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.
Monday, the Standard & Poor's 500 index picked up 1.19 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,444.24. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 5.27 points to 21,808.40. The Nasdaq composite rose 17.37 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,283.02.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.30, or 2.7 percent, to $46.57 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 52 cents, or 1 percent, to $51.89 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline futures rose 5 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $1.71 a gallon. Heating oil rose 1 cent to $1.64 a gallon. Natural gas added 3 cents to $2.93 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Harvey slams region's economy, with damages in the billions — Flood damage from Hurricane Harvey is likely to reach into the tens of billions and the storm is expected to cause the region's economy to shrink, at least in the near term. The storm has forced Gulf Coast refineries to shut down, leading to higher gasoline prices. Houston's two airports will remain shuttered for days. Harvey will also affect other industries from banking to insurance.
Voting Options for Election Day Tuesday - If you missed last week's deadline to mail back your ballot in time for it to be counted in the City of Tucson's primary election tomorrow, you still have some options available. Four sites will be used as voting locations or drop-off sites on Election Day. They will be open from 6 a.m.-7 p.m. The sites are: Tucson City Clerk Elections Center, 800 E. 12th St.; El Pueblo Senior Center, 101 W. Irvington Road; Parks and Recreation Administration, 900 S. Randolph Way; and the Donna R. Liggins Recreation Center, 2160 N. 6th Ave. If you don't want to wait until tomorrow, you can return your ballot today until 5 p.m. at the 12th Street location. The contested races are in Wards 3, 5, and 6. For more information, call (520) 884-VOTE (8683).
Tucson City Clerk's election page: https://1.usa.gov/1Jw2Box
Tucson City Golf Community Workshop this week - The City of Tucson is hosting its third of four community workshops to discuss the future of Tucson City Golf courses. The workshops include a presentation on the financial history of Tucson City Golf and the various options that will be considered at each course. Each golf course has a unique set of circumstances that impact options. The next community workshop will focus on the Randolph golf courses, and attendees will have an opportunity to comment on the options. The workshop will start this Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Randolph Golf Complex (Copper Room), 600 S. Alvernon Way. For additional information, please contact Greg Jackson at (520) 837-8011 or Greg.Jackson@tucsonaz.gov. Tucson City Golf: https://bit.ly/1wmSGx3
Tickets on Sale Now for Tucson Roadrunners Games - Single-game tickets for the Tucson Roadrunners 2017-18 hockey home games went on sale today at the Tucson Convention Center (TCC) Ticket Office. With tickets starting at just $15, fans can enjoy family fun in Downtown Tucson. The Roadrunners kick off the season on Saturday, Oct. 7, against the San Diego Gulls at 7:05 p.m. in the Tucson Arena. For more information, call 1-866-774-6253. You can also visit the website linked below to buy tickets, see the schedule, learn about promotions, follow game statistics, and more. The Sun Link streetcar has stops just west of the TCC (on Granada Avenue) for easy access to the games.
Tucson Roadrunners (and link to purchase tickets): https://bit.ly/2dCjdqn
Walk dogs on Labor Day - Pima Animal Care Center (PACC) is recruiting volunteers to walk dogs on Labor Day next Monday. PACC wants up to 200 volunteer dog walkers for the event. Anyone 15 years of age and older can register by following the link below. Check-in begins at 6:30 a.m. at 4000 N. Silverbell Road, and the dog walk will begin by 7 o'clock and run for about two hours. Walkers are encouraged to bring water, wear closed-toe shoes, and dress in clothing they don't mind getting dirty.
Register for PACC community dog walk: https://bit.ly/2xrDg1Q
PACC news: https://bit.ly/2wiYgru
Download App to Track Streetcar - If you'd like to track the Sun Link streetcar and you have a smartphone, you're in luck. The Tucson Streetcar Tracker, developed by Dallan Porter at the University of Arizona, is useful if you want to figure out how long it will take for the streetcar to show up at the stop where you're waiting. The app was developed using open data provided by Sun Link. The free tracker is available for iOS and Android.
Tucson Streetcar Tracker (iOS): https://apple.co/1CVgsYR
Tucson Streetcar Tracker (Android): https://bit.ly/1Ila0wD
Sun Link: https://bit.ly/1YLz2IN
Office Spaces Focusing More on Communal Areas “Businesses are beginning to design offices spaces that are increasing the amount of square footage per employee when shared work settings are taken into account. That is one of the conclusions of a new report by architecture and design firm Ted Moudis Associates, which analyzed 2.4 million square feet of Ted Moudis’ office projects. Many companies are expanding the selection of alternative places to get work done.” (Wall Street Journal, subscription required)
What Happens After the Real Estate Wave Crests? “Boston was flying high. New towers were transforming the downtown skyline, while growing companies couldn’t hire fast enough to fill open jobs. Home prices had been surging for half a decade, and condo builders were racing to keep up with the demand. The year was 1988. And what happened next was a real estate bust just as epic as the boom that preceded it. Jobs vanished. Banks failed. Unsold condos littered the market. It took most of a decade for Boston to dig out.” (Boston Globe)
Thousands of Homes in Houston Inundated by Tropical Storm Harvey “Heavy rains are continuing to fall on Houston as tens of thousands of homes in the city are being inundated by Harvey, a former category 4 hurricane that has been downgraded to a major tropical storm. Harris County sheriff's spokesman Jason Spencer says flooding throughout the county that includes Houston and the region is so widespread that it's ‘difficult to pinpoint the worst area.’ In all, more than 230,000 homes on the Texas coast are at risk of damage from storm surge, according to analytics company CoreLogic. The combined reconstruction value of is about $39.6 billion, Corelogic estimates. But many of the homes at risk are not in a designated flood zones.” (Forbes)
Here’s What Will Make Real Estate Investing Great Again “Profitable enterprises can be poor investments if you pay too much for them. That’s exactly what is happening now with publicly traded REITs. This development was forecasted in an article I wrote last February. With assistance from investment firm Research Affiliates, the article concluded that REITs would produce returns between 0% and 2% annualized on an inflation-adjusted basis over the next decade.” (MarketWatch)
How Stephen M. Ross’ Gift to the University of Michigan Ended Up in Tax Court “On his way to becoming the University of Michigan's largest donor, Stephen M. Ross and a group of business partners donated a collective gift to his alma mater. In return, the partnership claimed a giant charitable tax deduction: $33 million. The Internal Revenue Service didn't buy it. IRS lawyers flagged Ross and his partners as engaging in a ‘tax avoidance scheme lacking in economic substance … to the benefit of Mr. Ross and his associates at Related Companies.’” (Detroit Free Press)
Google Effect Unleashes Downtown San Jose Property Boom “Google’s effort to acquire a broad swath of downtown San Jose properties for a massive new tech campus is triggering a sharp jump in selling prices for commercial real estate in the area. The internet search giant’s plan to expand into San Jose with a new campus employing up to 20,000 Googlers near the Diridon train station and SAP Center could take years to become a reality, if the company moves ahead with plans to build.” (Mercury News)
Flooding After Harvey Too Much for Retailers, Grocers: Many Close Sunday Afternoon “Major grocers and retailers in the Houston area were forced to close most or all stores Sunday after Harvey slammed the city overnight. H-E-B operated some Houston-area stores until 3 p.m. Its store at Braeswood and Chimney Rock, however, remained closed as Brays Bayou overflowed, forcing residents to escape in boats and helicopters. It also closed its Central Market store on Westheimer.” (Chron)
The Closing: Joanne Podell “Joanne Podell, a veteran retail broker and executive vice chairman at Cushman & Wakefield, was named the company’s top producer nationwide in 2016. She is the second woman in the history of the company to receive that designation. Podell, who has brokered more than 100,000 square feet in the past year, spearheaded the largest retail transaction in New York City in 2016 when she represented sports giant Nike in a 70,000-square-foot lease for its flagship store at 650 Fifth Avenue.” (The Real Deal)
Northwestern Mutual’s New HQ Opens in Milwaukee “The 1.1 million-square-foot Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons project along the Lake Michigan lakefront in downtown Milwaukee has celebrated its grand opening. Gilbane Building Co., of Providence, R.I., was the project’s construction manager, along with joint venture partner CG Schmidt, a Milwaukee-based construction management and general contracting firm. The 32-story tower adjoins a three-story, two-block-long space known as the Commons.” (Commercial Property Executive)