RETAIL BUYING OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD

Effect of the credit crunch and curtailed expansion plans by retailers will bring enticing retail property offerings to market in 2008

The combined effect of the credit crunch and curtailed expansion plans by retailers will bring enticing retail property offerings to market in 2008, researchers predict. Lackluster asset sales in January, however, confirm that buyers remain rooted to the sidelines.

“It’s a very difficult selling market right now,” says Bernie Haddigan, a managing director at Marcus & Millichap and director of the company’s national retail group.[...more...]

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FUNNY

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HOUSTON CBD TOPS NATION IN OFFICE RENT GROWTH

While office vacancy rates nationwide are on the increase, Houston has found an impressive absorption rate as of late. In other markets, now may be the time to seek new, under-priced space or purchase that office condo instead of renting.

Office rent in downtown Houston increased 52.4% year-over-year in 2007 – the greatest gain of any central business district in the nation, according to Colliers International. [...more...]

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A RETAIL REINVENTION OF MANHATTAN'S FINANCIAL DISTRICT

Vision is everything. Redevelopment awaits in many places...

For decades, Manhattan's Financial District held zero cachet as a shopping destination. Its crooked street grid, which bears little in common with the uniform retail corridors of Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue, didn't help. Manhattan's southernmost tip also became a ghost town every weekend.



But over the past six years, Lower Manhattan has undergone a dramatic transformation. [...more...]

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