Editors’ Weekly News Roundup, October 23 – October 27
Good news for renters, not-so-good news for landlords. Aparment Rents Decline for Fifth Consecutive Month was the headline of the most-read Connect CRE story for the week ending Oct. 28. Beyond that topline factoid, the story offered insights from a Realtor.com report on the multifamily market.
Specifically, new units are being absorbed more rapidly upon delivery, and the leading Midwestern apartment markets currently are seeing rent growth while major Sunbelt and West Coast cities are seeing declines. Even with declines, though, rents are still above pre-pandemic levels.
As another sign of the times, albeit at a local level, Alexandria Real Estate Equities is backing off from a life science project it had planned in the Boston area. Our second most-read story this past week, Alexandria Scraps Plan for Boston-Area Development Site conveyed as much information as the REIT divulged about the project that never was.
Alexandria cited changes in the macroeconomic environment in walking away from the development site, which it plans to sell rather than develop. The still-vibrant Boston life science real estate market has lost a little of its bustle, with vacancies increasing.
The Alexandria story drew readership in both Boston and nationwide. Another local story that caught the attention of readers across the U.S. was a leadership change that took the market by surprise.
At Silverstein Properties, a New York-based owner/developer that operates nationally, longtime CEO Marty Burger has been replaced by Lisa Silverstein under circumstances that aren’t yet clear. Silverstein Parts Ways With Marty Burger ranked third among Connect CRE’s most-read stories this past week.
Some encouraging news came from mortgage banking firm Gantry, which reported that loan volume is on the upswing, even if it’s muted by comparison to last year. The past week’s fourth most-read story, New CRE Loan Production Seen Increasing into Q4 cited upcoming maturities as a catalyst for increased traffic.
On the subject of encouraging news, our fifth most-read story—another regional report that also drew national readership—served as a reminder that office properties are still in demand. The three-building, 1.4-million-square-foot Plaza of the Americas in Dallas traded to Shelbourne Global for an undisclosed sum.
As the headline made clear, Dallas Plaza of the Americas Sells, Biggest Office Deal This Year was a sizable transaction in a sector that has seen relatively few of them this year, whether in Dallas or elsewhere. The new ownership plans a renovation of the 43-year-old office complex.
Speaking of renovations and the benefits they can bring to older office properties, the latest edition of Weekender continues our four-part series that goes beyond the negative headlines. Amy Sorter explores how office owners are meeting, and surmounting, the current challenges by performing upgrades. There are also stories on why capital remains sidelined, how to reduce embodied carbon to meet climate targets and the current demand for coworking space.