16C — January 11 - 24, 2013 — 2013 Forecast — Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
2013 F orecast
Year end summary of trends in commercial . . .
continued from page 8C HurricaneSandy-responding to business challenges . . .
continued from page 4D capital available for these types of projects again. Th e c u r - rent market dynamics are not solely the product of low interest rates and there are a number of sho r t - and l o n g - t e r m trends currently intersecting. David Cohen
with optimism that the foun- dations of the recovery are in place. Mortgage rates are low. Employment growth has been positive in the region and there is a growing pent up demand. I am optimistic that during the second half of 2013 we will see positive changes that will provide positive results across the commercial real estate spectrum. LawrenceYun, chief economist of the National As- sociation of Realtors says that “The industry is still operating from a position of fear, but when the pendulum swings toward hope – as we think it will in 2013 – we’ll see a more robust recovery for commercial real estate.” Pete Davisson, SIOR, CCIM is a founding prin- cipal of Jackson Cross Partners. n gage interest tax deduction. Ultimately, if Washington is successful in reducing or elimi- nating the interest deduction, the multifamily rental market will grow stronger, which could herald in an era of even lower cap rates. Mark Scott is principal of Commercial Mortgage Capital. n Over Meridian’s 21 year his- tory, we’ve seen both rising and falling markets, but expect these favorable trends to con- tinue into 2013 and beyond. Today, Meridian is equipped with more products, services and people to serve our clients’ broad range of financing needs quickly and seamlessly. David Cohen is executive vice president of Merid- ian Capital Group, LLC in Iselin, NJ. n Finally, if there is one con- cept affecting all of retail, and therefore its underlying real estate industry, is retailers’ multi-channel selling strategy. How web sales and traditional store sales will continue to morph and meld is a great unknown that will surely be talked about extensively well beyond 2013. StevenH. Gartner is pres- ident of Metro Commercial
toring service, like Gen+ by R&J Control, Inc., is the clos- est thing to a guarantee that the generator will perform when needed. An important factor for monitoring is the relative low cost for the service. From a budgetary standpoint, it is more expensive to have a staff member use valuable time to monitor a genera- tor weekly than it is to use a service to monitor it 24/7. Here’s what Gen+ monitor- ing does; • Staff and technicians receive an immediate alert if any critical functions moni- tored go into fault. • Gen+ will exercise your generator remotely, within state “clean air” guidelines. • Gen+ will alert you if your generator experiences any problem with; battery charge, low oil pressure, overcrank, overspeed, jacket water heater, low coolant temp, etc. • Gen+ maintains an on- line log, detailing every time the generator runs, so you will pass inspection. You can download reports and access information online. • Gen+ will alert you when the generator runs or if pow- er is lost and the generator Atabout8:30pmonWednes- day night, two days into our response actions, I was in Hillmann’s makeshift office which was lit by a single lamp as our crews of young hygiensts and environmental scientists came back from the city. They were in such good cheer as they planned the next day’s work, calibrated their equipment, grabbed supplies and prepared their reports. It is something I will never forget, I had a lump in my throat. I was so proud of these dedicated young people. They were working in such adverse conditions and going home to houses without power, heat or hot water and yet were so determined and after 9/11 and we saw a slide in revenue, sales and profit the following year. I managed not to get drawn into our re- sponse to Hurricane Katrina and we saw no such drop.
does not start. • Gen+ does not use your phone lines or computer net- work. R&J Control, Inc. uses a secure wireless network supplied by AT&T. • Diesel generators have a fuel gauge installed that alert you when low and crit- ically low fuel levels are reached. Fuel levels can also be monitored 24/7 via online access. • This service can alleviate staffing burdens. It takes several hours monthly to have a staff member attend to each generator, start it to exercise for fifteen minutes, log the event and check criti- cal functions. This function takes more time if staff must first consult a DEP web- site to ensure air quality is satisfactory for generator exercising. The bottom line is that the only way you can be confident your generator is functioning properly, will perform when you need it, has accurate record keeping for inspec- tion and that you’ll know immediately when there’s a problem, is with a monitor- ing service. Eileen Patterson is a sales & service consultant for R&J Control, Inc. n focused. They were happy to do something productive in a grim situation. This scene is much like the building engineers in lower Manhattan. They are an ex- perienced and savvy bunch. I’m working with many of the same clients that we be- came so close to during our 9/11 recovery efforts. These are gritty and determined people that quickly go about the business of recovery. There will be a local economic stimulus as we rebuild the damaged infrastructure and many engineers are realizing an opportunity to replace outdated systems with up to date and vastly more efficient equipment. New York is a resilient city and will recover with aplomb. Hi l lmann is the co- founder and chief execu- tive officer of Hillmann Consulting. n
of service for our everyday clients? How do we maintain
our forward momentum wi th stra- tegic initia- tives, mar- keting and sales, and c a s h f l ow d u r i n g a time when our resourc-
Christopher W. Hillmann
Retail real estate: Finishing a strong . . .
es are focused on a national emergency? The answer to the first is long hours. Hav- ing personnel come from our other offices and subcon- tracting staff from a friendly competitor in the Midwest. The answer to the second rests with me and other senior managers to not get completely drawn into this situation for more than a few weeks. I was drawn into disaster mode for 9 months
continued from page 7C local merchant continues to be MIA, yet a nearby shopping
center with o f f - s t r e e t parking can f e t c h $ 5 0 psf or more i n d e n s e , affluent ar- eas o f the Main Line, Jenkintown, Wilmington, or Marlton.
Steven H. Gartner
continued from page 12C Will your emergency generator perform when the power is lost?
continued from page 13C The case for Lower Multifamily . . .
ercising automatically, your staff may not be overseeing
13.3%, which is slightly above the national average of 13%. “Development in the com- mercial real estate market in Delaware is also showing positive signs. Cabela’s Out- fitters has begun a 110,000 s/f building adjacent to the Chris- tiana Mall. There are two new projects in Wilmington, a new 180 room Westin Hotel and a fifteen screen IMAX theatre, both at the Riverfront. There is also medical office building of at least 75,000 s/f underway in the Wilmington suburbs. Another strong positive is the beginning of the development of Light House Cove in Dewey Beach, at the former Rudder- town. Retail vacancy across the region is down to 6.4%, with rents remaining flat. “As we look ahead, we note ers, allows them to remove the interest they paid on a mortgage. However, flat-tax advocates favor terminat- ing this deduction, and U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been discuss- ing a variety of tax reform structures that could involve the elimination of the mort-
the process to ensure the g e n e r a t o r runs prop- erly. Some- one should be there to listen for en- gine noises that may in- dicate faulty operation.
Eileen Patterson
continued from page 14C Jackson Cross reports on the DE . . .
3. If staff is not oversee- ing weekly exercising, log reports may not be kept up to date. Regulatory inspections require logging the event ev- ery time the generator runs. Failure to have complete log reports can result in a fine. While quarterly preventive maintenance and weekly exercising are essential for proper care of a generator, it will not guarantee that the generator will perform when needed. Many things can malfunction between inspections that can render a generator unable to operate. If a system requires power to ensure life safety or criti- cal business operations, the most important service you can implement is 24/7 gen- erator monitoring. A moni-
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