Peaches aren’t the only Georgian export, and development caps strike fear into the heart of Silicon Valley
Mar 27, 2015
Here are the news stories you might have missed this week:
The New York Times: Flurry of freight spurs new commercial building construction in Georgia
With freight traffic on the rise, the Port of Savannah is seeing amazing growth. But while maritime transport continues to be a hot business for the region, it’s not just the port itself that’s seeing commercial real estate traction. Commercial development around the port has also picked up in order to keep up with distribution demands. More than 45 million square feet of logistic, storage, and distribution space now surrounds the port’s biggest terminal. A rise in imports and exports encouraged the development and expansion of 11 distribution centers, and resulted in vacancy rates as low as 5.4 percent. Read more about the port’s expansion at NYTimes.com.
Silicon Valley Business Journal: Palo Alto moves toward office cap — with a big exception
How does a city avoid too much growth? It caps it. Palo Alto city officials are directing staff to study a cap on new office development in the University Avenue (downtown), California Avenue, and El Camino Real districts. While the caps hope to prevent regional overgrowth, some business owners fear that they could threaten long-term development and force companies to move to other cities with more supply. Yet even with caps, expansion is still on the horizon, as the proposed cap numbers don’t address the projects currently in development. Learn the whole story at BizJournals.com.
The Wall Street Journal: Companies split off real-estate assets
Some retailers with national portfolios are considering moving their assets into real estate investment trusts. Record-high valuations for real estate assets, coupled with investor pressures, are encouraging companies to spin off their real estate holdings into REITs. Still, some see this trend as a bit of a risk, as reports of retail trouble could impact the cost of equity capital. The whole story can be found at WSJ.com.
GlobeSt.com: Is multifamily a better bet than condos?
There’s no question that Miami is a hot housing market. But with development on the rise, investors have to make a choice: condos or multifamily? One developer, River Landing Development, thinks multifamily development is the superior choice due to better financing opportunities and high demand from residents clamoring to live in certain Miami neighborhoods. Plus, multifamily developments have been known to boost retail markets, building a stronger economy as a whole. Read the whole interview with the developer at GlobeSt.com.
Posted by: Raymond T. Cirz