Commercial Real Estate Booming In The Desert [Housing Tracker]

Commercial Real Estate and Real Estate Investment Trusts [REITs]

The Desert Boom. “A solar land rush is rolling across the desert Southwest. Goldman Sachs, utilities PG&E and FPL, Silicon Valley startups, Israeli and German solar firms, Chevron, speculators - all are scrambling to lock up hundreds of thousands of acres of long-worthless land now coveted as sites for solar power plants... Just 20 months ago only five applications for solar sites [in the California Mojave] had been filed. Today 104 claims have been received for nearly a million acres of land, representing a theoretical 60 gigawatts of electricity. (The entire state of California currently consumes 33 gigawatts annually.)”  (Fortune via Yahoo! Finance, July 10^th)

First Industrial Makes Move Into France, Germany.  “First Industrial Realty Trust has increased its European footprint, opening new offices in Paris, France and Düsseldorf, Germany. The company plans to invest in these countries' properties through its balance sheet and its $475 million FirstCal Industrial Europe joint venture with the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS), the second largest U.S. public pension fund. First Industrial is focusing on value-add acquisitions, developments and redevelopments through its balance sheet and joint venture, and will also focus on The Netherlands and Belgium, as well.”  (Commercial Property News, July 9^th) 

Hotel Vacancies Rising.  “Goldman Sachs: The average US hotel occupancy rate over the last four weeks was 65.9%, down three percentage points from the same period one year ago. Goldman further noted that YoY comparisons of vacancy rates have been deteriorating all year.” (Calculated Risk, July 9^th) 

Grubb & Ellis Apartment REIT Acquires Two Atlanta Multifamilies. “Grubb & Ellis Apartment REIT has acquired multifamily properties in two Atlanta suburbs: Creekside Crossing in Lithonia and AMLI at Kedron Village in Peachtree City. Harbor Group International, REIT, sold the 280-unit Creekside Crossing at 100 Cavalier Crossing for $25.4 million or $90,714 per unit. The 280,840-square-foot apartment complex was built in 2003 in the I-20 East/Conyers submarket and is 92 percent leased. Todd Trepke, David Gutting and Larry Orr of Cushman & Wakefield represented Harbor Group.”  (CoStar Group, July 7^th)

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Comments

[fodi MD.:]

With all that solar power, they can use it to pump water into the dessert from the melting north pole.

2008 Jul 12 04:03 PM

[lefty:]

Or, Pipe it from the Great Lakes!

2008 Jul 13 06:19 AM