November 18th – Back in Line

First, Some Corporate News: RanchHarbor closed on our second deal since launching.  This one is a sale-leaseback industrial portfolio in San Diego that was purchased in a joint venture with Stos Partners.  Really excited to get another one in the books that will provide a solid yield for our investors. ...

November 16th – Such a Tangled Web

What I’m Reading Tangled Web: As malls continue to struggle, their financing structures – which have only grown more complex over time – are making restructuring particularly challenging.   This is perhaps the biggest downside of using CMBS, especially when layered with other forms of financing.  When you borrow from a bank...

November 13th – Pile Up

What I’m Reading Pile Up: Corporate tenants put a record 42 million square feet of space on the office market in the second and third quarters, according to data firm CoStar Group Inc. That increased the total sublease space in the U.S. to roughly 157 million square feet, or 1.7% of...

November 11th – Changing of the Guard

What I’m Reading Changing of the Guard: Office, hospitality and retail, three of real estate’s most institutionalized sectors, are facing long-term structural headwinds.  At the same time, formerly-niche sectors like cold storage, self-storage, medical office and data centers are getting more institutional attention thanks to their resiliency in the face of...

November 10th – Shot in the Arm

One Big Thing Like me, most of you probably woke up yesterday morning to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine news from the AP: Pfizer Inc. said Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine may be a remarkable 90% effective, based on early and incomplete test results that nevertheless brought a big burst of optimism...

October 6th – Ridin’ High

What I’m Reading Ridin’ High: While the general election may still not be officially settled, one clear winner has emerged: recreational marijuana.  Ballot measures passed in New Jersey, Arizona, South Dakota and Montana to legalize the adult use and sale of recreational cannabis, while Mississippi and South Dakota (in a separate...

November 4th – Time Warp

One Big Thing: I wrote a year in review (or at least the first 10 months) piece that the Mann Report is running as a cover feature.  Here’s an excerpt. 2020 was the year when time both accelerated and stood still. From a purely human perspective, crises and trauma are known...

November 2nd – Lifeline

What I’m Reading One Big Thing: A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how ESG trends are likely to provide a growing headwind for the office market in the coming years.  Today, I’m going to focus on a different segment of the real estate market that I’ve followed closely for years: housing....

October 30th – On the Move

What I’m Reading On the Move: For decades, the share of Americans moving to new cities has been falling. The pandemic-induced rise of telework is turning that trend around.  This is perhaps a silver lining in the chaos that is 2020.  Axios Before the pandemic, the top 15 most expensive cities in the...

October 29th – Face Off

What I’m Reading Faceoff: Public employee unions (for) and commercial real estate companies (against) are spending a massive amount of money in the battle over prop 15, which would remove Prop 13 protections for most commercial real estate  in California.  The Sacramento Bee Lifeline: Oil demand is still struggling to recover during the...