Welcome to CREtrends.com — a blog about commercial real estate

Developed and maintained by attorneys at Leonard, Street and Deinard, this site will address a wide variety of topics focused on commercial real estate. Collectively, we offer decades of industry experience and a national perspective that extends from our Midwestern base. Our goal is to help individuals and businesses better understand the issues driving today’s commercial real estate trends. Our Bloggers →

Latest Commercial Real Estate Blog Posts
Bidding on a home

Home Affordability Index at Record Level

Feb 16

Affordable Housing, Commercial Development, Land Use, Residential Development, Uncategorized An American family's ability to purchase a home is at its highest level in the last twenty years.  A CNN Money article reports that the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index has hit its highest level since the index was started twenty years ago.  At current affordability levels, 75.9% of all new and existing homes sold during the three months that ended on December 31, 2011 could have been comfortably purchased... Read more →

Shaun McElhatton

office tower

Financial Expert Predicts European Debt Crisis Will Have Little Impact on US Commercial RE Market

Feb 15

Banking/Finance, Commercial Development, Land Use, Retail, Uncategorized Jacques Gordon, global investment strategist for LaSalle Investment Management, predicts in a Wall Street Journal blog post today that the European debt crisis that is currently playing out will have only a small impact on US commercial real estate markets.  Mr. Gordon does indicate that European banks are downsizing, which may have a modest impact on East Coast office markets.  On the other hand, the decline in the euro relative to the dollar makes... Read more →

Shaun McElhatton

Man Signing Paper

Court Upholds Termination of 20 Year Energy Center Agreement

Feb 8

Commercial Development, Land Use, Mixed-use Development, Residential Development, Uncategorized A recent decision by the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld a condominium association's termination of an agreement to purchase heating and cooling services in a multi-use building even though the agreement was not scheduled to terminate until the end of 2024.  The Court's decision was based on a provision of Minnesota law that is similar to the laws in several other states.  The Minnesota law permits an owners' association to terminate any agreement... Read more →

Shaun McElhatton

Mall upper and lower levels

Ford Motor Co Looks to Graves 601 Hotel as Model for Luxury Marketing

Feb 6

Commercial Development, Hospitality, Mixed-use Development In a recent article, Ford Motor Co's global marketing head mentioned Minneapolis' Graves 601 Hotel as a model for its new luxury marketing strategy.  Commenting, "When I or my peers or even our dealers go look around and say who does, who scales, who codifies personal service, it's not in our industry," Ford's representative indicated that he will look to the luxury hotel market, including the Graves 601, for guidance and insight in developing Ford's new... Read more →

Shaun McElhatton

growth-chart

REIT Values Off to a Blazing Start for 2012

Jan 30

Banking/Finance, Commercial Development, Health Care, Hospitality, Mixed-use Development, Retail, Uncategorized If REIT values are any indication, 2012 should be a great year for commercial real estate.  Shares of the iShares Dow Jones US Real Estate ETF (NYSE:IYR) are up from an October 4, 2011 low of $46.70 to a high of $60.78 at the closing of the markets last week as reported by InTheMoneyStocks.com.  That ETF is designed to track the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index, which is a broad measure of United States real estate equity performance.  The current,... Read more →

Shaun McElhatton

Man Signing Paper

Market Watch: 5-Year Commercial Real Estate Loans Maturing in 2012

Jan 30

Banking/Finance, Commercial Development, Retail Commercial real estate loans originated in 2007, near the height of the real estate bubble, are maturing this year.  According to a recent New York Times article, $70 billion dollars worth of commercial real estate mortgages are maturing this year in New York City alone.  The article explains that refinancing these loans will not be automatic and banks will probably require additional capital to reduce overall debt on the property.  For properties that... Read more →

Jim Wilson

Looking up

The Most Influential Real Estate Leaders of 2011

Jan 5

Affordable Housing, Banking/Finance, Brownfields, Commercial Development, Health Care, Hospitality, Land Use, Mixed-use Development, Public Development Projects, Residential Development, Retail, Transportation, Uncategorized Inman News has posted its “Inman 100” report for 2011, listing the 100 most influential real estate leaders for the past year.  Inman’s report explains the criteria considered in the review and selection process.  The unranked real estate leaders of 2011 are listed alphabetically under the following categories: Brokerages, Franchisors, Brokerage Organizations; Economists, Academics and Consultants; Government; Industry trade groups, MLSs; Media,... Read more →

Jim Wilson

Construction Zone

How to Market Your Stalled Development Site

Jan 5

Commercial Development, Public Development Projects, Retail A recent New York Times article reports that some real estate executives and developers are finding creative ways to market their development sites that have stalled in the economic downturn.  Developers are allowing vendors to set up shop on the stalled construction sites to increase foot-traffic to the neighborhood, hoping that it results in better business or quicker apartment sales when construction is completed.  According to the article, the... Read more →

Jim Wilson

sold

Experts Divided on 2012 Homeownership Market

Jan 3

Affordable Housing, Banking/Finance, Commercial Development, Land Use, Residential Development Today's installment of MSN Money includes a good summary of the expert's predictions for the U.S. homeownership market for 2012.  The article surveys a number of prominent commentators on the homeownership market.  The predictions range from continued declines in the homeownership market to a continuation of the modest improvement trend that has prevailed for most of 2011.  The article includes a link to the Bloomberg site that contains a state by... Read more →

Shaun McElhatton

gold-dollar-sign

Could You Heat Your Apartment or Office Building for Free with a Data Furnace?

Dec 8

Brownfields, Commercial Development, Land Use, Uncategorized Would you like to heat your multifamily or office building for free or at a reduced cost?  A new research paper argues that you can by putting a computer data center in your building and using the heat generated by the data center (which the paper refers to as a data furnace) to heat the building.  The paper's authors note that the United States' IT industry currently uses in excess of 3% of the total energy consumed in the US, while home heating... Read more →

Shaun McElhatton

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