Mid-Week Tidbits

Things have been crazy, so I've been remiss in not posting daily. I'll try to improve that. A few items from other blogs caught my eye this morning.

One is the passage of a green building code in California, voluntary until 2010 and mandatory thereafter. My take? The private sector is usually, in my opinion, the better way to go about making changes in how things are done. But then, California was the leader in the anti-smoking movement and I'm not sure those bans would ever have come into place without government intervention. We'll see whether this is a folly or a harbinger of things to come. I can already see the potential litigation coming out of this.

Commercial property prices are continuing their adjustment downward. Some of that may also have to do with the sales being predominantly in smaller properties where sellers are willing to take haircuts. People who can are holding on to their trophies.

Still more pressure on the retail side with Mervyn's on the verge of tanking. This can cause unforeseen problems on the legal side. How so? More than a few retail leases may have co-tenancy clauses that allow in-line tenants to walk or stop paying rent or pay reduced rent if anchors go away.

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Why do I take vacations anyway?

You end up working twice as hard when you get back.

Some random Monday thoughts:

Lisa Michelle Galley has some thoughtful comments on green lending in a post from yesterday. (P.S. -- Lisa, I agree with you --- seems like underwriting spin to me.)

Calgary -- yes, Calgary??? has the second most expensive office space in North America according to CBRE. (Courtesy of Deal Junkie.)

Four major title companies are being hit with class action lawsuits alleging they are "charging customers for services performed by other companies involved in the residential real estate settlement process." (Note that River West's underwriter, LandAmerica, is not a party.)

Big shopping centers in Will County (including some I believe I've written about here before) are being delayed due to economic conditions.

While I was gone I missed this excellent interview with Barry Sternlicht.

No more shopping at Sharper Image, at least not the brick-and-mortar version. All of the 86 remaining stores are being liquidated. (The catalog, Internet and other operations will continue.)

Seriously, though, it is great to be back and writing and working. It was also perhaps the most relaxing vacation I've had in years.

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Going green -- remember, it's good for business and bottom line

Let's forget all the politics here. As I have said before, green practices can have a positive impact on your bottom line. Ask Lee Scott, who says Wal-Mart isn't green but undertakes green practices to make more money.

Case in point: TIAA-CREF wants to reduce energy consumption by 10%. Is that green? Yup. But it can also improve the bottom line, which makes your properties more valuable. Now, as Ellen Sinreich (one of the go-to people in the biz) says acceptance is not universal, but everyone knows it is the way the industry is going.

So what would make the industry go green faster? Incentives. Some tenants will pay more to be in a green building but others will not. Mandates can also help (as Lisa Michelle Galley points out in SF, which is moving toward mandatory LEED), but I prefer carrots to sticks. Things like what Chicago is doing (some requirements, but expediting permits and the like which can be a HUGE plus) and other incentives would move developers in that direction. Then energy costs; well, that will probably come into play as well at current prices. Much as we don't like admitting it sometimes it is cash -- not feeling good -- that drives this market.

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