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.
Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 57.66 points, or 0.3 per cent, to close at 17,674.82. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 3.74 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 2,075.32 and the NASDAQ composite fell 4.89 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 4,843.55.
Benchmark U.S. crude dropped 39 cents to $48.49 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 52 cents to $49.83 per barrel in London. In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline futures fell 1 cent to $1.52 a gallon, heating old fell 1 cent to $1.50 a gallon and natural gas rose 2 cents to $2.604 per thousand cubic feet.
Rising US retail sales offer relief after weak jobs report — Despite a hiring slump, American consumers remain confident about spending. A federal report released Tuesday shows that U.S. shoppers boosted retail sales in May by a seasonally adjusted 0.5 per cent. It was the second straight increase, after an even more robust 1.3 per cent increase in April. A resilient consumer suggests that the economy remains sure-footed even as job growth has slowed, construction spending has weakened and corporate profits have declined. Consumer spending is the leading driver of the U.S. economy.
A Look Inside This ‘Leaking, Steaming Bag of Real Estate’ “Last week, I was sitting on the front row of an investor meeting at REIT Week and it seemed like I was in the middle of a battlefield. The antagonist, Welltower, Inc., and the company's CEO Tom DeRosa, was firing strong words at the arch rivals. Ventas, Inc. and HCP. Inc. DeRosa declared that HCN would never spin off skilled nursing properties, and disparaged the concept of (skilled nursing) spin-offs in extreme terms.” (Seeking Alpha)
New—Look McDonald’s Moving Headquarters into Chicago by 2018 “A shift to all-day breakfast isn’t the only move for a McDonald’s Corp. that’s trying to modernize and stay competitive among increasingly conscientious eaters. The fast-food chain confirmed on Monday that it will relocate its global headquarters from suburban Chicago to the city’s downtown by spring 2018, putting new-look facilities and appealing to younger, visionary talent high up on its revitalization menu. McDonald’s, which also shopped for a new spot downtown last year but didn’t follow through, will move from a sprawling campus in west suburban Oak Brook.” (MarketWatch)
Real Estate Investors Passing Over U.S. to Find Good Deals in Europe “With only pockets of competitively priced investment opportunities in the U.S., real estate investors are roaming Europe looking for bargains. U.S. institutional investors are moving more capital across Europe than ever before. For example, officials at the $187.4 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System are selling off domestic real estate in favor of properties in Europe. In May, the $34.3 billion Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, Oak Brook, launched a search for a core open-end European real estate fund manager for a $100 million account.” (Pensions & Investments)
Challenges, Pitfalls and Problems with Crowdfunding Real Estate “The reality of crowdfunding is very different than the outward appearance of a sleek, easy and quick way to get deals done. From the outside looking in, a capital raiser would see crowdfunding as an opportunity to put their project onto the investor’s equivalent of ‘eBay’ where people just see the offering, click buy, and all of a sudden your offering is full. However, the realities are a stark contrast to what most people, especially real estate developers and issuers, perceive.” (cre.tech)
Thor Seals $525M Manhattan Deal “Thor Equities has closed on its sale of 693 Fifth Ave. in Midtown Manhattan for $525 million, almost four times the 20-story building’s purchase price barely half-a-dozen years ago, Thor announced Friday. The 100,000-square-foot office and retail building is home to the flagship store of luxury fashion brand Valentino, which occupies four full levels of retail space with 50 feet of Fifth Avenue frontage. Upper-floor office tenants include Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Louis Licari and Phillips Auctioneers.” (Commercial Property Executive)
Macy’s to Unveil New Store Design Prototype “Macy’s is set to debut a store design at its remodeled location in Easton Town Center, Columbus, Ohio, that will be ‘100% brand new.’ That’s according to a report by The Columbus Dispatch, which describes the revamp as touching nearly every aspect of the 200,000-sq.-ft. store, from the lighting to the fixtures to the flooring. But the makeover includes far more than design changes. It transforms Macy’s conventional department store format with a model that spotlights ‘lifestyle’ departments and leased businesses.” (Chain Store Age)
$3.8 Billion Servicing Portfolio Acquired by Walker & Dunlop “This past week Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced that it has agreed to purchase the commercial mortgage servicing rights associated with a $3.8 billion servicing portfolio from Oppenheimer Multifamily Housing & Healthcare Finance, Inc. a subsidiary of Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. The portfolio is comprised of over 480 multifamily and healthcare loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The acquisition is expected to close on June 20, 2016.” (World Property Journal)
Warning: Watch Out for These Lease Renewal Threats “In 2016, the apartment industry will see the most new units delivered to the market since the post-recession cycle began around 2010. So much new product coming to the market could ultimately make switching properties an easy decision for unsatisfied residents. And there's another change in housing choice that is tricky to combat—homeownership. These two aspects of the housing industry pose a threat to lease renewals for property managers across the country.” (Multifamily Executive)
MetLife Names JLL Master Developer of Planned Midtown Transit Oriented Project “A proposed Midtown transit-oriented development is gaining momentum. MetLife Inc. recently picked real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. as master developer for the insurance company’s 8.5-acre Midtown Heights, according to a statement from the companies. The project would rise at the corner of Spring and 17th streets next to the Downtown Connector and MARTA’s Arts Center station. The site also stands just across from Atlantic Station.” (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
After String of Death, Hammer of Justice Comes Down on Construction Firms “Last week, Salvatore Schirripa and his company Brooklyn-based construction company J&M Metro General Contracting Corp. were indicted for not complying with safety regulations that led to the death of a 50-year-old construction worker in April 2015, according to a press release by the Brooklyn district attorney’s office. Schirripa and his company were given safety warnings on four different occasions in September 2011, December 2011, April 2013 and August 2014, ordering them to provide fall protection for their workers, District Attorney Kenneth Thompson said.” (Commercial Observer)
Shanghai evicts small polluters for Disney theme park — Authorities have evicted hundreds of Shanghai residents and dozens of businesses to clean up the air and make way for the newest Disney theme park, which opens Thursday. Residents were paid for lost homes but hundreds of employees of shuttered factories say they don’t know where their next jobs will be. The story has been repeated thousands of times across China over the past two decades as the communist government removed farmers and small businesses for construction of factories, office towers, hydroelectric dams and other projects.