- Calpers’ Bet on Sacramento’s Planned Tallest Tower Splits Board “Sacramento officials are cheering a decision by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System to build what would be the tallest tower in its hometown. But some inside Calpers’ boardroom are concerned the 550-foot project represents too much risk. During a private meeting earlier this summer three Calpers directors voted against a new $550 million commitment to the proposed office-condominium-retail complex, according to people familiar with the situation. Calpers abandoned a previous development plan for the same site in 2007.” (Wall Street Journal, subscription required)
- Resilient Downtown Manhattan Is Thriving “Seventeen years after 9/11, downtown is thriving so impressively that a visitor from Mars wouldn’t suspect that a terrorist attack killed nearly 3,000 innocent victims and left much of the area’s heart in ruins. But because it’s almost too easy to sentimentalize 9/11 itself, today we’re taking a slightly more guarded look at the bold and resilient blocks south of Chambers Street.” (New York Post)
- Hard Lessons (Thanks, Amazon) Breathe New Life into Retail Stores “Malls are being hollowed out. Shops are closing by the thousands. Retailers are going bankrupt. But it may be too early to declare the death of retail. Americans have started shopping more — in stores. From the garden section at Walmart to the diamond counters at Tiffany & Company, old-school retailers are experiencing some of their best sales growth in years. The strong revenues start with a roaring economy and an optimistic consumer. With more cash in their wallets from the tax cuts, Americans have been spending more.” (The New York Times)
- Medical Marijuana Industry Could Bring OKC Real Estate Boom “Medical marijuana is bringing new life to warehouses and other vacant properties in the metro. ‘Within the next week, I'm expecting licensing and the ability to start selling plants,’ said Ziggyz owner Chelsea Davis. Davis went looking for property to grow medical marijuana that will be sold at his ten Ziggyz locations right after voters passed State Question 788. He has since purchased a warehouse in the metro, but isn’t revealing its location.” (News9.com)
- Retailers Looking to Test-Run Stores See Opportunity in Short-Term Leases “Two years ago, executives at the RealReal set their sights on the SoHo neighborhood but weren’t quite sure it was the right fit for a store. So the second-hand, luxury-goods consignment company did what a growing number of retailers are doing in Manhattan: make a deal for a short-term shop to test the market. ‘Our model is all about testing things, getting smarter, seeing what’s working and not working,’ said Rati Levesque, chief merchant at the RealReal, a seven-year-old company which got its start online. ‘That’s how we run our website.’” (Wall Street Journal, subscription required)
- Baltimore Office Building Commands Record Price “CoreCivic has acquired 6100 Wabash Ave., a 540,566-square-foot office building occupied by the U.S. Social Security Administration in the Baltimore suburb of Reisterstown, Md., for $242 million, from an affiliate of The JBG Cos. ‘We are excited to announce this acquisition as we continue to execute our acquisition strategy to expand our portfolio of government-leased real estate assets,’ Damon Hininger, CoreCivic’s CEO, said in a prepared statement. ‘SSA–Baltimore is a critical component of SSA’s central office operations and provides us with accretive growth and diversification.’” (Commercial Property Executive)
- Sell Macy’s Shares, Goldman Says, Since Turnaround Plan Is ‘Insufficient’ “Goldman Sachs began covering Macy's with a sell rating on Monday, saying the retailer's core business will continue to falter while turnaround plans deter more people from walking into its stores. Shares of Macy's slipped 0.5 percent in trading. Goldman analysts said a decline in the retailer's foot traffic at its core department stores will outweigh any benefits coming from its strategic initiatives, such as a push to add off-price options within existing Macy's stores.” (CNBC)
- CREST Gives Students Lay of the Land in Real Estate “Two leaders of Boston-based companies — Milton J. Benjamin, president of consulting firm KAGE Growth Strategies, and Richard Galvin, chief executive of real estate investment company CV Properties — teamed up in 2014 to create an internship program for local college students who might be interested in commercial real estate. After placing 58 minority and women students in internships during the first two years, the CVP Career Academy program partnered with North American Commercial Real Estate Development Association, or NAIOP and the Urban Land Institute to form CREST.” (Boston Globe)
- Amid Affordable Housing Crisis, Micro-Housing Development Picks Up Steam “Patrick Kennedy, the owner of San Francisco-based development firm Panoramic Interests—which in June 2015 completed the first high-rise micro-unit building in the U.S. with The Panoramic in San Francisco—has an unusual take on housing. ‘We had a revelation about six years ago that we should approach development the way In-N-Out Burger approaches hamburgers,’ Kennedy said. ‘That is—simplify the menu, focus intensely on quality and lower the price. That’s what we want to do for housing.’” (Commercial Observer)
- Lidl Says It’s Not Looking at FL Real Estate “In response to a recent article in the Tampa Bay Business Journal that Lidl has begun eyeing real estate in Florida, the deep-discount grocer said it has no plans as yet to expand into the Sunshine State. ‘We are not currently scouting sites in Florida,’ Lidl spokesman Chandler Ebeier told Progressive Grocer. ‘Our focus is the Mid-Atlantic East Coast, as far south as Georgia.’” (Progressive Grocer)
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