In the News—Week of August 30 2021
Around the Nation
REITs enjoy strong earnings growth in second quarter
Real Estate Investment Trust earnings grew 19.8% in the second quarter, a sign that commercial real estate has bounced back, Forbes reports. But the recovery has not been even across all sectors. Lodging, retail and hospitals REITs have suffered during the pandemic. Any REIT that had to do with digital economy saw robust growth. Office REITs were in the middle. Despite some good news, a full recovery is not expected until late in 2022.
Energy & Environment
Ohio State University plans upgrades to heating and cooling systems
Ohio State University awaits approval by the Board of Trustees to begin work on $44 million in upgrades to its energy system, OSU News reports. The planned project includes work on 40 academic, administration, medical, athletic and student residence buildings. This is the fourth part of a five-phase plan. “The framework of these optimization projects looks at each building as part of the whole energy system,” says Scott Potter, senior director of comprehensive energy management. “We analyze the heating and cooling systems, the motors that might be running in the building, the ducts that are in the building, pumps – anything that has an electrical or heat load – and through that comprehensive lens ask, ‘What’s the list of everything that can be done more efficiently in this building?’”
Texas
The Stack in Deep Ellum lands digital insurance firm
The Stack, an office tower in the Deep Ellum section of Dallas, has just landed a digital life insurance firm as a major tenant, The Dallas Morning News reports. Bestow has taken 42,000 square feet of offices in a 16-story office building. The company s moving from downtown’s St. Paul Place. Bestow has received $145 million in funding to expand.
NewQuest Properties begins work on second phase of regional retail center
NewQuest Properties has started its expansion on the Fort Bend Town Center in Missouri City, the Houston Chronicle reports. The expansion is expected to encompass 300,000 square feet of retail space and include a 12-screen Cinemark theater. The project is expected to be completed in late 2023.
Arizona
Phoenix outpaces all major markets in rent growth for multifamily
Asking rents grew faster in Phoenix in July than in any other major market in the country, AZ Big Media reports. Figures from Yardi Matrix show that rents in Phoenix grew 18.9% in July from the year before. Tampa (16.4%) and Las Vegas (16.1%) were next on the list. Nationally rents jumped 8.3%. “The demand for multifamily has produced a remarkable recovery across the country,” say Matrix analysts. “The recovery of the multifamily industry is no longer limited to the Southeast and Southwest metros that have fared well during the pandemic – it’s nationwide.”
Mexico
Mexico to seek contractors for projects worth $2 billion
Mexico’s communications and transportation ministry is preparing tenders for seven infrastructure projects with a value of more than $2 billion, Bnamericas reports. A tender is similar to request for a proposal. The projects are a rail link in Nuevo León state, five highways and a port of entry on the border with the United States. Some of the projects have been on the drawing board for years. The ministry hopes to begin work on the rail link by the end of 2021. No dates have been set for the other projects.
