New Asian Cities
Through my attendance at MIT’s World Real Estate Forum, I was introduced to new research that is collected in the book entitled, Toward Urban Economic Vibrancy, Patterns and Practice in Asia’s New Cities, Edited by Siqi Zheng and Zhengzhen Tan. The several papers that make up the book include sections on finance, structure, Public Private Partnership, design, success measurements, industrial policy, location, and case studies.
Continue reading “New Asian Cities”
What I Learned From Attending MIT’s World Real Estate Forum 2020
This year’s Forum was held virtually with presenters and participants from Asia, Europe, and the United States. There were a wide range of future-focused topics that came at the right time. The Forum opened many new doors for exploration and research. My favorite sessions addressed ESG, Wellness, New Cities, Pricing Metrics, and Virtual Worlds.
Continue reading “What I Learned From Attending MIT’s World Real Estate Forum 2020”
Commentary on Industrial Markets
Week of June 25 – Need For Space
The industrial market during the Covid-19 period, now edging back to normality, is a lesson on disruption. The most visible example are container ships backed into the sea and unable to unload goods because there is not enough dock space available at the ports. It is the same at warehouses and container yards: too many products and not enough space.
Continue reading “Commentary on Industrial Markets”
VR and Industrial Real Estate
In these times of Stay-at-Home and Social Distancing, posting 360 videos is one way to reduce going out and meeting in person. It is the exact opposite of what I learned in sales training, but viewing space virtually is right for the moment. Continue reading “VR and Industrial Real Estate”
Machine Learning and Industrial Real Estate
Most of us have experience with basic spreadsheet packages, databases, and CRMs like Excel, Access, or Salesforce. These are common examples of machine learning. More complicated are the advanced expressions that computer scientists write for high finance trading. All rely on search, update, replace, and other basic commands. By setting up procedures and calculations that process your property information, you too can start gaining valuable machine knowledge to make more deals. We’ll be discussing more about this in person during the TransACT 360 Tech Committee’s Program, “Collaborative Innovation”, on April 30 in Indian Wells, Calif.
Continue reading “Machine Learning and Industrial Real Estate”
Ownership Concentrations in Los Angeles Industrial Real Estate
Every August, the Los Angeles Tax Assessor releases its annual Tax Roll that lists all ownership in Los Angeles County. This is valuable data and serves as an important part of our statistical analysis for the year. In other words, Tax Roll data helps us find properties to purchase. For Tax Year 2019/2020, the share of Institutional ownership increased in all size ranges, particularly larger buildings. For investment buyers, more focus on smaller buildings will be fruitful because there is less institutional concentration.
Continue reading “Ownership Concentrations in Los Angeles Industrial Real Estate”
Creative Industrial: The Next Wave of Building Investment
We’ve come to end a long period of consolidation in the warehouse and distribution sector. Particularly over the past ten years, a handful of national owners have rolled-up a vast network of separately owned warehouses into an industrial building behemoth across the best locations. It’s a feat worthy of acknowledgement but consolidation marks a turning point. The buccaneering ethos of deal-making has been permanently replaced by a staid, institutional mindset. There is a final hurrah for Private Investors and that is Creative Industrial.
Continue reading “Creative Industrial: The Next Wave of Building Investment”
The New Industrial Real Estate Business
If you are buying, selling or leasing, today’s industrial real estate business has permanently shifted. It has become an investor led market that was originally established for Occupiers. Investment fundamentals supersede many traditional occupancy concerns. Industrial markets became financialized because of strong and increasing money flows from institutional funds, REITs and private investors. In the New Industrial Real Estate Business, profits accrue fastest to those who treat their buildings like an investment product. The primary market driver is improving income through rental increases, operations, and tenancies. The wave of financialization is affecting most local industrial markets in the best metros and is visible building-by-building. Technical sophistication and specialized platforms are the new means of operating in today’s industrial building business.
Continue reading “The New Industrial Real Estate Business”
Industrial Buildings: From Private Hands to Institutional Buyers
One of the longest running trends in industrial real estate is the shift of ownership from private hands to institutions. Traditionally, insurance companies, pension funds, and real estate investment trusts (REITs) would purchase new developments and industrial parks after they had been leased and stabilized. It served as both a guaranteed exit for entrepreneurial developers as well as the way investors would acquire property to match long term obligations.
Continue reading “Industrial Buildings: From Private Hands to Institutional Buyers”