Lodging, Office Sectors See Strongest Gains as Yield-Seeking Investors Target All Types of CRE Across Broad Array of Markets

By Randyl Drummer

Source: CoStar Advisor News Letter 

For buyers and sellers of commercial property, 2013  was a very good year. Total commercial real estatesales are projected to be more than 18% higher in 2013 from the previous year as U.S. property fundamentals and the economy continued to improve and investors in all property types fanned out into smaller markets in search of higher returns, according to preliminary CoStar COMPs transaction volume.

Sales of office, industrial, retail, multifamily, hospitality and land totaled $366 billion in 2013, 17% higher than the $312.4 billion in property that changed hands in 2012, based on property transactions of all sizes that closed by Dec. 31, 2013 and were recorded by CoStar Comps as of Jan. 15, 2014. CoStar is continuing to track down and tabulate additional 2013 property transaction activity, which is expected to boost total sales for 2013 to nearly $370 billion when all transactions are counted.

by Business Wire Corporate Social Responsibility Editors



Source: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140103005053/en#.UsbIpfRDs1I

Source: Darden

December 19, 2013

Plan Includes Separating the Company’s Red Lobster Business, Reducing New Unit Growth, Suspending Acquisitions, Increasing Operating Support Cost Savings, and Refining Senior Management Compensation and Incentive Programs

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a comprehensive plan to enhance shareholder value, address changing industry dynamics in the casual dining sector and leverage the benefits of the Company’s position as the premier casual dining restaurant company. The elements of this comprehensive plan include the following:

Separate the company’s Red Lobster business: Although no final decision has been made on the form of the separation, the Company expects to execute a tax-free spin-off of Red Lobster to its shareholders, but may also consider a sale of the Red Lobster business.

By DAVID MOIN

Source: http://www.wwd.com/retail-news/trends-analysis/icsc-preview-remaking-malls-in-an-internet-era-7291425

In an expanding digital world, mall owners and operators once feared the worst — extinction.

While that’s not what’s happening, they are at a tipping point, seeking formats and ideas to reestablish the relevancy of their properties and to reverse declining traffic trends.

“The whole dynamics of brick-and-mortar is changing,” observed Andrew Jennings, the chief executive officer of Karstadt department stores in Germany.

“Traditional shopping centers have to rethink their layouts because the consumer today has limited time. That’s why the Internet is so popular because it is saving people time.”

“You can’t think of your property as just a mall. Think of it as the intersection of life,” said Michael P. Glimcher, chairman and ceo of Glimcher Realty Trust, which develops and operates mixed-use, open-air, enclosed and outlet centers including The Outlet Collection/Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, N.J. “Mix things you do with things you buy,” Glimcher advised. “It’s about how you complement the Internet, providing things the Internet can’t provide, not so much how you compete with the Internet.”