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Cities that Promise to be the Healthiest Real Estate Markets - 3/25/2013
Cities that Promise to be the Healthiest Real Estate Markets
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Foreclosure fast-forward: New law could speed sales - 3/11/2013
Starting in June, banks will be able to zip foreclosures of abandoned homes through the courts, potentially allowing them to repossess properties in as little as 90 days. That's the idea, anyway, behind a measure Gov. Pat Quinn signed last month that is one of the most ambitious rewrites of the state's foreclosure law since the real estate crash in 2008.
Speeding up foreclosures of empty properties could boost the local residential market as lenders focus on finding new owners for deserted homes instead of slogging through court proceedings.
It took banks an average of 697 days to take back a home in Illinois in the fourth quarter, the fifth-longest time frame in the country, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc.
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Mole resurfaces in River North loan deal - 8/12/2009
Portland, Ore.-based Aspen Capital LLC in June acquired a $9.3-million loan on 363 W. Erie St. from Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corp., which last year filed a foreclosure suit on the 112,600-square-foot building, public records show. Including unpaid interest, property taxes and other charges, Manulife's claim totaled $12.6 million.
Steve Rosenberg, an Aspen principal, confirmed the purchase but declined to comment on the price.
The Manulife note is one of the few loans have been sold this year on troubled Chicago-area commercial properties, says Donald Shapiro, CEO of Rosemont-based property management and leasing firm Foresite Realty Partners LLC, which wasn't involved in the deal.
But such deals are likely to accelerate over the next two years.
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Delinquency jumps on local commercial property loans - 5/26/2009
By Alby Gallun of Chicago's Crain's
(Crain's) — The delinquency rate for local commercial real estate loans surged in the first quarter and is likely to go higher as more landlords struggle with rising vacancies and a credit crunch that has choked off lending.
Delinquent loans in the quarter represented 5.6% of the outstanding balances on all commercial property loans in the Chicago area tracked by Foresight Analytics LLC, an Oakland, Calif.-based research firm. That's up from 4.0% in the fourth quarter and 3.7% a year earlier.
Chicago's delinquency rate is the third-highest among the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas and far exceeds the 3.6% national rate, according to Foresight, which compiles its data from bank regulatory filings.
The Chicago area has had a higher delinquency rate than the nation as a whole since at least 2001, the earliest year for which Foresight has data. Foresight Partner Matt Anderson says it's unclear why that is, but he's certain that the problem is only going to get worse both locally and nationally.
The U.S. delinquency rate could even go as high as 9%, its peak during the severe real estate downturn of the early 1990s.
"Given the pressures that we see in the market, I wouldn't be surprised at all if we got to those sorts of levels in 2010 or 2011," Mr. Anderson says.
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Mortgage Foreclosure Section General Order 2009-01 - 4/8/2009
Chancery division of Cook County suspends all new default calls and foreclosure cases for judgment 7/09 & 8/09. For more information on the Mortgage Foreclosure Section General Order 2009-01 please see the attachment.
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Foreclosure Suit Hits Small Suburban Office - 2/3/2009
By Samantha Sleevi, (Crain's)
Owners of older, lackluster properties like Deerpath Atrium may be particularly hard-pressed.
"These properties are a commodity without any real qualitative differentiation," Mr. Sullivan says.
Allstate Insurance Co. recently moved out of 536 Atrium, a 77,646-square-foot building constructed in 1990. The building’s vacancy rate could not be determined, but Northbrook-based Allstate had leased about 26,000 square feet, according to real estate research firm CoStar Group Inc.
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Survey Says: Capital Markets Outlook Dim - 9/29/2008
By: Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor of CPN News
News has been coming fast and thick about the volatile capital markets landscape, but mostly it features overall trends and large abstractions. But what about the observations of those working in the trenches of the capital markets or those in real estate directly affected by it?
The 2008 Capital Markets Survey, orchestrated by the Chicago chapter of CREW--Commercial Real Estate Executive Women--gives some insight into what's going happening on the ground in commercial real estate finance. CREW Chicago surveyed the nationwide membership of senior-level executive women across all real estate-related sectors to set the framework for a luncheon discussion it hosted last week in Chicago. The organization has about 8,000 members.
"Recent events are magnifying the challenges of the investment markets," Jamie L. Hadac, vice president of Foresite Realty Partners L.L.C. and CREW member, told CPN this morning. "Lack of debt liquidity requires the experience of seasoned professionals who have been through down cycles before and understand that patience and consistency are valuable tools. One needs to apply unemotional standards to highly volatile situations."
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Brookdale owner hires turnaround firm, Welsh - 7/18/2008
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - by John Vomhof Jr. Staff Writer
Brookdale Center's Florida-based owner is bringing in outside help to reposition the struggling mall.
Coral Gables, Fla.-based Brooks Mall Properties has hired Chicago-based turnaround firm Foresite Realty Partners and Bloomington-based Welsh Cos. to co-manage the mall and help improve the value and perception of the property. Foresite will focus on asset management while Welsh handles the day-to-day operations.
The new management team took over July 1 and has not yet laid out a plan for the malls future, but retail observers said Brookdale should consider adding nontraditional mall tenants to help draw more traffic. The mall already has deals in place for a Wal-Mart store and an L.A. Fitness health club, although it's not clear those deals will move forward.
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Defaults May Rise Until 2010 in Markets - 7/7/2008
by: Gina Kenny of Globe St.
CHICAGO-Defaults are at an all-time high; particularly in the Chicago area and Midwest. Residential has led the way, but a few sectors of commercial real estate have not seen dramatic increases in defaults. Local experts are not expecting to see an end in sight until late 2009 or early 2010.
"Whether it is single-family residential (or) condominium residential, some form of residential clearly was kind of the first domino that fell in the path," says Donald Shapiro, president and CEO of Foresite Realty Partners LLC. "Since then, I think the number of defaults have escalated into a significantly greater portfolio of commercial properties."
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Financial Storm Pounding Real Estate Sentiment - 3/20/2008
Written by Mark Heschmeyer of CoStar Group
Industry Fears Financial Instability, Lack of Financing Will Drive Values Way Down
Meltdown?
E. William Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Bank, likened the fear in the markets to the fear in the late 1970s of a nuclear reactor meltdown.
"With the seemingly endless stream of negative news from the economy, credit markets, and financial institutions, there has been talk in some circles of a meltdown of the U.S. financial system," Stone wrote in a post this week. "In complex systems, like a nuclear reactor or an economic system, risk analysis is inherently difficult. The U.S. economy is suffering from serious financial stress as a result of a combination of complex and financially engineered products and inadequate risk analysis. How serious the damage will be to the U.S. financial system in addition to the U.S. and world economies has yet to be determined."
But Stone said the federal government seems aggressively intent on providing enough liquidity to the banking system to avoid a financial meltdown and is optimistic that it will eventually regain control of the markets.
However, the collective reaction of the commercial real estate industry to this volatility and instability and need for federal buttresses to support it is fear and dread.
"History has taught us that when the federal government begins to enter the financial markets in order to try and fend off material negative news, the economy and consumer confidence responds by consolidating its positions and retracting," said Donald A. Shapiro, president and CEO of Foresite Realty Partners in Rosemont, IL. "The confidence level falls further and the business approach tends to be very conservative in an almost bunker mentality waiting for the storm to pass. The Fed's attempts to lower interest rates, while welcomed by the economy, will be too late and not have the desired effects."
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New Money Pouring into Funds Targeting Distressed Deals - 2/6/2008
Written by Mark Heschmeyer of CoStar
Some in Industry Wonder Just How Smart This New Money Is
Everybody loves a bargain. And these days, just about everybody thinks they might be able to get one.
Since Aug. 1, just before the credit markets went into a tailspin, CoStar has reported on 28 funds that have raised or were in the process of raising more than $30 billion, with the bulk of the money targeted for distressed real estate and value-added opportunities.
That money is on top of more than $23 billion in private equity raised in the first half of 2007 according to Ernst & Young. The total for the year nearly doubles the total amount raised in 2006.
Not counted in that group are the existing funds that also have started to shift focus and resources. Funds that were originally looking for solid occupancy in Class A or B office and industrial assets or properties in solid or emerging markets are now buying properties to which they can add value through lease up or repositioning.
These opportunity funds have come to be called somewhat crudely vulture funds for the picture they conjure up of investors perched and poised to swoop in on troubled deals, mismanaged and/or underperforming assets. In many cases, though, it doesn't do the investors justice, because as every bargain hunter knows, one man's discards can be another man's gold - the trick is being able to turn trash into gold.
The flock that is now rapidly gathering is starting to raise, if not concerns, then at least a lot of questions about which ones have that ability and which ones can spot the diamond in the rough.
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U.S. Office Market Turns In Mixed Year - 1/11/2008
Written by Mark Heschmeyer of Costar
Absorption Off by Nearly 20%, But Rents Went Up and Vacancy Held Steady
While the U.S. housing market led the national economy closer to recession at the end of 2007, the well-documented housing woes appeared to have had only a modest impact on commercial real estate last year.
The national office market started its most recent up cycle late in 2003 following the bursting 'tech bubble' early this century. Since 2004, office absorption across all U.S. markets tracked by CoStar averaged 111.1 million square feet per year.
The U.S. office market finished 2007 with 90 million square feet of positive net absorption - about 19% less than the four-year average, according to CoStar's 2007 Office Market Report.
Th slowdown could indicate the office market is swinging back to a down cycle. The last time the market experienced that kind of decline in net absorption was in 2000 when net absorption fell about 27% in 2000 from 1999 totals. The country experienced negative net absorption the following year in 2001.
The Class C office product was the biggest loser last year, posting negative net absorption of 2.23 million square feet.
The Class B office product was off 29% from the four-year average.
The Class A office product fared the best, off just 8% from the four-year average.
Net absorption in the nation's central business districts held up in 2007, coming in nearly on par with the 4-year average.
That's not the case in the suburbs where net absorption last year was off 23% from the four-year average.
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Suburban market steady, but a recession could hit demand - 1/8/2008
The suburban office market held steady in the fourth quarter, but increasing talk of a recession could hamper demand for space.
The suburban vacancy rate was 15% in the fourth quarter, compared with 14.9% in the third quarter and 15.7% in the year-earlier period, according to the Chicago office of CB Richard Ellis Inc.
Though landlords are still able to hike rents, especially in the western and northern suburbs, it’s becoming less certain by the day that the strong market conditions will continue.
"Obviously, everyone is kind of waiting to see how this credit crisis and economic downturn are going to affect the market," says Christopher M. Connelly, managing director in CB Richard Ellis’ Schaumburg office.
The office market closely follows the job market, as growing businesses hire more employees, fueling demand for more space. Yet a weaker-than-expected jobs report released Friday suggests that demand for office space nationwide will slow in the coming months, especially if the economy tips into recession, as an increasing number of economists expect.
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Housing Industry Woes Ooze into Commercial Real Estate - 7/27/2007
To Donald A. Shapiro, president and CEO of Foresite Realty Partners in Chicago, too much liquidity in the market has been part of the problem because it could exacerbate conditions going forward.
"The housing slump is a significant sign of the inherent problems throughout real estate: too much liquidity combined with the wrong incentives for the production people employed in the debt markets," Shapiro told CoStar this week. "And artificially low interest rates a few years ago have created pricing that is not consistently attainable. This combination has encompassed most commercially reasonable markets and property types throughout the United States and will result in a downward spiral."
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Suburban office vacancy lowest since 2001 - 7/10/2007
A vacancy rate of 12% is considered a traditional stabilization point between tenants and landlords, says Donald Shapiro, CEO of Rosemont-based Foresite Realty Partners LLC.
Significant differences in submarkets makes it too early for landlords to declare victory, he adds: ‘You have Lake County, which has been outstanding; O’Hare is still not very strong, and the Northwest Suburbs is doing nothing spectacular."
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DLC Buys 67,000-SF Center Near Top Mall - 4/27/2007
Donald Shapiro, president of Foresite Realty Partners, says that the shopping center "could easily have a cap rate of between 6% and 6.5%, maybe 6.5% and 7%." Shapiro's estimates put the sales price at between $15.1 million and nearly $16.8 million. "I would be shocked if the price is not somewhere between $225 and $250 per sf," he tells GlobeSt.com.
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Markets Blitzed By Withering Office Demand - 4/13/2007
Donald A. Shapiro, president and CEO of Foresite Realty Partners LLC in Rosemont, IL, said: "while there is some amount of post year-end slow down, this appears to be the beginning of the end."
The lack of consumer confidence, concerns overseas, and the gas running out of the most recent euphoric period in real estate are the cause.
"Pricing is starting to come down, leasing has scaled back and everyone is a seller," Shapiro said.
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Firm negotiating to buy 3 downtown buildings From the Crain's Chicago Business - 4/11/2007
"Investors are trying to pre-empt the process before a property goes to market, because when it goes to the market, the price gets driven up," says Donald Shapiro, CEO of Rosemont-based Foresite Realty Partners LLC, which isn’t involved in the deal. "But if the right group puts an amount of money in front of him that turns his head, (Mr. Chetrit) may be convinced to sell."
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250 S. Wacker to sell for a strong price - 3/14/2007
"This is a bet that rents will quickly spike," says Donald Shapiro, CEO of Rosemont-based Foresite Realty Partners LLC, which isn't involved in the current deal but did sell the property back in 2005.
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INVESTOR CONUNDRUM: (How Much) To Risk, or Not To Risk? - 3/14/2007
"In today's environment, investors need to find ways to deploy capital without having to meet the market's pricing scale," said Gregory J. Nieder, Principal/Executive Vice President of Foresite Realty Partners LLC. "Investing in opportunities through note purchases, taking subordinate debt positions or providing fresh equity in project recapitalizations can allow for strong returns while keeping one's basis low enough to justify the risks."
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Door to Deals Still Open for (Chicago) Suburban Office Tenants - 1/8/2007
Landlords also are anticipating they'll do better this year than they did in 2006, says Donald Shapiro, president of Foresite Realty Partners LLC, which bought a Rosemont office building in September 2005 and is currently shopping for more suburban buildings. "Landlords will gain back a little bit of ground this year," Mr. Shapiro says.
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Investment Sales, Suburban Market In Focus at RealShare CHICAGO - 5/31/2006
Don Shapiro of Foresite Realty Partners as the moderator with panelists John Coleman of The Alter Group, Fred Ishler of Transwestern Commercial Services, Jim Postweiler of Jones Lang LaSalle, Scott Lunine of SCI Real Estate Investments and Laurie Smith of Triton Pacific will discuss Chicago's suburban market and whether it's on a true road to recovery.
The investors will discuss how they source, and close, deals in their preferred target range, what kinds of opportunities, if any, exist in today's market, and what to look for over the year ahead and into 2007. The panel will also focus on the factors that could spell more growth for this oft-overlooked part of town, including investment activity, the industrial and office sectors and brisk leasing activity from smaller tenants and some large corporations.