So how does Texas add up? For the entire list, click here.
In a separate piece, Forbes released the 25 most profitable hospitals in the United States. The list comes from the American Hospital Directory and is based on operating revenue and expense data found in cost reports that each hospital must give annually to Medicare.
Fortunately, not a single one of our Greater Houston hospitals makes the list. And, as you will notice, the overwhelming majority of highly profitable hospitals are located in underserved cities and communities. Competition IS a good thing!
See the Forbes list of the 25 most profitable hospitals, here.
Factbox: What ammunition does the Fed have left? – The Fed could open or keep open a lending facility to increase credit availability for any sector of the economy it wants to help, such as commercial real estate. The Fed would have to argue that crisis conditions exist in order to lend to non-banks, and may be shy about doing so after similar actions were criticized during the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Bernanke has made no public mention of this option as a possibility, but some prominent economists have suggested such a facility could be designed to target troubled areas of the economy and thus aid an overall recovery. Reuters
Capital-Freeze Thaws for Real-Estate Funds - Real-estate funds are a particularly needy bunch. By some estimates, about 80%—or $335 billion—of the $420 billion amassed in the U.S. by real-estate funds since 1999 was raised from 2005 to 2008, the height of the market. And the money was spent quickly. WSJ
Clearwire Corp. has unveiled its pay-as-you-go 4G mobile broadband service in Houston. The Kirkwood, Wash.-based wireless broadband company claims that the …
Blackstone’s agreement this month to buy Dynegy Inc. of Houston for $4.7 billion, … Power producers Mirant Corp. of Atlanta and RRI Energy Inc. of Houston …
HOUSTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) — A new method to treat heart failure is being tried with a device implanted to electrically stimulate parts of a patient’s spinal …
In my experience, OpenOfficeSpace.com has made producing a floor plan as easy as I have seen, whereby using the latest technology to provide tactical and financial advantage for my clients. This tool is free to the public and provides a simplistic format for commercial tenants who are looking for additional leverage in their negotiations with a landlord.
The best way to use this technology is via demonstration by your real estate representation, in which they can discuss efficient ways to utilize existing or new space, then simply sketch out your ideal floor plan online. This drawing should be included with the request for proposal (RFP), a must when approaching a landlord that you are not familiar. So, essentially, by providing the initial proposal to the landlord, with the ideal floor plan, you are assured of getting the landlord thinking creatively on how to best serve your needs. After all, it is a tenant’s market.
Here are a few snapshots and a quick video tutorial (click the “Launch Space Planner” button to start sketching):
For those unfamiliar with a Request for Proposal (RFP):
Items in an RFP are similar to that of a 4-6 page Landlord’s Proposal to Lease, provided by the landlord’s broker. The difference is that this non-binding letter requests items to be clarified by the landlord, necessary for any tenant/landlord relationship to be successful. It also outlines certain requirements of the tenant that are mandatory for any leased premises.
For example:
Premises: Is the landlord using BOMA Standards of Measurement?
Lease Term: Will the landlord propose on two or three separate lease term lengths (3, 5, and 7)?
Rental Rate: Are rates quoted on “Gross” or “Net” basis?
Operating Expenses: Will landlord provide operating expenses? For which years?
Add-On Factor: What is the difference between usable and rentable square feet?
Other items: Latent Defects, Base Building Drawings, SNDA, Building Hours, Connectivity, Relocation, and Preferential Rights, among several others
Blackstone Returns Fees in First Clawback Triggered at Firm – Blackstone’s property buyout funds recorded performance fees totaling $1.74 billion, some of which was allocated to the firm’s partners, as the market for office towers, hotels and apartments soared from 2004 to 2007. Prices have slumped about 39 percent since then, leaving New York-based Blackstone and its rivals in a position similar to that of venture capital firms about a decade ago, when the collapse of technology stocks forced them to return profits earned on Internet companies during the 1990s. The acute situation for clawbacks is when you have had a very successful period of gains and then the remaining deals don’t do well,” said Michael Harrell, co-head of the private funds practice at the New York-based law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. “That is what happened when the Internet bubble burst and there is certainly the potential for that with the sharp downturn in the real estate market.” Bloomberg
Life insurance firms waiting for commercial real estate opportunities – Lincoln National Life, for instance, has put the word out that their goal is to underwrite $750 million in commercial property mortgages this year. Last year, Lincoln National had the same goal but only scored $165 million in mortgages. “So this year, they are being a little more aggressive. That’s what turns a market,” he said. A year ago, only eight of the 31 life insurance companies told attendees that they were “open for business, we want to do loans.” This year, 30 out of 31 are looking for lending opportunities. They are driven by their beliefs that the commercial real estate market is stabilizing. The exact timing however, is still uncertain. Current activity is at its lowest point in the last 30 or 35 years. Tuscon Business
Commercial Property Market Shows Signs of Strength - Office cap rates (ration between income and costs) decreased 5bps to 8% in July while the average price per square foot rose to $220 nationally. Cap rates achieved on these premium assets fell below 6% for central business district (CBD) properties and 7% for suburban. 90% of all transactions occurred in the primary market, a trend that has been growing all year. RCA reported that price differences between markets are growing, however, because these transactions are concentrated in only a few of the markets: New York, the District of Columbia, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and Los Angeles. Housing Wire
The Houston Tea Party Society (HTPS) is establishing a plan to get out the early vote. According to County Clerk Kaufman, the early vote will be more …
HOUSTON – Thirteen years after its opening in downtown Houston in 1997, the Angelika Film Center & Cafe has closed its doors. The closing of the Angelika …
About 12 percent of residential properties in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown are underwater, according to a recent report from financial and real estate …
* (Removed) – Items that have been removed no longer appear on the FDIC list, typically corresponding to a new bank’s purchase of problem bank’s assets
The city is negotiating a deal with the developer of Washington Heights — a proposed Wal-Mart-anchored shopping center near Interstate 10 and Yale – that would reimburse the local builder for as much as $6 million in public infrastructure improvements.
If the agreement is approved, developer Ainbinder Co. would widen and repave streets surrounding the project, refurbish bridges near the site, develop a bike and pedestrian trail along a stretch of Heights Boulevard south of I-10 and improve underground drainage, among other upgrades. For complete article, go to Houston Chronicle.
Your link to this week’s Greater Houston real estate and business stories from local, regional and national publications. — For a complimentary assessment of your commercial real estate interests, contact Robert S. “Bob” Lowery.
Whitestone REIT, an internally managed REIT with 36 commercial properties primarily in Houston, raised $26 million on Wednesday by offering 2.2 million shares at $12, below the range of $14-$16, after planning to price the deal the night before. The REIT had originally planned to raise $50 million by offering 3.3 million shares. Whitestone plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol WSR. Wunderlich Securities and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. acted as lead managers on the deal. For complete article, go to Renaissance Capital.
Your link to this week’s Greater Houston real estate and business stories from local, regional and national publications.
Commercial real estate if flourishing in the Austin metro statistical area (MSA) according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW: 22.55 +3.11%), a financial firm that ranked the MSA at the top of three out of six categories in its Equity REITS/Commercial Real Estate MSA Tracker for the second quarter.
The report, released today, said Austin is the No. 1 hotspot in the multifamily property sector, the retail property sector and has the best overall economic conditions. For complete article, go to Housing Wire.
Your link to this week’s Greater Houston’s real estate and business stories from local, regional and national publications. — Robert S. “Bob” Lowery
