What 3-D printers mean for the real estate market, and the US farmland takeover
Feb 21, 2014
Here are the news stories you might have missed this week:
Bloomberg: Nashville leading as office deals beat US average: Real estate
The hub of country music is topping the American charts yet again, but this time in the real estate sector. Nashville raked in $1.7 billion in apartment and office transactions last year alone, outperforming U.S. averages. Experts attribute the real estate surge to the city’s hip and vibrant appeal that’s attracting a younger generation of occupants. To learn more about the Music City’s bountiful real estate market, click over to Bloomberg.com.
AG Professional: Institutional investors grow influence on US farmland
Move over Old McDonald, there’s a new crop of farmers in town — institutional investors. Investors, such as the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund, Hancock Agricultural Investment Group, and the Hancock Natural Resource Group, are snatching up farmland at an alarming rate in response to rising food prices and a growing demand for biofuel. While individual U.S. farmers still remain the biggest buyers of farms, an estimated 400 million acres is expected to change hands in the next 20 years. For more information about these acquisitions, check out AGProfessional.com.
Sacramento Business Journal: Commercial brokers told to embrace exponential change
While 3-D printers and driverless cars might have Wired readers giddy, the real estate industry is less enthused. In an Association of Commercial Real Estate presentation, Aaron Frank discussed a world where 3-D printers create houses in a matter of hours and driverless cars eliminate the need for parking lots. These big technological advancements could hold even greater ramifications for the commercial real estate industry, leaving many professionals feeling unprepared. To read more, click over to BizJournals.com.
GlobeSt.com: Are healthcare REITs set to explode?
REITs are dominating the real estate market, and the future continues to look bright for these companies. Since REITs are predominantly equity, they make decisions faster and endure market changes better than small investors. For those reasons, they’re cleaning up in the apartment and industrial sectors, and are now gaining footholds in the health care industry. Experts predict significant REIT opportunities in health care initiatives associated with the aging population. For more information on the future of REITs, visit GlobeSt.com.
Author: Raymond T. Cirz
Commercial Observer: Contentious Comcast/Time Warner deal could save $12.2M in real estate ‘synergies’ [updated]
A recent $45 billion merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable (TWC) is expected to save a total of $1.5 billion in synergies alone. Comcast expects to recover $12.2 million once TWC vacates its 133,214-square-foot office space, with additional saving stemming from shaving overhead costs and creating operations and capital expenditure synergies. To learn more about this merger, check out CommericalObserver.com.