U.S. House and Senate Return for Busy September Agenda

The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate return this week in full from their summer recess, with congressional leaders rushing to meet critical deadlines to advance President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” legislative agenda. Prior to their return to Washington, D.C., members of several House committees had been meeting via teleconference to develop their individual pieces of a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package that, by rule, cannot be blocked by a Senate filibuster. Senate Democrats (including the two Independents that caucus with the Democrats) can pass the reconciliation bill without Republican votes, provided all 50 support the reconciliation measure. Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced their portion of the bill containing revenue-raising measures that will be subject to further negotiations before a final bill is voted on by the House.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had originally promised progressives in the Democratic caucus that she would not hold a vote on a Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill until work on the larger reconciliation bill was completed and accepted by Senate Democrats. However, a group of centrist and moderate Democrats led by Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) extracted a commitment from Speaker Pelosi to begin floor vote proceedings on the infrastructure bill on Sept. 27. In addition to the reconciliation package and the infrastructure bill, the House and Senate must also deal with legislation to raise the national debt limit, as well as passing a continuing resolution before Oct. 1 to fund the federal agency operations and prevent a government shutdown.

See original article here!

Registration Open for the 2022 NAIOP NC Conference

After having to cancel a year ago due to COVID concerns, plans and preparations are currently underway for the NAIOP NC Conference March 31st – April 1st, 2022 at Pinehurst Resort. 

We realize the many issues facing our industry as we navigate a world where Covid, logistics, and material costs dominate concerns we all face on a daily basis. We are excited for the many opportunities the conference provides to network, learn, and grow our industry.

Conference Registration is Open!
If you previously registered for the 2020 conference your conference registration has automatically been transferred to 2022.

Click here to view the current attendee list. If you need to make changes to your registration or will be unable to make the 2022 conference, please email us at info@naioprd.org

Cost to Attend:
Member: $395
Developing Leader Members (NAIOP NC members only – age 35 and under): $275
Non-Members: $495

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Register Now

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Book Hotel Reservations

Book your rooms now for the 2022 NAIOP NC Conference.

Room Rate Information: (Rooms include breakfast buffet in the main dining room on Friday, April 1, 2022)

Single Room: $207 per person, per night (plus tax & resort fee)
Double Room: $128 per person, per night (plus tax & resort fee)

Please note: hotel rooms must be booked separate and are not included in conference registration. Room rate is available until Monday, February 28, 2022.

Call 1-855-318-2887 to make a reservation or book online.

Book Now

REBIC – Two for Tuesday

Originally published by REBIC with permission to re-post through NAIOP.

Charlotte City Council Redistricting Update

This is a significant development. If you are a resident of Charlotte or are doing business in Charlotte, you need to pay attention to this. In accordance with Census data being released, the City of Charlotte is undergoing a redistricting process that will result in new district maps being drawn for the City Council. For more information about the committee, including their meeting dates and times, click here.

In addition, The city will host a listening session on Tuesday, Oct. 5^th, at 6 p.m. to share more about the redistricting process and gather community feedback. Complete the listening session registration form to attend the virtual event. Residents can also sign up to speak at the Oct. 18^th City Council public hearing. If you are interested in participating, you must complete the speaker registration form. Send questions or comments related to the city’s redistricting process to Redistricting@charlottenc.gov.

CRE’s Technology Generation Gap

Not surprisingly, what people think about technology seems to depend on when they were born.

Coldwell Banker Commercial surveyed CRE professionals and broke the results down into two groups: those 45 and younger, and those older than 45. In those groups, 65 percent of younger workers think the CRE industry is lagging behind other businesses in its use of technology. Some 68 percent of the older professionals say technology adoption is keeping pace with other industries.

When it comes to ease of use, 80 percent of the younger workers say they’re comfortable with technology, while only 58 percent of older workers say they are. Older workers are more likely to think personal relationship skills are more important than technology.

The survey does find one key area of agreement: 96 percent of all workers say face-to-face meetings are important. Commercial real estate remains a relationship-driven business.

Creating Community-oriented Office Environments

Landlords and tenants have a shared interest in designing office environments that foster collaboration and innovation, with the goal of attracting talented workers and enhancing their job satisfaction, well-being and productivity.

Data Center Leasing Activity Outlook

By: Kelly McBride, Jeff Groh, and Allen Tucker

Increasing demand for cloud-based services is fueling data center leasing activity.

AS ADOPTION of cloud technologies to support the Internet economy and digital content-driven consumption accelerates, demand for third-party data centers that support the cloud-managed service sector is projected to double in the next five years. Globally, the multitenant data centers (MTDC) market is expected to rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.1 percent between 2015 and 2018. Market absorption for MTDCs, measured in megawatts (MW), is increasing exponentially in many U.S. metro areas, which currently represent 44 percent of the global market.

Today’s data center IT decision makers are using increasingly sophisticated criteria when they shop for space and power. The “big six” data center REITs — Equinix, Digital Realty, DuPont Fabros Technology, CoreSite Realty, CyrusOne and QTS — have continued their development binge, while smaller MTDC players also made some notable acquisitions in 2016.  As the data center market grows, cloud providers want to bring data applications and storage closer to consumers while decreasing latency and increasing reliability, opening new markets for potential data center construction. More flexible buildouts are allowing diverse players to enter a market once dominated by only the largest providers.

Click here to read the full article.

Where New Office Space Costs the Least – and the Most

Real estate giant JLL reports that it will cost an average of $196.49 per square foot to build out an office in 2017. After landlord-provided allowances, that leaves tenants on the hook for more than $150 per square foot. But not all markets are equally expensive.

A new guide uses JLL’s database to determine which markets cost tenants the most and which cost tenants the least, after allowances are figured in. The most expensive include Silicon Valley, Sacramento, Long Island, San Francisco and New York.

The most affordable market is Washington, D.C. “Slightly below average build out costs are offset substantially by large concession packages that are leading the national average,” JLL explains. Next comes Houston; West Palm Beach; Hampton Roads, Virginia; and Atlanta.

“Six of the 10 most affordable markets in the U.S. exist in the South – further proof that affordable labor and materials in the region can greatly affect the occupiers’ bottom line,” JLL notes.

House Ways and Means Committee Hearing on Tax Reform

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) has scheduled a hearing of the full committee for this Thursday, May 18, intended to show how tax reform will grow the economy by generating investments and creating jobs. The hearing is the first major action the committee has taken since President Donald Trump announced his tax reform plan – a broad statement of overarching goals with little detail.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Brady said that the committee would hear “from witnesses about specific policy proposals that deliver the most economic growth and how our ideas will directly help hardworking taxpayers and the businesses that create jobs across America.”

The hearing is seen as a first step by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep. Brady to revive interest in features of their tax reform plan which have garnered strong opposition among Senate Republicans, including a “border adjustment tax” that would raise the costs of imported goods by 20 percent. Also controversial are provisions of the House plan that would affect commercial real estate, including the elimination of Section 1031 like-kind exchanges, the loss of deductibility of business debt interest, and issues concerning the continued capital gains tax treatment of real estate partnership carried interests.

Uber Hopes Flying Cars Will Take Off

Wired magazine notes: “The kind of aircraft Uber envisions shuttling customers through the air—electric, with vertical takeoff and landing capability, and capable of flying 100 miles in just 40 minutes—don’t exist yet.” But, it adds, the company is already working with real estate companies to provide “vertiports,” and with engineers to deliver the power the cars would need to fly.

One expert says it’s feasible. “I think 2020 is realistic for a vehicle that is not replacing an airplane but replacing a car,” Richard Pat Anderson of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, tells Wired.

Shuttered Retail Isn’t Driving Down Rents

Retailers nationwide have closed more than 2,000 stores this year alone. But research by Reis indicates that the wave of closings isn’t yet driving down retail rents.

The Reis database includes properties located in 77 of the 80 primary retail markets. The company has identified 28.9 million square feet of closed stores in the last two years. Reis’ report finds there is “very little evidence suggesting that the closings had a direct impact on retail rents,” and notes that “those with more store closures in general have seen a sharper deceleration in rent growth, but only a few have seen rent declines.”

The report cautions that the “study includes mall and power center closings, yet the rent data used in this study pertains to neighborhood and community shopping centers.” It notes that many smaller shopping centers feature small retail outlets consumers need at the last minute, so that may be shielding those shopping centers from e-commerce competition or the closing of a large store nearby.