2020 | Page 9 of 16 | FIP Commercial

Jun 18 No Comments

Moishe Mana Unveils First Phase Of Downtown Miami Development

Author: Admin

Categories: Commercial News,Development,Multifamily,Offices,Retail

Moishe Mana could use the 50 buildings he owns to develop a mass of towers in the core of downtown Miami, but he’s moving forward with a different vision.

Mana will renovate buildings to attract tenants and limit the construction to about four stories, said Bernard Zyscovich, CEO Zyscovich Architects, which crafted the plan with Mana.

Mana spent hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years snapping up property downtown, especially along Flagler Street. The area has some of the oldest buildings in the city. Many of those Mana-owned buildings have vacant space on the ground floors as he works on development plans.

Now, Zyscovich says Mana has a multi-phase plan for his downtown properties, and he’s ready to start construction this summer.

While many of Mana’s properties are zoned for 50 to 80 stories, that’s not his vision, according to Zyscovich.

“We are looking at spreading development throughout downtown instead of coming up with tall buildings out of the box,” Zyscovich said. “We don’t think downtown is ready for high-rise max buildings. We need to develop it as a neighborhood.”

Mana will begin by renovating the 13-story building at 155 S. Miami Ave. Built in 1980 and totaling about 166,000 square feet, the building formerly house federal immigration offices and it looks the part of a staid government office. Zyscovich said its facade will be stripped away and replaced with an artistic facade, which will resemble an optical illusion. The ground floor of the building is currently not accessible from the street and will be opened up so there can be a coffee shop and social space.

Mana wants the building to house office and technology tenants.

“It’s a good first project because there’s enough square feet to occupy the building with many new uses,” Zyscovich said. “We have financing in place and hopefully before the summer is out we will start construction, which is really deconstruction.”

Mana will follow with another project on the same block, at South Miami Avenue and S.W. 2nd Street. That includes a modest-sized new building along with renovations to the parking garage and some historic structures that could house restaurants.

The second area Mana will develop is Flagler Station, at 48 E. Flagler St., Zyscovich said. That will include new storefronts.

“It will become a cool neighborhood with the idea of providing urban services to innovators and technology people,” he said.

As the projects are completed, Mana plans to introduce a membership group called Mana Commons. Members would receive living quarters, office space, and discounts on local food and beverages, Zyscovich said.

“Moishe likes to say he’s not a developer,” Zyscovich said. “He’s a venture capital guy who wants to create something more innovative with real estate than renter space. We rent space, of course, but space oriented toward particular uses that might exchange rent for a venture capital interest.”

Source: SFBJ

Jun 16 No Comments

More Tech Firms Eye Miami As COVID Carries On

Author: Admin

Categories: Commercial News,Offices,Trends,Wynwood

In late February — before Covid-19 became a pandemic — Spotify inked a lease for 20,000 square feet to house its South Florida headquarters in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.

The music streaming service’s deal for all of the office space and large courtyard at the mixed-use development Oasis at Wynwood on North Miami Avenue was another sign of momentum for TAMI (technology, advertising, media and information) companies taking office space in South Florida.

But then coronavirus hit, prompting nearly half of the American workforce to set up shop in their homes and leading Twitter and Facebook to announce work-from-home policies that could lead to a potential void in the office markets in New York City and Silicon Valley.

South Florida, however, could benefit from the pandemic.

As residential brokers in the area report an uptick in sales and rentals largely fueled by homeowners fleeing dense markets like New York, office brokers say they’re starting to see a similar trend play out among tech firms.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Brian Gale, who was part of the leasing team that closed the deal with Spotify at 2335 North Miami Avenue, said he’s given five virtual presentations to major tech brands to take large spaces at 830 Brickell — one of South Florida’s largest office projects under construction.

OKO Group and Cain International are building the 57-story tower, which the developers say will be anchored by WeWork, with an expected delivery date of 2022. The property will have 490,000 square feet of office space, and will mark the first major office building to rise in Miami’s urban core in the last decade.

Facebook, Apple, Google, Uber and Chewy are among the many companies that already have a presence. Tech firms take up nearly 3 million square feet in South Florida. Broward has the largest share, with nearly 1.7 million square feet, compared to about 765,000 square feet in Miami-Dade and just under half a million square feet in Palm Beach County, according to CoStar data provided by CBRE.

As with most office landlords and leasing agents in other cities, South Florida’s office brokers aren’t convinced that working from home will become a long-term result of the pandemic. Companies that were looking to take advantage of the tax benefits, weather and more favorable housing costs are still planning moves to Florida, according to local real estate players.

“Companies like Twitter put their foot in their mouth too early. I believe that it’s really hard for people long term to work from home,” said Daniel de la Vega, whose firm One Commercial is marketing Creative HQ, an office condo in downtown Miami.

“Only the really wealthy ones would move in the past, the Barry Sternlichts of the world,” he added. “But now people our age want to get out of the major cities and they want to come to Miami and Fort Lauderdale.”

Ripe for the picking

Commercial brokers are negotiating a number of “blend and extends” where the landlord offers some free rent or concessions in exchange for longer leases. And for new leases, prospective tenants with the budget to do so are more concerned with building measures and office floor plans that follow the latest public health guidelines.

“Unless a landlord has got a lot of capital saved, it’s an ideal time for tenants to restructure leases. We’re going to see the markets change in favor of tenants.”

Keith Edelman, Colliers International

Carpe Real Estate Partners’ Erik Rutter, one of the developers behind the Oasis at Wynwood, said larger spaces and the ability to be outside will prevail, he argued.

“There will still be a demand for office space. The growth of Miami will continue, if not be propelled by, this pandemic,” Rutter said.

While some brokers believe there will be hesitation about returning to a high-rise office building versus a suburban, low-rise corporate campus, Gale said he’s negotiating nearly 200,000 square feet of proposals at 830 Brickell. Those conversations include one with a major tech tenant that is “very serious” about opening an office in Miami, he noted,

“People now are looking at new buildings as having better air quality, giving tenants the ability to really plan out how they’re going to look post-Covid,” Gale said, adding that many “are concerned with mass transportation and being on top of people” in New York City.

Local entrepreneur Brian Breslin echoed that point.

People who run their own tech startups or work remotely for larger companies are increasingly relocating to South Florida, said Breslin, the founder of Refresh Miami, a nonprofit that focuses on tech networking in the city. He said he believes more companies will follow recent WFH policies put in place by Twitter, Facebook and Shopify.

“Most people don’t have it in their budgets to space out employees six feet apart,” Breslin noted. “It would be unwise for us to think this is a short-term thing. A lot more of the traditional tech companies are rethinking their hiring processes.”

Keith Edelman, executive managing director of Colliers International South Florida, said most long-term deals are on hold as companies evaluate their office setups, which could put pressure on rental rates.

Edelman, who recently returned to his office, had been working remotely for more than two months, speaking with The Real Deal from his car. He said he believes work from home culture could take a toll on camaraderie and collaboration among employees — giving office tenants an incentive to be proactive in their leasing negotiations.

“Landlords are scared,” Edelman said. “Unless a landlord has got a lot of capital saved, it’s an ideal time for tenants to restructure leases. We’re going to see the markets change in favor of tenants.”

More pouring in

The wave of companies moving to South Florida isn’t limited to just tech, industry sources say.

Investment firms, insurance companies, hedge funds and family offices have also been making the move, driven by the lack of a state income tax.

Sandy Rubinstein, CEO of New Jersey-based digital marketing and advertising firm DXagency, bought a two-story office building just north of Wynwood for $2.25 million during the pandemic.

The Miami native plans to make the 2,678-square-foot property at 3634 Northwest Second Avenue the new headquarters for her firm, which counts Mastercard, Univision, NBC, Viacom and Green Valley Organics among its clients.

“A lot of our employees up here have asked if they could transfer,” Rubinstein told TRD in April. “Miami is such a good market for talent so I also want to take advantage of that now.”

Source: The Real Deal

Jun 12 No Comments

How COVID-19 Could Inform The Future Of Medical Office Design

Author: Admin

Categories: Commercial News,Development,Healthcare,Trends

Imagine the last time you went to the doctor. You likely rode up an elevator and sat in a lobby or waiting room, elbow-to-elbow with other patients. You probably filled out paperwork, either with a pen and paper or maybe a touch screen device. Unless you were sick, you probably didn’t wear a mask.

The next time you go to the doctor, the experience is likely to be quite different. As a result of COVID-19, how medical office space—and office space in general—is used is going to change.

As physical offices are beginning to reopen and elective procedures are allowed, we are starting to have a better understanding of what a doctor’s visit could look like in the future.The next time you go to the doctor, the experience is likely to be quite different. As a result of COVID-19, how medical office space—and office space in general—is used is going to change.

Instead of waiting in a crowded reception room, patients may be asked to remain in their cars as a means to physically distance until they are called via text or phone by the physician’s office. They may fill out and submit paperwork online leading up to their appointment, a day or two before. And check-in and check-out are also being completed by phone when possible, and perhaps in the exam room itself, when not possible before the visit.

While protocols will vary by building, most of our healthcare physician clients have started screening patients by phone in advance and asking them if they have had a fever, other symptoms, or have tested positive. Temperature checks may occur before a patient is admitted into the space.

The medical office and traditional office will align in several ways going forward.

The number of people allowed in an elevator at any one time will be limited, and buildings will probably need to provide separate ingress and egress, and perhaps create “one-way” traffic through common areas.

Because of the need for physical distancing to prevent infection spread, future office space design may entail larger rooms, hallways, and reception areas.

The need for additional sanitation and other infectious disease precautions may increase janitorial costs, which leads to the question of whether or not these services will be provided as building amenities or paid for by tenants through CAM charges.

Overall, the construction costs for new development and renovation may also increase, especially for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems if requirements for more sophisticated HVAC filtration systems emerge. Accordingly, because of the increased operating expense and construction cost, rents may increase, or yields will decrease.

The new normal will dramatically affect both the healthcare and commercial real estate industry. Our best recommendation is to make sure both landlords and tenants read their leases and understand what those documents say.

While they likely won’t include pandemic protocols, other clauses and provisions will likely apply, and resuming “normal business operations” or “patient visits” may require implementing some new protocols that will require that landlord and tenant collaborate to ensure patient, occupant and visitor safety.

Open communication between the parties to discuss what healthcare tenants plan to do to ensure patient safety (as well as that of other tenants) and to understand what measures the landlord is taking to assure occupant safety are vital to both parties and should help to ensure that the patients can receive care safely.

Source: DMagazine

Jun 10 No Comments

Apartments With Ground Floor Retail Take A Hit On Rent Collections

Author: Admin

Categories: Commercial News,Leasing,Multifamily,Retail

COVID-19 precipitated shutdowns have crippled the retail sector and those troubles have been well-documented.

And the businesses that rent spaces on the ground floors of apartment buildings are generally not big stores or national chains and have had even more trouble meeting their obligations in recent months. As a result, multifamily owners have had to be forgiving in negotiating concessions with their retail tenants, even as rents from apartment tenants have generally held up better than expected.

“We know that small retail businesses have been hit very hard based on payroll figures,” says Kevin Cody, market analytics senior consultant for CoStar, based in Boston. “Their distress from the pandemic was likely amplified due to them having small cash buffers.”

The vast majority—over 80 percent—of the retail space located in apartment buildings can be found in urban areas, according to CoStar. In recent years, these areas were performing well due to strong demographic growth, employment growth, and high levels of tourism, says Cody.

That strong performance stopped with the spread of the coronavirus in early 2020.

“Retail assets in dense, urban areas have been heavily impacted by the current period,” says Cody. “People are working from home at a high rate and tourism has greatly diminished.”

Not surprisingly, the retail tenants that have held up the best for apartment owners in recent months are those that were deemed essential. Drugstores, convenience stores, restaurants equipped to do takeout business are among tenants that been able to continue operating amid the vary levels of shutdowns throughout the country.

From the landlord side, apartment owners have largely been willing to work with their retail tenants on an as-needed basis.

“We have heard that owners of retail space are offering rent deferrals or relief to some tenants that have been impacted by the virus,” says Cody.

“There [usually] isn’t a public balance sheet or strong capitalization,” adds Todd Siegel, senior vice president, CBRE, based in Chicago. “The solution to mutual success requires an individualized and bespoke approach.”

Fortunately, apartment properties generally don’t rely much on the income from small retail tenants.

“On a pure, net operating income basis, it shouldn’t skew the balance sheet to warrant a default,” says Siegel. “Mixed-use retail in general doesn’t drive the overall value [of an apartment property].”

The managers of apartment properties are also not yet desperate to squeeze money where ever they can get it. That’s because the income from apartment rents has remained strong, so far.

“I would expect apartment owners to have a greater ability to offer rent deferral or relief for their retail tenants, due to the greater rate at which they have been able to collect rent from apartment renters,” says Cody.

As for down the line, while they will need to implement social distancing measures until a vaccine or reliable treatment becomes available, multifamily owners will continue to include ground-level tenants.

“Mixed-use was a strategy we really liked heading into the pandemic,” says Cody. “In the long-term we still believe in it… we expect urban areas to come back, but in the near to medium term, retail will experience reduced spending and foot traffic. We expect migration to slow; there has been a shift to working-from-home, which will sustain to some extent; and tourism has slowed, which will take time to recover.”

Source: NREI

Jun 08 No Comments

These Big Retailers Stiffed Their Landlords In May

Author: Admin

Categories: Commercial News,Leasing,Retail,Shopping Centers

About 40 percent of national retail chains once again skimped on their rent in May, according to the latest monthly report on collection rates.

Among those are 24 Hour Fitness, AMC Theaters and Pier One, all of which have either announced potential bankruptcy or plans to liquidate assets.

Overall, national retailers paid 60.1 percent of rent, a small increase from April’s 56.7 percent collection rent, according to a report from the data firm Datex Property Solutions. Total collections – from both national and local retailers – checked in at 58.56 percent in May, up from 54 percent in April, according to the data.

However, an increase in collections may not be a silver lining. Many retailers have negotiated rent relief with their landlords, which could make the numbers seem higher than they actually are, according to Datex CEO Mark Sigal.

At the end of May 2019, national retail chains were able to pay 96 percent of their rent. Even just two months ago, that figure was at 94 percent.

The plummet in rent collections is largely a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, which has shuttered stores, in some cases permanently.

Fifteen companies, out of the 131 companies included, have not paid a dime of rent last month. Bed Bath & Beyond, H & M, Century City, AMC Theaters, Regal Cinemas, The Gap and Party City are among those. Seven others have paid very little, including Barnes & Noble and DSW Shoe Warehouse. On Wednesday, The Real Deal first reported that Simon Property Group sued The Gap for $66 million for withholding rent in April, May and June.

“A lot of the growth has been around more lifestyle oriented retail, the kind of retail where there’s a goodness to being present,” Sigal said. “With social distancing, the retailers that most build around that, folks like gyms and yoga studios or movie theaters — the types of operators where people are in the same space and close quarters — are the ones that have been most existentially impacted.”

The report counts major chains as those that have a minimum gross monthly rent of $250,000 or lease 10 or more locations. It is based on verified collections from Datex’s portfolio of clients that report payment information from thousands of U.S. properties.

However, not all companies are on their landlord’s naughty list this month. Unsurprisingly, grocery stores like Giant and Aldi have paid almost all their rent.

Between competitors, companies’ collections differed greatly. PetSmart, according to Datex, paid 89 percent of its collective bill, while Petco paid 42 percent. Hobby Lobby similarly paid 99 percent, while Michael’s trailed behind at 39 percent, per the data.

In part, this may be due to different franchisees or unsuccessful expansions in different areas, according to Sigal.

“This is a tsunami that is unanticipated,” Sigal said. “Within that, you may have heard of this quote, ‘bad companies are destroyed by crises; good companies survive them; great companies are improved by them.’ Retail is that story”

The restaurant sector experienced similar contrasts. McDonalds and Taco Bell, for example, paid the majority of their bills, while Jamba Juice and Five Guys paid less than half of theirs.

Source: The Real Deal

Jun 08 No Comments

New Children’s Hospitals In Texas Signal Pickup In U.S. Medical Building Demand

Author: Admin

Categories: Commercial News,Development,Healthcare,Trends

Several new hospitals are in the works for Austin, Texas, as national healthcare construction is expected to reach its highest growth of the past five years, a positive sign for the U.S. economy and real estate industry in the pandemic.

Texas Children’s Hospital is building a $450 million hospital in North Austin in what is planned be its first hospital outside of its hometown of Houston, while Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas has about 34 acres teed up for a $200 million hospital and medical office building in the same area. Both hospitals are planned for Williamson County, where iPhone maker Apple broke ground on a $1 billion campus in November 2019 that has the capacity to house up to 15,000 workers.

The new hospital and expansion projects represent hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate and construction costs and point to expectations that further population gains in the Texas capital and other cities could buoy economic activity during the downturn.

The healthcare industry is in a financial crunch because eliminating elective procedures in most cities and states to help slow the spread of the coronavirus during the height of the pandemic dealt a financial blow to many hospitals, prompting layoffs and furloughs among healthcare workers. However, construction industry analysts said the pandemic could spur a burst in demand for healthcare systems to expand their surge capacities using funds from the federal government’s coronavirus relief package.

After two years of negative or flat growth, Dodge Data & Analytics, a construction data company, is projecting healthcare building starts will rise 6% across the country this year, hitting $29.7 billion in new projects nationwide. Building starts are expected to rise 13% between 2020 and 2021 for a total of $33.6 billion of new projects, the highest growth for new healthcare building starts since 2016.

“Over the short term, there will certainly be financial issues due to the cancellation of elective procedures, particularly in place where COVID hit particularly hard, but at least we did see in terms of the fiscal stimulus $175 billion set aside to shore up finances of hospitals,” said Richard Branch, chief economist at Dodge Data & Analytics, in a May 21 webinar. “We do think that, as the cycle starts to progress this year and beyond, there will be significant investment starting to flow into that surge capacity, particularly on the in-patient side as opposed to the clinic side.”

Much of those investments could come in expanding cities such as Austin, where the metropolitan area was the third-fastest growing in the nation for population in the past decade. Its population grew about 30% from 1.7 million residents in 2010 to 2.3 million residents in 2019, according to Census Bureau data.

Planned Construction

Texas Children’s, based in Houston at 6621 Fannin St,, listed total assets of about $5.4 billion at the end of 2017, including $1.3 billion in buildings and $131 million in land, according to its most recent federal form 990 filed for tax-exempt purposes. The nonprofit health system closed two land deals in December for its first hospitals in Central Texas.

Texas Children’s plans to build a $450 million freestanding children and women’s hospital at the intersection of North Lake Creek Parkway and Texas Tollway 45, east of Lakeline Mall in northeast Austin in Williamson County. The 360,000-square-foot hospital is expected to create 400 jobs.

The 48-bed hospital, which does not yet have a name, is expected to be complete by the fourth quarter of 2023 with 1,200 parking spaces. Texas Children’s bought 24.5 acres for the hospital for an undisclosed price from seller Austin 129 LLC in December, according to Williamson County deed records. There isn’t an official address yet for the hospital, but Williamson County records list the land at 10520 Lakeline Mall Drive with an assessed value of $8 million.

Dell Children’s, which is owned by Ascension and affiliated with the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, opened its first and only hospital in 2007 at its Mueller campus in Central Austin. Now it is planning to build its second hospital in North Austin as part of a $192 million project on 34 acres. Plans call for building a 135,000-square-foot children’s hospital at Avery Ranch Boulevard in Williamson County. Construction on the 36-bed hospital is expected to start in February 2021 and be complete by November 2022. Plans also call for a 60,000-square-foot medical office building and parking garage, which could cost at least an estimated $47 million, according to state filings.

The hospitals are near where Apple is transforming former ranch land into a sprawling 133-acre campus that’s expected to be built in four phases, according to permit filings with the city of Austin. The 3 million-square-foot campus at 6900 W. Parmer Land is about 14 miles north of downtown Austin.

Elsewhere in the Austin area, Texas Children’s purchased about 23 acres in South Austin, about 13 miles south of downtown and 3 miles north of Buda off Interstate 35 and Puryear Road near Old San Antonio Road, according to a statement. The hospital system bought the land at the site called the Estencia property for an undisclosed price from SLF II Onion Creek LP in December, according to Travis County records.

Dell Children’s second hospital is expected to open in north Austin in 2022. (Dell Children’s)

The Houston-based healthcare system has urgent-care and specialty-care clinics in Austin, but not any hospitals.

“Our promise to Austin remains strong — to deliver specialized care closer to you through our multiple locations across the city,” said Michelle Riley-Brown, executive vice president at Texas Children’s, in a statement.

Meanwhile, Dell Children’s plans to continue expanding its footprint in Central Texas over the next five years, the healthcare system said. It is expanding its Mueller campus and hospital with a 4-story tower with 72 beds. Three parking garages with 2,600 parking spaces also are planned for the campus. And the healthcare system broke ground in March on a 161,000-square-foot pediatric outpatient facility adjacent to the hospital. Called Children Specialty Pavilion, the outpatient facility is expected to be complete next spring.

“The ongoing challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic have made it even more evident that we must continue to focus on expanding access to pediatric care so that families in Central Texas never have to leave home to receive exceptional care, especially for the most complex cases,” said Christopher M. Born, president of Dell Children’s Medical Center, in a statement.

For the Record

Texas Children’s hospital in Williamson County does not have a construction start date, but McCarthy Building Cos. is the general contractor and Page is the architect, a hospital spokeswoman said in an email. Public renderings of the hospital are not available.

Source: CoStar

Jun 05 No Comments

Florida CRE Markets Poised for Rebound as Tenants, Landlords Navigate Lease Negotiations

Author: Admin

Categories: Commercial News,Leasing

Despite uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida’s real estate industry may be primed to recover with a sharp rebound.

According to a JLL report, prior epidemics that affected Florida’s real estate market recovered quickly, with the market spiking about 30% in the year following the 2002 SARS pandemic, which caused 286 global deaths. A less sharp recovery followed the 1918 Spanish flu, which caused 675,000 deaths in the US, with the industry rebounding about 10% the following year. The pandemics triggered a “V-shaped recovery” in Florida’s real estate market.

In the last two decades, Florida’s downturns in the rental market have seen 7% average rent declines. The Florida market took almost 6 years to return to pre-recession levels. Hardest hit by the financial crisis were Orlando and South Florida, with Orlando a 13.4% decline, and South Florida with a 14.9% decline.

The state’s ability to bounce back from economic impact due to the COVID-19 epidemic may hinge on that 25% of Florida office leases were in industries less affected by co-working spaces. Co-working space companies have seen their stocks plummet—IWG stock dropped 66% and WeWork’s 7Y unsecured notes were trading at 63 cents on the dollar. The JLL report points out that the Florida economy was in a strong position before stay-at-home orders began, with unemployment at 2.8%.

However, individual landlords and tenants are navigating lease renegotiations under financial strain put forth by mandated closures. Tenants, particularly small business owners, face financial pressures of keeping businesses afloat while negotiating rent relief from landlords. Tenants have put leases on hold, often seeking legal advice on their obligation to pay contractual rents, or seeking rent relief from landlords.

Landlords have largely kept buildings open, which provides leverage when tenants seek rent relief. Generally, a landlord may ask a tenant to exhaust all federal aid options, such as the CARES Act, before resorting to rent relief. In cases where landlords agree to rent relief, the terms tend to be 30- to 120-day forbearances, with rent money amortized over the remainder of the lease once payments resume.

Source: Globest.

Jun 02 No Comments

Four Stores Closed Permanently At Brickell City Centre. Here’s Why

Author: Admin

Categories: Commercial News,Leasing,Retail

Four stores at Brickell City Centre — Adolfo Domínguez, Emporio Armani, Musart and Stuart Weitzman — have closed permanently, a Swire spokesperson confirmed. BCC attributed some of the closures to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have been prepared that some retailers may close or accelerate their closures as a result of COVID-19. It is an unfortunate result of this unprecedented pandemic,” said a Swire spokesperson by email.

But one tenant said problems emerged prior to the pandemic. The tenant, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, blamed rising rents and lower-than-expected foot traffic.

“I got evicted as I couldn’t pay rent in full. Nobody can,” the tenant said. “COVID just accelerated the process. It was the icing on the cake.”

The tenant said he put down $75,000 in deposits and spent another $250,000 to build out his space. He saw increasing revenues: $328,000 in 2017, $452,000 in 2018 and $484,000 in 2019. But the number of transactions fluctuated, growing from 3,344 in 2017 to 3,886 in 2018, then dropping to 3,355 in 2019. Meanwhile, rent rose from $50,000 in 2017 to $60,000 in 2018. In 2019, rent was $110,000 plus 16% of sales in 2019, or $7,500, he said.

“I had a tremendous increase in rent while the traffic has gone down,” the tenant said.

The mall declined to comment on rents but said it had seen double-digit growth in foot traffic between its 2016 opening and the end of the year in 2019, with a 17% year-over-year increase from 2018 to 2019. Brickell City Centre uses wireless beacon technology to measure the shopping center’s foot traffic, said David Martin, vice president of Swire Properties.

Store closures are normal at a new mall, Martin said in a December interview. “Any mall as it evolves will have openings and closings.”

A mall spokesperson said via email that a roster of new retailers will be announced soon.

“Each of these new retailers remained steadfast on their opening timelines despite the delays from COVID-19, a promising sign of the resurgence and resilience of retail in mixed-use open-air shopping centres such as BCC.”

BCC reopened some stores last week with limited hours and COVID-19 protocols similar to those at other Miami malls. Its restaurants will open for dine-in service Wednesday. First weekend foot traffic met expectations, a spokesperson said.

“Several retailers reported strong foot traffic and sales, with some exceeding their sales goals. We expect traffic will ramp up further as our restaurants open for dine-in service.”

The store closures are a precursor of the challenging local retail landscape that will likely struggle for the next 12 to 18 months, said Beth Azor, founder and head of the Weston-based Azor Advisory Services.

“These luxury stores don’t see the foreign travelers coming in and buying these high-ticket items. And their customers are going to be significantly decreasing in those numbers.”

Luxury malls and shopping areas — such as Aventura Mall, Bal Harbour Shops and the Design District — will have to compete for the luxury consumer market in South Florida, she said.

“The luxury consumer is there, but I don’t know if the South Florida consumer is enough.”

Retailers elsewhere in Miami are struggling to keep their doors open, including small business owners, said Michael Comras in early May. Comras, one of South Florida’s largest commercial landlords, said he’s seeing some retailers and restaurants close their doors permanently.

“This has propelled the demise of some of our great brick-and-mortar retailers,” he said.

But some brands and retailers are seeing a rise in activity, Azor said. Pizza vendors, Target, Walmart and home supply stores such as Home Depot are performing well because they “cater to lower-priced items and are offering curbside pickup.”

Source: Miami Herald

May 30 No Comments

Survey: Healthcare Designers Look To Future Of Medical Facilities In Light Of COVID-19 Pandemic

Author: Admin

Categories: Commercial News,Development,Healthcare,Trends

The American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA) has released the key findings of a survey of its members revealing their insights on the future of healthcare architecture and the role of design in the context of the COVID-19 healthcare crisis.

“The extensive experience of ACHA’s healthcare architects gives us unique insights into how this pandemic will shape the future of healthcare,” said Vince Avallone, AIA, ACHA, CASp, LEED AP, the ACHA‘s President. “These findings will influence the design of hospitals and healthcare environments for years to come.”

ACHA Coronavirus Survey Reveals Healthcare Designers’ Role In Addressing The Pandemic

The ACHA survey revealed:

Over 63% of respondents helped clients evaluate alternative care sites.
Over 60% of ACHA experts were called on to help healthcare systems increase capacity – 28% created over 100 beds.
Over 70% of respondents believe design for mass casualty patient surges will be an important element for hospitals in the future.
Over 80% of respondents thought the telehealth boom would have major impact on facility design.

ACHA surveyed 129 certified professional healthcare designers to reveal lessons learned from COVID-19 and the role of architects in addressing the crisis. Participants represent areas across North America, including many severely affected states such as New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, California, and Pennsylvania.

What Will Happen With Healthcare Facilities After The COVID-19 Pandemic?

The survey also identified the healthcare designers’ concerns about the future:

How can hospitals be designed so normal operations (such as elective procedures) can continue through a pandemic so as not to disrupt regular patient treatment and create financial shortfalls for providing institutions?
With the likely implementation of restrictions on patient/visitor traffic flow to control cross-contamination, how will this transform facility intake and entry design?
How will increased restrictions placed on patient/visitor traffic flow to control cross-contamination transform facility intake and entry design?
How can architects emphasize building flexible, adaptable facilities that can be easily modified to allow a quick response to changing medical priorities?
How can healthcare and non-healthcare facilities be designed to handle patient overflow in a more expedient fashion?

ACHA Member Represent The The Top U.S. Healthcare Design Firms

“ACHA certificate holders represent a majority of the nation’s top healthcare design firms,” said Avallone, a Vice President/Senior Medical Planner at SmithGroup. “These results show our continuing commitment to help develop solutions for future healthcare design challenges. ”

For the full results of the survey, click here.

Source: Building Design+Construction

May 28 No Comments

From Bankruptcies To Rent Relief, Here’s How Retail Landlords Can Prep For The Coming Fallout From Covid-19

Author: Admin

Categories: Commercial News,Leasing,Retail,Trends

For the last 18 months, Noah Shaffer has been counseling retail landlords who lease space to Pier 1 Imports to be ready for the company to declare bankruptcy.

Pier 1, known for its eclectic mix of home goods and furniture, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. This week, the Fort Worth, Texas-based retailer said that it was unable to find a buyer for its business and that it will close all stores nationwide. Shaffer’s clients, however, were ready and already in talks with new tenants to take the space.

Navigating tenant bankruptcies will be far more challenging in the era of Covid-19. The novel coronavirus pandemic has forever changed the restaurant and retail business, beginning with stay-at-home orders across the U.S. in March and April to a severe drop-off in consumer spending. A wave of bankruptcies is expected in both the retail and restaurant industries in the coming months, affecting everyone from national chains to mom-and-pop shops.

Source: SFBJ

“We are looking at spreading development throughout downtown instead of coming up with tall buildings out of the box,” Zyscovich said. “We don’t think downtown is ready for high-rise max buildings. We need to develop it as a neighborhood.”

“It’s a good first project because there’s enough square feet to occupy the building with many new uses,” Zyscovich said. “We have financing in place and hopefully before the summer is out we will start construction, which is really deconstruction.”

“It will become a cool neighborhood with the idea of providing urban services to innovators and technology people,” he said.

“Companies like Twitter put their foot in their mouth too early. I believe that it’s really hard for people long term to work from home,” said Daniel de la Vega, whose firm One Commercial is marketing Creative HQ, an office condo in downtown Miami.

“Only the really wealthy ones would move in the past, the Barry Sternlichts of the world,” he added. “But now people our age want to get out of the major cities and they want to come to Miami and Fort Lauderdale.”

“Unless a landlord has got a lot of capital saved, it’s an ideal time for tenants to restructure leases. We’re going to see the markets change in favor of tenants.”

Keith Edelman, Colliers International

“People now are looking at new buildings as having better air quality, giving tenants the ability to really plan out how they’re going to look post-Covid,” Gale said, adding that many “are concerned with mass transportation and being on top of people” in New York City.

“Most people don’t have it in their budgets to space out employees six feet apart,” Breslin noted. “It would be unwise for us to think this is a short-term thing. A lot more of the traditional tech companies are rethinking their hiring processes.”

“Landlords are scared,” Edelman said. “Unless a landlord has got a lot of capital saved, it’s an ideal time for tenants to restructure leases. We’re going to see the markets change in favor of tenants.”

“A lot of our employees up here have asked if they could transfer,” Rubinstein told TRD in April. “Miami is such a good market for talent so I also want to take advantage of that now.”

“We know that small retail businesses have been hit very hard based on payroll figures,” says Kevin Cody, market analytics senior consultant for CoStar, based in Boston. “Their distress from the pandemic was likely amplified due to them having small cash buffers.”

“Retail assets in dense, urban areas have been heavily impacted by the current period,” says Cody. “People are working from home at a high rate and tourism has greatly diminished.”

“We have heard that owners of retail space are offering rent deferrals or relief to some tenants that have been impacted by the virus,” says Cody.

“There [usually] isn’t a public balance sheet or strong capitalization,” adds Todd Siegel, senior vice president, CBRE, based in Chicago. “The solution to mutual success requires an individualized and bespoke approach.”

“On a pure, net operating income basis, it shouldn’t skew the balance sheet to warrant a default,” says Siegel. “Mixed-use retail in general doesn’t drive the overall value [of an apartment property].”

“I would expect apartment owners to have a greater ability to offer rent deferral or relief for their retail tenants, due to the greater rate at which they have been able to collect rent from apartment renters,” says Cody.

“This is a tsunami that is unanticipated,” Sigal said. “Within that, you may have heard of this quote, ‘bad companies are destroyed by crises; good companies survive them; great companies are improved by them.’ Retail is that story”

Planned Construction

“Our promise to Austin remains strong — to deliver specialized care closer to you through our multiple locations across the city,” said Michelle Riley-Brown, executive vice president at Texas Children’s, in a statement.

For the Record

“We have been prepared that some retailers may close or accelerate their closures as a result of COVID-19. It is an unfortunate result of this unprecedented pandemic,” said a Swire spokesperson by email.

“I got evicted as I couldn’t pay rent in full. Nobody can,” the tenant said. “COVID just accelerated the process. It was the icing on the cake.”

“I had a tremendous increase in rent while the traffic has gone down,” the tenant said.

Store closures are normal at a new mall, Martin said in a December interview. “Any mall as it evolves will have openings and closings.”

“Each of these new retailers remained steadfast on their opening timelines despite the delays from COVID-19, a promising sign of the resurgence and resilience of retail in mixed-use open-air shopping centres such as BCC.”

“Several retailers reported strong foot traffic and sales, with some exceeding their sales goals. We expect traffic will ramp up further as our restaurants open for dine-in service.”

“These luxury stores don’t see the foreign travelers coming in and buying these high-ticket items. And their customers are going to be significantly decreasing in those numbers.”

“The luxury consumer is there, but I don’t know if the South Florida consumer is enough.”

“This has propelled the demise of some of our great brick-and-mortar retailers,” he said.

ACHA Coronavirus Survey Reveals Healthcare Designers’ Role In Addressing The Pandemic

What Will Happen With Healthcare Facilities After The COVID-19 Pandemic?

ACHA Member Represent The The Top U.S. Healthcare Design Firms

“ACHA certificate holders represent a majority of the nation’s top healthcare design firms,” said Avallone, a Vice President/Senior Medical Planner at SmithGroup. “These results show our continuing commitment to help develop solutions for future healthcare design challenges. ”

What Can We Help You Find?