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 for the day will be.
Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average picked up 27.09 points at 17,902.51. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.57 points, or 0.3%, at 2,081.90. The NASDAQ composite gained 40.59 points, or 0.8%, to 4,950.82.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell $3.56 to close at $50.42 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $3.55 to close at $55.55 in London. Wholesale gasoline fell 12.2 cents to close at $1.739 a gallon. Heating oil fell 8.6 cents to close at $1.698 a gallon. Natural gas fell 6.1 cents to close at $2.619 per 1,000 cubic feet.
BANNER DAY FOR MIDTOWN PHOENIX (PHOENIX) - The 10-year lease isn't quite signed yet because there are still some issues being resolved, but it looks like Banner Health will be moving its Corporate HQ to midtown Phoenix. Banner Health officials have revealed a few details about the nonprofit's expansion plans. Plans call for leasing 220,000-square-feet during the first phase in late summer and expanding that up to 320,000-square-feet, with more opportunities to take additional space if needed in the future, Kip Edwards, vice president of development and construction for Banner told the Phoenix Business Journal. Banner hopes to move into the new corporate offices on the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Thomas Road by late summer. Earlier this year, Banner Health acquired University of Arizona Health Network, making it what many are calling the largest private employer in the state. About 800 employees will move over to the new corporate headquarters in midtown during the first phase, with the new space able to accommodate as many as 1,400 corporate employees. Its existing space at 12th Street and McDowell Road currently houses about 600 employees. Full story CLICK HERE.
TICKETS GO ON SALE THIS WEEK FOR DANCING WITH THE STARS (TUCSON) - Dancing with the Stars: Live! is coming to the Tucson Convention Center's (TCC) Music Hall on July 16. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. Dancing with the Stars All-Stars champion Melissa Rycroft will host the stage show, featuring pro dancers Witney Carson, Valentin Chmerkovskiy, Artem Chigvintsev, Peta Murgatroyd, Emma Slater, and troupe dancers Alan Bersten, Brittany Cherry, Sasha Farber and Jenna Johnson. The dancers will perform in a 90-minute live show. Tickets will be available at the Tucson Convention Center Ticket Office (260 S. Church Ave.), the Ticketmaster link below, or by calling 1-800-745-3000. TCC: https://1.usa.gov/1kJJBs2 Ticketmaster: https://bit.ly/VTKJT0 Dancing with Stars Tour: https://bit.ly/1a65Bxy
CITY COUNCIL ADVANCES TAX INCENTIVES FOR DOWNTOWN MARKET (TUCSON) - The Mayor and Tucson City Council yesterday voted to move forward with finalizing a tax incentive agreement with the Johnny Gibson Downtown Market. The owners of the redevelopment at 11 S. Sixth Avenue will save more than $55,000 a year on property taxes for eight years. The market, expected to open next month, features a grocery story, a distillery, a bar, and another retail space. Mayor and Council directed City staff to bring a lease agreement formalizing the Government Property Lease Excise Tax incentive (GPLET), which requires the property owner to increase the value of the property by at least 100 percent. In addition, an economic analysis must show the benefit to the City is greater than the benefit received by the property owner. The economic analysis projects $2.9 million in direct tax revenue for state and local governments and school districts, and at least 50 new jobs. City staff will return to the City Council with a GPLET lease agreement in 60 days. Office of Economic Initiatives: https://1.usa.gov/1wdjSAk City of Tucson Business Incentives: https://1.usa.gov/1ByAIIi
CONNECT TO THE ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (TUCSON) The Sun Link streetcar is an easy commuting option to the 24th annual Arizona International Film Festival Thursday-Sunday. All of the films being shown are at venues along the streetcar route. Park, dine, explore, and ride the streetcar to the festival's 33 features and 76 short films from 20 countries, hand picked for Arizona audiences. Arizona International Film Festival: https://bit.ly/1CxlQKF; Arizona Film Festival Schedule CLICK HERE
WALMART SOLD AT RECORD CAP RATE (CHICAGO) —The market for net lease properties has been on fire recently, and a Walmart in suburban Chicago was just sold at the lowest cap rate ever recorded for a single tenant Walmart transaction above $5 million, according to Real Capital Analytics. The Boulder Group, a net leased investment brokerage firm in suburban Northbrook, completed the sale of a Walmart ground lease located adjacent to Chicago at 5630 West Touhy Ave. in suburban Niles for $9,685,000 and a cap rate of 4.89%. The store anchors Pointe Plaza, a 330,000-square-foot development that also features Ross Dress For Less, Walgreens, Fresh Farms International Market, Dress Barn and Babies ‘R’ Us.
MIAMI RETAIL POSTED THRD LOWEST VACANCY Q4 2104 (MIAMI) —Miami is prime stomping ground for retail landlords. Of course, you already know that. What you might not know is that Miami retail posted the third-lowest vacancy rate in the United States for the last quarter of 2014, according to JLL. That puts the Magic City on par with the Big Apple. The market experienced strong rent growth quarter-over-quarter and 10.6% growth year-over-year—and there’s no slowdown in sight.
PIMA COUNTY MAY ADD $200 MILLION TO BOND VOTE FOR ROAD REPAIRS (TUCSON) The Pima County Bond Advisory Committee last month finalized a $653 million bond proposal. At Tuesday’s Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Ramón Valadez asked county staff to include as much as $200 million more for road repairs on the list of proposed bond projects. The road bonds could boost the bond proposal to $853 million, unless the board opts to drop some of the other committee-recommended projects to hold down the cost. Supervisors plan to discuss the package at the April 21 meeting. Supervisor Ally Miller raised concerns about the county’s existing debt from 1997, 2004 and 2006 bond plans and concerns over retring the debt in 10 to 12 years when roads don’t last that long. The bonds proposals could go to voters as soon as this November, in conjunction with the City of Tucson election, or the board could wait until the next regular county election.
STRONGER US ECONOMY AND DOLLAR TIGHTEN LATIN AMERICAN TIES (WASHINGTON AP) — In Mexico City, an auto parts company expects to ride a resurgent U.S. auto industry to $1 billion in annual revenue by 2016. In Bogota, Colombia, a company that makes plastic water valves is hoping an expansion into the United States will super-charge its exports. In Brazil, firms that make ceramic tiles predict they’ll beat last year’s robust sales abroad, thanks to a strong U.S. dollar that gives them a price advantage in the United States. Across Latin America, companies increasingly are looking north for business. The prospect of tighter commercial ties across the Americas has handed the United States a chance to reclaim some of the regional economic and political clout it lost to a surging China over the past decade.
SHELL’S $70 BILLION TAKEOVER COULD HERALD WAVE OF MERGERS (LONDON AP) — Oil and gas company Shell has agreed to buy British rival BG Group for 47 billion pounds ($69.7 billion), in a deal that may signal a new wave of mega-mergers as the energy industry tries to adapt to lower prices. Royal Dutch Shell said Wednesday it will pay the equivalent of 13.67 pounds in cash and stock for each share of BG Group, 50% more than Tuesday’s closing price. The deal will boost Shell’s oil and gas reserves by 25%, including offshore projects in Australia and Brazil, and give it a bigger presence in the fast-growing liquefied natural gas market, Shell said.
TESLA BOOSTS RANGE, POWER AND PRICE OF LOW-END MODEL S (DETROIT AP) — Electric car maker Tesla Motors is going after mainstream luxury car buyers by adding all-wheel-drive and more range and power to the base version of its only model. But the added features at the low end of the Model S lineup will come with about a 7% price increase, to $75,000 for those buying the cars. The base lease price will rise to $838 per month from $796 for 12,000 miles per year.
JAPAN’S RECOVERY WEAK AFTER 2 YEARS OF MONETARY ‘BAZOOKA’ (TOKYO AP) — Two years after launching a bazooka of ultra-lavish monetary easing, Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has made only fitful progress toward the goal of the 2 per cent inflation rate he and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said was needed to jolt the world’s No. 3 economy out of its deflationary rut. Kuroda increased central bank purchases of assets last fall and splashed still more cash on the economy last autumn, but faces mounting pressure to open the taps further. The central bank left that policy unchanged following a meeting that ended Wednesday.
COMPUTER USERS FACE HARD CHOICE – PAY RANSON OR LOSE FILES (NEW YORK AP) — It’s a chilling moment: A message appears on a computer screen, saying the files are encrypted and the only way to access them is by paying a ransom. It happened at Jeff Salter’s home health care business last December. The network of nearly 30 computers at Caring Senior Service was infected with ransomware, malicious software that hackers use to try to extort money from people and businesses by preventing them from opening or using documents, pictures, spreadsheets and other files. If computer users don’t pay, there’s no way they can access their files.
FED MINUTES: OFFICIALS SPLIT WIDELY ON RATE HIKE TIMING (WASHINGTON AP) — Fed officials disagreed widely when they met last month on when they would be ready to lift interest rates from record lows. Minutes of the March 17-18 meeting released Wednesday reveal that several policymakers predicted a rate hike in June, while others concerned about low inflation didn’t think a rate hike would be warranted until later this year. Still others said the economy wouldn’t be strong enough for an increase until 2016. The Fed’s benchmark interest rate has been near zero since December 2008.
BLOOMBERG ADDS $30 MILLION TO ANTI-COAL CAMPAIGN (WASHINGTON AP) — Billionaire Michael Bloomberg announced Wednesday that he is donating an additional $30 million to a Sierra Club initiative working to reduce the nation’s use of coal. The Sierra Club has a goal of replacing half the nation’s coal plants with renewable energy by 2017. Bloomberg donated $50 million to the program in 2011. The latest donation, along with $20 million from others, will be spent over the next three years. He says that reducing the number of coal plants will save lives and that job growth in solar, wind and natural gas can offset coal-related jobs.
NEW APPLE PHOTOS APP MAKES FIXING, CROPPING EASY (NEW YORK AP) — If you’re like most people, those hundreds of photos you took on vacation are still on your camera or phone. You shared a handful on Facebook or Instagram, and tell yourself that you’ll sift through the others — one day. Procrastinate no more. Apple’s new Photos app for Mac computers, available Wednesday as a free software update, makes it easy to organize and edit your pictures. The app, which replaces iPhoto, bundles professional-level tools such as granular color correction into one free consumer package.