Man-made lagoons might redefine real estate markets, and the future of REITs as we know them
Nov 22, 2013
Here are the news stories you might have missed this week:
The Wall Street Journal: Can fake lakes bait buyers?
For years, landlocked foreign locales have developed man-made lagoons as a way to boost community appeal and sell residential houses. Now, the mastermind behind these unnatural waterfront properties, Crystal Lagoons Corp., is set to start work in the United States, in an attempt to turn less attractive land into profitable investment assets. To learn more about this new phenomenon, visit WSJ.com.
The New York Times: Using food to make an off-campus area more inviting
Landlords, brokers, and community leaders on the Upper East Side of Manhattan are pushing to install food businesses along the streets just south of Columbia University in a ravenous effort of urban renewal. They argue that, like schools or parks, cuisine can help improve neighborhoods in need of redevelopment by filling empty retails spaces and helping fuel the local economy. Read more about how food can save the Upper East Side at NYTimes.com.
GlobeSt.com: Newcastle strikes $1B senior housing deal
This week, Newcastle Investment Corp. entered into an agreement to acquire a 52-property portfolio of senior housing properties from Holiday Retirement Corp., totaling $1.01 billion. At the completion of the Holiday acquisition, combined with other committed transactions, Newcastle’s senior housing portfolio will run to 99 properties with 12,347 rentable units. To learn more about these major transactions in the senior housing market, visit GlobeSt.com
CoStar: REIT investors, analysts debate potential impact from expected tapering, higher interest rates
Despite economic improvements and favorable market conditions for U.S. commercial property investors, Wall Street has turned bearish on real estate investment trusts (REITs), causing confusion for many industry leaders. From reported plans of reducing quantitative easing programs of bond purchasing to debunking the myths of REIT interest rate sensitivity, experts on both sides have a lot to debate when discussing the future of REIT investments. Click over to Costar.com to read more about each side of the argument.