There’s one thing holding San Francisco back, and why everyone wants to go to Ithaca
Sep 4, 2015
Here are the news stories you might have missed this week:
The New York Times: Building for the future, Ithaca remakes town square
What’s the acceptance rate to Cornell University and Ithaca College? Who cares. Ithaca’s $15.3 million makeover of the Commons, its downtown pedestrian mall, has investors and developers interested in the city again, and they’re stressing about vacancy rates (below 1 percent) and cheering about rental rates (up 3 to 5 percent). Recently implemented city incentives are spurring new investment and redevelopment from hotel developers, multifamily investors, and retailers, who eye up Ithaca as a city that has opportunities for even more commercial real estate activity. Go to NYTimes.com to read more about Ithaca’s transformation.
Real Estate Weekly: Investors in search of stable returns pouring money into healthcare
The health care real estate sector is the model of good health, and investment has reached new highs for the fourth straight year. Investors see this asset class as recession-proof, and low interest rates, unprecedented capital, and predictable demand is resulting in sky-high valuations. The search for stability has led investors to health care real estate assets, including medical office buildings, ambulatory surgery centers, short-stay hospitals, and other clinics. To learn what investors are thinking, visit REW-Online.com.
San Francisco Business Times: One surprising culprit in San Francisco’s housing crisis
The only thing that can stop San Francisco’s growth is people’s stuff; self-storage facilities throughout the Bay Area aren’t selling, even though land is more in demand than ever, because the city’s renters have to store their furniture, antiques, and Christmas trees somewhere. Self-storage REITs generate steady cash flow, and investors would rather buy more land for storage than sell existing sites. But, this peculiar situation is causing some storage owners to think differently, and some might even build residential units on top of existing storage – the best of both worlds, right? Read the whole story at BizJournals.com.
CoStar: Tenants, investors still showing love for malls, just not for lower-tier properties
Retail REITS and retailers love malls – high-performing, quality shopping meccas, that is. Investors and retailers are exiting malls that don’t perform and relocating assets to quality centers, so the strongest malls are gaining better tenants while the centers with high vacancies continue struggling. Many REITs are shedding non-core assets, but still see the value and opportunity in re-leasing vacant spaces in many malls. Head over to CoStar.com to see what investors think about malls.