Real Estate Daily News Buzz is designed to give news snippets to readers that our (yet to be award winning) editors thought you could use to start your day. They come from various business perspectives, real estate, government, the Fed, local news, and the stock markets to save you time. Here you will find the headlines and what the news buzz of the day will be.
Thursday, the Standard & Poor's 500 index picked up 1.89 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,364.87. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 2.46 points to 20,858.19. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.25 points to 5,838.81.
Benchmark U.S. oil fell $1, or 2 percent, to $49.28 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 92 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $52.19 a barrel in London.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline fell 3 cents to $1.62 a gallon. Heating oil lost 3 cents to $1.53 a gallon. Natural gas rose 7 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $2.97 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Southwest Airlines is making $40 Million investment into Sky Harbor -- “We’ve never wavered in our commitment to serving Phoenix’s travelers,” said Tom Nealon, Southwest Airlines President. Our customers tell us they love the hospitality they receive at Sky Harbor, and we’re looking forward to welcoming them into our new space when the new concourse opens in just a few short years.” Southwest (NYSE: LUV) will occupy a new eight-gate concourse in Terminal 4, S-1. The $250 million concourse will be the eighth and final concourse in the terminal, which accounts for the majority of Sky Harbor's traffic. The airline currently occupies three concourses in Terminal 4 and will remain in those in addition to the new concourse, which is scheduled to open in 2021. (Phoenix BizJournal)
The design concept for the Broadway Widening Open House: Euclid to Country Club Improvement Project is 60 percent complete and was on display to the general public Thursday night for the first time. The roadway is being widened to six lanes as part of the 2006 RTA 1/2 cent sales tax ballot question passed by voters. The widening was earlier conceived as a much broader project but was downsized following the objection of merchants and area neighborhoods. The city approved the latest design following a series of public hearings and changes. Project cost is estimated to be $71 million, much of it from the sale tax and about $3 million from the city of Tucson. Now that 60 percent of the design is complete, some merchants may see for the first time, the fate of their businesses. For some, their fate was likely sealed because they would be losing their customer parking spaces. For others, it was just the thought of going through construction and the affects it can have on business. Rio Nuevo and the city have worked out a deal, since the city is precluded by law from negotiating with the property owners. The city of Tucson can't use transportation money for economic purposes which is why Rio Nuevo has stepped in to assist in salvaging the Sunshine Mile. (Tucson News Now)
MAYOR TO KICK OFF BOOK FESTIVAL, NAME POET LAUREATE, ANNOUNCE NEW BOOK PROGRAM - Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild will kick off the Tucson Festival of Books tomorrow during an 11 a.m. news conference at the University of Arizona. The mayor also will use that opportunity to announce the selection of a new poet laureate for the City of Tucson. In town for the book festival, U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera will attend the press conference. Mayor Rothschild's previous selection for local poet laureate was Rebecca Seiferle. She recently moved out of state, so a call for applications was issued through the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona, formerly the Tucson Pima Arts Council. Three finalists emerged from that process, and the mayor made the final selection. During tomorrow's news conference, Rothschild also will launch a new book program that's a partnership between the Arizona Daily Star and the City of Tucson Parks and Recreation Department. The Tucson Festival of Books runs from 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday at the University of Arizona.
RadioShack files for second bankruptcy in 2 years -- Troubled electronics retailer RadioShack has filed for bankruptcy for the second time in just over two years. The Fort Worth, Texas-based electronics retailer says it's closing about 200 stores and evaluating options on the remaining 1,300. Once known as the place to buy batteries and obscure electronic parts, RadioShack has struggled to hang on to customers as more people shop on Amazon.com and other online retailers.
5 Ways the Fed Rate Hikes Will Hit Global Markets “One interest-rate hike was a tweak. A second is normalization. And a third? That is going to look like a whole raising cycle. It now looks almost certain that next week the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the third time, and that will be the first step on a clear path toward getting the price of money back to the 3% to 4% range. That is a decision that will be taken for the United States. But American interest rates are also a key variable for the entire global economy.” (MarketWatch)
Top 10 Cities for Early Retirees “A key part of that financial plan is to keep housing costs in check by living in affordable areas. Why? Because early retirees must live off their savings until they are eligible to tap their 401(k) plans and IRAs without a tax penalty at age 59½, qualify for early Social Security retirement benefits at age 62 and enroll in Medicare at age 65. Looking for your own base of operations that is easy on the wallet? MagnifyMoney, a price comparison website for financial products, ranked 217 U.S. cities to find the best spots for early retirees.” (CNBC)
Faced with a Chance for Radical Change, L.A. Voters Choose to Stay the Course “Los Angeles voters offered a strong endorsement Tuesday to policies that have brought denser development and a more urbanized lifestyle to a city once famous for its tracts of tidy single-family homes. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has championed greater development in Hollywood, downtown and other parts of the city as well as expanded mass transit service, was easily reelected, while Measure S, a slow-growth measure pushed by people opposed to some of Garcetti’s development policies, was voted down.” (Los Angeles Times)
Top Official Overseeing Trump’s D.C. Hotel Is Out at GSA as Democrats Call for Investigation of Lease “A top government official overseeing federal buildings — including the historic tower that is home to President Trump’s D.C. hotel — is leaving the agency as it endures increasing criticism from congressional Democrats for not addressing a potential lease violation and other concerns stemming from the president’s ownership of the project. Some members of Congress worry that Trump could appoint new leaders who will renegotiate the terms of the lease to eliminate any legal entanglements.” (The Washington Post)
EB-5 Hearing: “Give Us Your Immoral, Your Degenerate, as Long as They Have Money” “At the first House Judiciary Committee hearing on immigration since Congress reconvened in January, the subject was not President Trump’s executive orders or recent deportation crackdowns, but instead the EB-5 investor visa, a 25-year-old pilot program that has become a pet fundraising vehicle for real estate developers. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) joined members of the committee Wednesday to testify on program reform, urging Congress to make major changes that would push EB-5 money into more underserved communities rather than luxury projects in affluent urban neighborhoods.” (The Real Deal)
This Firm Aims to Be the North Shore’s Largest Commercial Landlord “Hoffmann Commercial Real Estate, which caters to downtown properties in affluent areas, is poised—by its own reckoning—to become the North Shore's largest commercial property owner. The St. Louis-based firm says it will claim that status after it completes the acquisition of five sites in Winnetka and another in Wilmette, for a total of about $33 million. Three purchases in Winnetka—501 Chestnut St., and 561 and 585 Lincoln St.—have been completed, it says; three more—874 Green Bay Road and 723 Elm St. in Winnetka, and 1215 Washington Ave. in Wilmette—are pending.” (Crain’s Chicago Business)
HFF Arranges $350M in Financing for High-Profile Deal “Holliday Fenoglio Fowler’s name will go down in history in North Carolina for having played a supporting role in what is being widely touted as the largest single real estate transaction in the state—ever. HFF orchestrated a $350 million financing package on behalf of Northwood Investors, which recently purchased a portfolio accounting for the greater part of the 535-acre Ballantyne Corporate Park in Charlotte.” (Commercial Property Executive)
RockPoint Buys $300M Stake in Mack-Cali’s Roseland Unit “Boston-based REIT RockPoint Group has acquired a $300 million stake in Mack-Cali unit, Roseland Residential Trust. Once Roseland is funded, RockPoint would gain a 17 percent interest in the firm. Mack-Cali, which acquired Roseland for $134.6 million in 2012, would retain an 83 percent share. RockPoint will inject the $300 million into Roseland over the next two years. Half of the total will be due at closing. The transaction, which places an equity value of $1.23 billion on Roseland, provides Mack-Cali the option to invest another $200 million into its subsidiary.” (Real Estate Weekly)
How to Market Across Generations “The focus on millennials can result in apartment operators overlooking other generations. That’s unfortunate, because baby boomers and members of Generations X and Z are important components of the renter pool as well. In fact, more than half of renters are older than millennials, according to a RentPath study. Appealing to multiple generations requires some thoughtful planning. But as architect Mark Humphreys told MFE in 2016, reaching these different demographics ‘is our biggest challenge and greatest opportunity.’” (Multifamily Executive)