Heard On The Floor
May 24, 2005
CoStar Group Inc. is taking a deliberate approach in ramping up its retail operations. The company is aiming to add 600,000 retail properties by the end of next year to the 40,000 it has now--much of which came in its recent acquisition of the National Research Bureau from Claritas). The company’s aim is to be the preeminent data source for market rents, vacancy rates and other industry metrics....
As Good As It Gets
May 24, 2005
After nearly three years of amazing performance by the retail real estate business, executives at the annual ICSC convention in Las Vegas were talking almost wistfully about the end of the good old days: Someday soon, they say, this cycle has to wind down. “We’re due for a downturn,” says Greg Maloney, CEO of Jones Lang Lasalle retail Nobody is talking about a catastrophic collapse, but there is a clear sense that money is beginning to cycle out of retail projects and into other sectors of commercial real estate. Harvey Green, CEO and President of brokers Marcus & Millichap says he subscribes to the theory that the Federal Reserve’s tightening is now directed specifically at easing the real estate bubble-especially in residential housing....
Welch Urges Execs To Avoid Complacency
May 23, 2005, By Matt Valley
Be tough, urged Jack Welch, the colorful former CEO of General Electric, at the Las Vegas Hilton on Sunday afternoon.Welch stressed the behavior that earned him the nickname “Neutron Jack,” telling execs not to be afraid to weed out non-performers, either working to improve their output or else letting them go....
Industry Upbeat as Show Starts
May 23, 2005, By David Bodamer
Increasing talk of a real estate bubble is not fazing industry executives heading into this year’s ICSC Spring Convention. In fact, most think the mood is the most upbeat it’s ever been. ...
Another Week, Two More Deals
May 5, 2005
The rapid makeover of the retail industry continued unabated last week. Private equity investors Texas Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus LLC agreed to buy Neiman Marcus for $5.1 billion and the Saks has agreed to sell two department store divisions -- McRae's and Proffitt's -- to Belk for $622 million. Texas Pacific and Warburg are continuing the trend of private equity firms to pour money into retail. ...
Merger Madness
May 1, 2005
The flood of retail mergers has spiked in 2004 and into 2005. The number of hefty deals completed in the past 18 months (worth $300 million or more) has...
REITS GET THRIFT PUSH
May 1, 2005, Patricia Kirk
Federal employees may soon have the option of adding real estate stock to their retirement fund portfolios, thanks to legislation being considered by...
Hungry for New Restaurants
May 1, 2005, By James Murdock
Parlez vous Franais? Oui? Good, because it could be the new language of shopping center restaurant cuisine. French bashing, so popular just a short time...
Consolidation Talk is in the Air
Apr 7, 2005
With Saks, Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney the subjects of takeover rumors, who would buy excess property? Belk, Kohl's and Target could be the big winners if Saks Inc. decides to sell its department store group, say analysts. Saks went to the top of the list of potential buy-outs last week on news reports that the company is courting buyers for both its mid-level department store group and high-end Saks Fifth Avenue. ...
The Mall Is Dead
Apr 1, 2005, David Bodamer
In March, the retail real estate business faced a new reality: The proposed $17 billion (including debt) Federated/May merger, following the $11.6 billion...
