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
Man with Shovel

Is Made in the USA Housing the Solution to the Current Housing Slump?

Sep 9

Commercial Development, Residential Development, Uncategorized A contractor in Montana is arguing that if all Americans increased their purchasing of goods made in the US by 5%, our economic slump would end, and he's backing up his argument by building homes that are 100% made in the USA.   This article in the New York Times describes Anders Lewendal's effort to build American.  It's not as simple as it sounds.   For example, figuring out where the nails in a box of nails was manufactured can be difficult. ... Read more →

Shaun McElhatton

growth-chart

Twin Cities Apartment Market is Hot!

Sep 1

Land Use, Residential Development A recent report from Cassidy Turley is great news for Twin Cities multi-family owners.  The report notes that many Twin Cities metro neighborhoods are experiencing vacancy rates in the 2% range and that demand for multifamily units is generally strong.   Student and senior housing are the focus of most current development efforts in the Twin Cities, with eleven projects serving those two market segments currently under construction.   Proximity to... Read more →

Shaun McElhatton

irs_logo_05

New Rules Will Support Broader Biomass and Biofuel Development

Aug 26

Banking/Finance, Public Development Projects On August 19, 2011, the Internal Revenue Service published new regulations governing the use of tax-exempt bonds to finance solid waste disposal facilities. The regulations broaden the potential use of tax-exempt bonds for solid waste disposal and recycling facilities, including waste-to-energy and biofuels facilities. The final regulations can be found here: Most significantly, the new regulations: Eliminate the "no-value test," which required... Read more →

Steve Mayeron

gold-dollar-sign

Wise Use of Leverage is Critical to Successful Real Estate Development

Aug 26

Banking/Finance, Commercial Development “It is the debtor that is ruined by hard times.” -Rutherford B. Hayes For my entire career in commercial real estate, I understood leverage as a good thing, and the more the better.  However, the recent credit crunch and downturn in the real estate markets have taught me the dangers of too much leverage and have led me to consider the appropriate place for leverage in a real estate portfolio. On the one hand, leverage is an important and useful... Read more →

Shaun McElhatton

S&P2

S&P Drops Credit Ratings on Multifamily Housing Revenue Debt

Aug 10

Affordable Housing As a direct result of the downgrade by Standard and Poor's of the credit rating of the U.S. Government on August 8, 2011, S&P dropped the rating on certain multifamily housing revenue bonds. Issues affected include those for which the credit is enhanced by any GSE, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GNMA, FHA or the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. S&P has posted explanations for the downgrades on its Web site, standardandpoors.com.

Barbara Portwood

tokyo streets

Vertical Subdivision Trend Continues to Spread

Aug 8

Affordable Housing, Banking/Finance, Brownfields, Commercial Development, Hospitality, Land Use, Mixed-use Development, Public Development Projects, Residential Development, Retail As development returns to American cities, we are seeing more and more projects--both existing and new construction--that involve vertical subdivisions.  Just as an ordinary two-dimensional subdivision carves up one parcel into multiple lots, a vertical subdivision carves up one parcel into multiple parcels, but the parcels are stacked on top of one another, rather than resting side by side. A condominium is the most common type of vertical... Read more →

Shaun McElhatton

irs_logo_05

IRS Issues Favorable Guidance On Draw-Down Bonds

Aug 5

Banking/Finance, Public Development Projects With reinvestment rates hovering around zero, private activity bonds issued to finance multifamily housing or other exempt facilities are often issued as “draw down bonds” to avoid negative arbitrage. Draw down bonds have traditionally been treated as “issued” for the purpose of using volume cap when the first $50,000 is advanced, but interest only accrues on proceeds as they are advanced. So, for example, if $50,000 of a $20 million bond issue is... Read more →

Barbara Portwood

Apartment Buildings

Affinity Communities are Latest Hot Housing Trend

Jun 28

Commercial Development, Land Use, Residential Development A recent SmartMoney article describes a recent trend toward the development of "affinity communities"--retirement communties based on shared interests.  The most common type of affinity community is a college community,  which is often located on or near a college campus and offers housing to retired faculty and alums.  Other affinity communities are designed to attract musicians and music lovers, recreational vehicle enthusiasts, nudists,... Read more →

Shaun McElhatton

grocery-cart-superstore

CALIFORNIA ANTI-SUPERSTORE BILL ADVANCES

Jun 24

Commercial Development, Land Use, Mixed-use Development, Retail Big box retailers may soon have a California-sized hurdle to face if they want to open a new store in the Golden State.  The California legislature is currently considering Senate Bill 469, which would require its cities and counties to cause an economic impact report to be completed before approving a proposed development project that would include the construction of a superstore retailer.  The report would need to include a detailed analysis of,... Read more →

Erica Delain

RedTape

Completing Deals Despite State Shutdown

Jun 12

Banking/Finance The current State budget cycle ends on June 30.  It is unclear whether the Governor and Republican lawmakers will find common ground for even a short-term fix. Many of us rely heavily on the Secretary of State's (SOS) office to conduct business. The current talk is that the SOS will not receive special funding to stay open, but will simply close during any broader government shutdown, at least until it is time for the Minnesota State Universities to... Read more →

Jerry Perron

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