Real Estate Issues articles from March 2007

Real Estate Issues archives from March 2007

Editor's statement.(Counselors of Real Estate website launches electronic version of Real Estate Issues)(Editorial)
March 22, 2007... OK, I'LL MAKE AN EMBARRASSING confession. Two months ago my firm, Bartram & Cochran, was working on a typical (for us) assignment on the economic impact of a proposed big box development to a small community. We kept asking the developer for...

Focus on investments: the global REIT revolution.(INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE)(Market overview)
March 22, 2007... INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS LIKE TO POINT to the so-called Modern REIT Era to distinguish between the sleepy world of passive real estate investment trusts that drew modest amounts of capital between 1960 and 1991, the year Kimco Realty Corp. came...

Shifting U.S. demographics and development models: immigration, economy and the workforce.(FEATURE)(Discussion)
March 22, 2007... Panelists: HUGH KELLY, CRE DAVID J. LYNN, PH.D., MBGA, CRE FRANCIS PARKER, CRE Moderator: MARC A. LOUARGAND, PH.D. CRE, FRICS LABOR ISSUES: Is there a role for immigration in offsetting workforce shortages predicted...

Who's running the show? Implementing centralized management of property taxes for a global portfolio.(FEATURE)
March 22, 2007... MANY PROPERTY TAX AND ASSET MANAGERS who oversee a global portfolio of real estate would be hard pressed to answer the seemingly simple question: "How much does our company pay in annual property taxes?" This reality may come as a surprise to...

Focus on the United Kingdom: residential property--do you own enough?(INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE)
March 22, 2007... THIS IS THE THIRD IN A SERIES OF FIVE ARTICLES providing my personal perspective on the state of the property market in the United Kingdom. The first article, which appeared in the Fall 2006 edition of Real Estate Issues, focused on some of the...

Recommended reading: the Dynamics of Real Estate Capital Markets--A Practioner's Perspective.(Recommended readings)
March 22, 2007... RECOMMENDED READING The Dynamics of Real Estate Capital Markets--A Practioner's Perspective By Bowen H. "Buzz" McCoy (2006, Urban Land Institute, Washington, D.C., 262 pages) THIS UNIQUELY ORGANIZED TEXT comprises 36 of Bowen H....

Negotiating defeasance provisions at origination can materially impact the bottom line.(FEATURE)
March 22, 2007... DEFEASANCE IS A PROCESS BY WHICH BORROWERS OBTAIN A release of their properties--typically for the purpose of selling or refinancing--from a mortgage that has been securitized. Once loans are securitized, lenders have little flexibility in...

Focus on the investment law: FIRREA and its effect on the investment community.(INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE)(Federal Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act)
March 22, 2007... IN 1989, THE U.S. PRESIDENT SIGNED into law Title XI of the Federal Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act, more commonly known as FIRREA. With it came fundamental changes in the way that federally regulated institutions must order...

Focus on real estate analysis: comments on the concept and definition of highest and best use.(INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE)
March 22, 2007... HIGHEST AND BEST USE ANALYSIS DOES NOT APPLY SOLELY to appraisals; it also relates directly to real property market analysis. Appraisal literature may contain the majority of discussion and presentation of HBU analysis to date, but it is...

Collaborative and market-driven approaches to economic development and revitalization.(FEATURE)
March 22, 2007... RESPONSE TO THE 2005 U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION IN Kelo vs. New London has been dramatic and polarizing. Overnight, eminent domain has become a topic for discussion in households, businesses and community forums. In the backlash from the...

Focus on the environment: going green pays off for two leading businesses.(INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE)
March 22, 2007... INCORPORATING BUILDING DESIGN ELEMENTS that are environmentally sensitive. Embarking on facility retrofits to conserve resources. These are no longer daring, radical concepts employed only by avant-garde thinkers with deep pockets. Today, going...