The following article which appeared in The National Real Estate Investor earlier this year describes the efforts of Wal-Mart to incorporate “greenâ€? technology into its existing and new stores and, even more interestingly, to share its information about “greenâ€? technology with other competing retailers in order to speed its market acceptance.  “Greenâ€? buildings are rapidly becoming mainstream with numerous major corporations and real estate companies making major commitments to supporting or utilizing “greenâ€? technology in their buildings.  This is a movement which real estate investors need to be aware of […]

The following article appeared in the September 2007 issue of “Retail Traffic”.  It discusses the differences between CMBS (Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities) lenders who sell the loans they originate on the secondary market  and Portfolio Lenders (lenders who originate loans to be held in their own portfolios).  A principal difference between the two has always been that CMBS lenders usually require “yield maintenance” in lieu of fixed prepayment penalties while the Portfolio Lenders typically use fixed prepayment penalties.  We usually recommend that investors who may want to sell or refinance […]

This article discusses the increasing interest of U.S. shopping center developers in South and Central America.  There are also residential projects underway in Mexico and Panama and other commercial and industrial projects underway in Mexico and these activities are expected to grow in coming years.  STAKING CLAIM DOWN SOUTH -  BY ANNE FIELD A decade ago, when many U.S. retail owners and developers were first looking beyond U.S. borders for expansion opportunities, Latin America was a hot target. At the time it seemed many once-schizophrenic economies were showing signs of […]

The transaction below may be an indication that cap rates on some commercial real estate may be rising.  For many months as interest rates have slowly risen on commercial real estate transactions the cap rates have not moved up accordingly.  This “cap rate compression” has been the source of much discussion and some have predicted that the cap rates would eventually rise to reflect higher borrowing rates.  End of an Era? Aug 1, 2007 12:00 PM Developers Diversified Realty Corp. in late June announced the sale of 63 properties to […]