘Try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful,’” says Wadsworth, CFO of MidAmerica Apartment Communities. “That’s the principle we’re trying to follow.”
Apartment Finance Today (AFT) – September/October 2009 [22 - 23].

Distress is piling up in the multifamily market, but it’s still not as bad as the other real estate sectors, according to the Trouble Assets Radar from New York-based Real Capital Analytics (RCA).
According to the report, 588 apartment communities totalling $8.1B fell into distress (defined as default, foreclosure or bankruptcy) in June.
Apartment Finance Today AFT – September/October 2009 [8 - 9].

In an escalating battle over the largest U.S. hotel bankruptcy, a group of creditors led by Starwood Capital Group is trying to wrest control of the bankruptcy of Extended Stay Inc., people familiar with the matter said.The investor group — including Fortress Investment Group LLC, D.E. Shaw Group and Five Mile Capital Partners LLC — is proposing to buy Extended Stay's $4.1 billion first mortgage, which was carved up into commercial-mortgage-backed securities, or CMBS, for $3.5 billion, these people say. The offer calls for the group to put in more than $700 million in new equity and most of the existing bondholders to continue holding their debt, known in financial circles as “rolling” their positions.

via Starwood-Led Group Raises the Extended Stay Stakes – WSJ.com.

Will the continent out of necessity become a distributed Micro-Grid Power? Off-Grid reports:

Lacking the billions of dollars necessary to expand creaky national electricity grids and build large power plants, Africa’s political and economic leaders are experimenting with alternatives. Electricity is increasingly being generated by microdams, solar cells, and microturbines. “Off-grid electricity could be the next great technological leap forward in Africa,” says Mark Hankins, a consultant in Nairobi who specializes in alternative power supplies.

In Kenya, one million households use car batteries as their main source of electricity. From Lagos to Nairobi, even the poorest slum dwellers are driven to purchase fuel that can create power to charge cell-phone batteries and provide light.

via Timbuktu Chronicles: African Micro-Grids.