In the News—Week of October 31, 2022
Deal of the Week
A Northern California-based real estate investment firm recently sold a retail shopping center in Mesa, Arizona for $22 million to a Washington State-based corporation. Sheila Hunter, Vice President and Senior Commercial Escrow Officer, in our Scottsdale office added this closing to the list of successful transactions with this exceptional client.
National
Zuckerberg using Manhattan as launch site for virtual world
Facebook leased Manhattan’s old general post office in 2020, and since then the company name has changed and founder Mark Zuckerberg has revealed a new vision for the company, the “metaverse.” Commercial Observer reports that Meta — the new name for the parent company — and Facebook plan big things in the area around Penn Station. Company spokeswoman Jamila Reeves says the plan is for the company to consolidate its New York operation in the Penn Plaza/Hudson Yards area. With some noteworthy architecture in the heart of one of the world’s great cities, Zuckerberg’s troops draw inspiration from the physical world to create a virtual one.
Energy & Efficiency
Wisconsin couple builds dream home — a net zero energy house
A couple from the Madison, Wisconsin area decided to build a home to fit their eco-friendly values, Erie News Now. Kevin Frick and Jacqueline Friedel moved into their new home recently that will produce as much energy as it consumes. The 2,300-square-foot, four-bedroom home has full sun exposure and 41 solar panels on the roof and garage. “Time will tell how well this works in the winter months versus the summer months,” Friedel says. “That’s when we’ll really see the difference. In theory, this should make us more comfortable, we won’t have fluctuations in heating and cooling like you do with a furnace, and it’s going to run more efficiently.”
Texas
Marvy Finger, known as ‘King of Apartments’ passes away at 86
Marvy A. Finger, who spent 64 years in the real estate industry and amassed a portfolio of over 28,000 apartments in five states, died at the age of 86, the Houston Chronicle reports. Finger helped bring apartment living to downtown Houston and was a mentor to many in the industry. “Marvy expected perfection in himself and those he worked with,” Stan Creech, a friend and land broker, tells the newspaper. “He was a forward-looking visionary who changed the landscape of the multifamily development industry.”
Texas
Dallas-Fort Worth market for cold storage facilities is getting stronger
Cold Creek Solutions recently completed and sold a 375,000-square-foot Class A cold storage warehouse in Denton, and The Real Deal reports it is an example of how strong the cold storage market is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The purchaser was an institutional buyer and terms were not disclosed. Figures from CBRE show Texas is one of the top 10 states in the nation for cold storage capacity. The expectation is the cold storage market will expand rapidly in the D-FW area in the next five years as the population increases.
Arizona
Arizona Fresh Holdings begins redeveloping landfill site
Arizona Fresh broke ground on a $200-million facility aimed at providing fresh, healthy food to an area of south Phoenix, Commercial Search reports. The 1.2-million-square-foot mixed-use project on the site of the city’s former Del Rio landfill is being called an “Agri-Food Innovation Center.” The area is considered a “food desert,” although there are small food markets nearby. “This is one of the most important and complex projects in the city of Phoenix,” Mayor Kate Gallego said during a ceremony at the site. “We hope this project will be catalytic for redeveloping our riverfront area and bringing wonderful healthy food to our community.”
Mexico
Mexico City workers are back in the office, but rents remain low
About three-quarters of the office workers in Mexico City are back in the office, but so far that hasn’t resulted in a rise in rents, Near Shore Americas reports. Figures from CBRE show another 6% of office workers are expected back by June. Commercial property owners in Mexico City also are benefitting from digital nomads from the United States. But the good news is tempered. Many companies are adopting the hybrid strategy and are looking for smaller office footprints. One expert says it could take 10 years for office space to be fully occupied.
