Bluestone & Hockley Partners With Sperry Van Ness To Boost Its Brokerage
Posted by Tom Smith in Vancouver Washington Commercial Real Estate on July 3, 2011
Bluestone & Hockley Real Estate Services has harnessed itself to a powerful national name in a bid to boost its brokerage business as the economy revives.
The privately held firm purchased the Portland area regional franchise rights to Sperry Van Ness Commercial Real Estate Advisors, an Irvine, California-based brand with 160 offices and 800 brokers nationwide.
Bluestone & Hockley is a 140-person real estate firm with a 15-member brokerage team as well as interests in property management.
The deal was completed in mid-June. Sperry Van Ness Bluestone & Hockley Real Estate Brokerage makes its formal debut on July 5. It marries a national brand that brokered $4.7 billion of real estate sales in 2010 to a Portland-based independent responsible for about $50 million in sales last year.
Cliff Hockley, president, declined to disclose terms of the franchise agreement, but called it was a “substantial” investment that will deliver a national profile and the potential to attract national clients.
Karlin Conklin will lead Bluestone and Hockley's new brokerage division.
Curt Arthur, who manages the Sperry Van Ness franchise in Salem, approached Hockley about linking up as part of a larger strategy to cement Sperry Van Ness’s profile in the top 35 U.S. markets.
Despite its past relationship with Guardian, Sperry Van Ness had a relatively small presence in Portland.
It is chiefly represented by the family brokerage team of Gary, Ryan and Kris Imbrie. The Beaverton-based firm, Sperry Van Ness – Imbrie Realty LLC, focuses on retail sales throughout the state.
“Portland is a very important market for us,” Arthur said. “We want to have a larger presence there than we have in the past.”
Hockley said the message resonated. By partnering with a 160-office network, Bluestone & Hockley hopes to expand its brokerage business by making itself attractive to larger businesses that want a single partner to handle their real estate needs. Its new partner brings a new suite of tools, including an online auction service, and access to new capital sources.
Sperry Van Ness isn’t the only national player shopping for a local partner. Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle, a global firm with more than 1,000 offices worldwide, is widely rumored to be shopping for a local partner to upgrade its Portland presence.
Independents comfirm they’re being courted.
Craig Sweitzer, principal with Urban Works Real Estate, said he’s rejected several overtures by national firms wanting to link with his independent brokerage, which specializes in urban retail space. His business doesn’t depend on national referrals, he said.
The timing of the Sperry Van Ness-Bluestone deal is not accidental. Bluestone & Hockley’s brokers specialize chiefly in investment sales, a particularly slow part of the market. Hockley doesn’t expect the market to normalize for another 12 to 18 months, but the national profile will help it gain market share when it does.
“Our focus is to grow our business,” he said.
Like Sperry Van Ness, Bluestone & Hockley keeps a relative low profile by specializing in Class B and tertiary properties, the day-to-day income producing real estate that seldom generate headlines when it is leased or sold.
George Slusser, chief operating officer of Sperry Van Ness International, said Bluestone’s mix of brokerage and property management services made it an attractive local partner as the firm looked to gain a presence in the Northwest.
“They are really an ideal candidate for us,” he said.
Sperry Van Ness launched in 1987 and began franchising its offices in 2000. It operates in about 155 markets. Investment sales represented about 70 percent of its activity in 2010 and leasing represented the balance. Franchisees operate all of its local offices.
Bluestone & Hockley brokered $50 million in sales in 2010. Conklin said the Sperry partnership will help Bluestone meet its goal of growing to $55 million in the first year. The firm expects to add five to 10 new brokers as well, she said.
Story By Wendy Culverwell – Portland Business Journal Staff Writer
New Commercial Property Listings June 27, 2011
Posted by Tom Smith in Commercial Property Listings on July 1, 2011
These are my latest commercial property listings as of June 27, 2011. There’s appx. $40,000,000 in new commercial real estate listings now available. Click here for a full overview with details.
View This Week’s New Listings
Search all property listings by product type or geographic area by clicking here.
Search All SVN National Listings
Search all property listings by product type or geographic area by clicking here.
The Economic And Commercial Real Estate Outlook
This is a very interesting and informative video presentation by Dr. Sam Chandan given for the Speery Van Ness Investor Forum for June, 2011.
On the agenda for this presentation:
THE ECONOMY AND FINANCIAL MARKETS
- Economic Growth and the Labor Market
- Consumer Activity
- Inflation, Interest Rates, and Borrowing Costs
PROPERTY INVESTMENT
- Uneven Gains in Transaction Activity and Pricing
- Changing Intermediation of Distress
- Policy Issues Impacting Investment Trends
You may download the notes and slides from the presentation by Discussion Notes from the Economic and Commercial Real Estate Outlook Presentation.
New Commercial Property Listings June 15, 2011
Posted by Tom Smith in Commercial Property Listings on June 15, 2011
These are my latest commercial property listings as of June 15, 2011. There’s $25,575,000 in new commercial real estate listings now available. Click here for a full overview with details.
View This Week’s New Listings
Search all property listings by product type or geographic area by clicking here.
Search All SVN National Listings
Search all property listings by product type or geographic area by clicking here.
Commercial Real Estate Markets Are Stabilizing, Demand Is Growing
Posted by Tom Smith in Commercial Real Estate News on June 8, 2011
Download the official Commercial Forecast for 2011, Q2 here.
The improving economy and job creation mean growing demand for commercial real estate, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said job creation will be the biggest factor moving forward. “Job growth creates demand for commercial space, and the economy should be adding between 1.5 million and 2 million jobs annually both this year and in 2012, with the unemployment rate falling to 8.0 percent by the end of next year,” he said. “Given the minimal new supply in recent years, the rising demand means vacancy rates will be trending down in the commercial real estate sectors. Individual markets are now stabilizing and in some cases rising.”
From the second quarter of this year to the second quarter of 2012, NAR forecasts vacancy rates to decline 1.0 percentage point in the office sector, 0.9 point in industrial real estate, 0.5 point in the retail sector and 1.1 percentage points in the multifamily rental market.
The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors®, in its SIOR Commercial Real Estate Index, an attitudinal survey of more than 360 local market experts,1 shows a firming up of market fundamentals.
The SIOR index, measuring the impact of 10 variables, rose 6.8 percentage points to 57.5 in the first quarter, the highest since the fall of 2008. The Northeast and South drove improvements in market conditions. Vacancy rates are improving, but concessions continue to make it a tenant’s market.
Although the SIOR index remains notably lower than a level of 100 that represents a balanced marketplace, this is the sixth consecutive quarterly improvement after almost three years of decline. The last time the index was at 100 was in the third quarter of 2007.
A separate NAR commercial lending survey shows 65 percent of Realtors® report lending conditions have tightened thus far in 2011, and six out of 10 failed to complete a transaction this year due to financing problems. Regional banks provide the majority of commercial loans, followed by private investors. National banks are a distant third.
“Just as in the residential sector, lending problems are the biggest issue impacting commercial real estate,” Yun noted.
The multifamily sector is the only area that has clearly turned the corner, resulting in consistently falling vacancy rates and rising rents. “Solid rises in apartment rents will force some renters to consider home ownership,” Yun said.
NAR’s latest COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE OUTLOOK2 offers projections for four major commercial sectors and analyzes quarterly data in the office, industrial, retail and multifamily markets. Historic data were provided by CBRE Econometric Advisors.
Office Markets
Vacancy rates in the office sector are expected to fall from 16.3 percent in the second quarter of this year to 15.3 percent in the second quarter of 2012.
The markets with the lowest office vacancy rates currently are Honolulu and New York City, each with vacancies below 9 percent.
Office rents are projected to rise 0.3 percent this year and another 4.3 percent in 2012.
In 57 markets tracked, net absorption of office space, which includes the leasing of new space coming on the market as well as space in existing properties, is likely to be 26.6 million square feet in 2011.
Industrial Markets
Industrial vacancy rates are expected to decline from 13.9 percent in the current quarter to 13.0 percent in the second quarter of 2012.
At present, the areas with the lowest industrial vacancy rates are Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, with vacancies in the 7 to 8 percent range.
Annual industrial rent should decline 1.5 percent in 2011 before rising 2.0 percent next year. Net absorption of industrial space in 58 markets tracked is seen at 126.1 million square feet in 2011.
Retail Markets
Retail vacancy rates are forecast to decline from 13.1 percent in the second quarter of this year to 12.6 percent in the second quarter of 2012.
Markets with the lowest retail vacancy rates currently include Honolulu; Long Island, N.Y.; and San Jose, Calif., all with vacancies below 8 percent.
Average retail rent is expected to decline 1.4 percent in 2011, and then rise 0.7 percent next year. Net absorption of retail space in 53 tracked markets is projected to be 5.4 million square feet in 2011.
Multifamily Markets
The apartment rental market – multifamily housing – is continuing to tighten as household formation grows. Multifamily vacancy rates should drop from 5.8 percent in the current quarter to 4.7 percent in the second quarter of 2012.
Areas with the lowest multifamily vacancy rates presently are Pittsburgh; San Jose, Calif.; and Portland, Ore., with vacancies below 3 percent.
Average apartment rent is likely to rise 3.4 percent this year and another 4.3 percent in 2012. Multifamily net absorption is forecast at 250,800 units in 59 tracked metro areas in 2011.
The COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE OUTLOOK is published by the NAR Research Division for the commercial community. NAR’s Commercial Division, formed in 1990, provides targeted products and services to meet the needs of the commercial market and constituency within NAR.
The NAR commercial components include commercial members; commercial committees, subcommittees and forums; commercial real estate boards and structures; and the NAR commercial affiliate organizations – CCIM Institute, Institute of Real Estate Management, Realtors® Land Institute, Society of Industrial and Office Realtors®, and Counselors of Real Estate.
Approximately 79,000 NAR and institute affiliate members specialize in commercial brokerage services, and an additional 171,000 members offer commercial real estate as a secondary business.
The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
# # #
1 The SIOR Commercial Real Estate Index, conducted by SIOR and analyzed by NAR Research, is a diffusion index based on market conditions as viewed by local SIOR experts. For more information contact Richard Hollander, SIOR, at 202/449-8200.
2 Additional analyses will be posted under Economists’ Commentary in the Research area of Realtor.org in coming days.
Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the News Media section. Statistical data, charts and surveys also may be found by clicking on Research.
REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark which may be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics. Not all real estate agents are REALTORS®. All REALTORS® are members of NAR.
Download the official Commercial Forecast for 2011, Q2 here.
Contact Me
Connect With Me
Real Estate News- Deal Is Near to Develop Willets PointThe Bloomberg administration is nearing a deal with the Related Cos. and a real-estate firm controlled by owners of the New York Mets to build a retail and residential development on a gritty swath of Queens near Citi Field. […]
- If Kids Can Play, Will Mom Shop?In their bid to keep shoppers from deserting to the Internet, more malls are adding sprawling play spaces. […]
- Brookfield to Spin Off HoldingsBrookfield Asset Management plans to bundle together its wide array of commercial-property holdings into a new publicly traded subsidiary, with an eye toward further growth. […]
- Pointed Spat Over World Trade SpireOne World Trade Center's owners are sparring with their architects over what goes on top—a dispute that could stop the structure being recognized as America's tallest. […]
- Tax Terms Amended in Empire State Building IPOThe Malkin family that controls the Empire State Building has agreed to change the terms of the skyscraper's public offering, making the tax treatment less punitive to small investors. […]
- Plots & Ploys: Looks Don't MatterStrange looks of a building apparently aren't enough to scare off big-name investors. That's the case with 100 Federal Street in Boston—the so-called "pregnant building" recently purchased by Boston Properties. […]
- U.K. Pushes 'Social' Housing REIT PlanFacing a dearth of new-home construction, the U.K. real-estate industry and government are looking at ways to encourage the formation of new real-estate investment trusts that would focus on subsidized housing. […]
- Ohio REIT Heads UpscaleAssociated Estates Realty Corp., which owns rental-apartment buildings in cities like Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio, is pushing into the upscale Los Angeles market despite some investor concerns. […]
- Deal Is Near to Develop Willets Point
