Avalon, $600 million mixed-use project rendering, Alpharetta, GA
LAS VEGAS (May 20, 2013) – With many major chains opening new
stores and investors showing strong interest in retail properties, the retail
real estate sector is set to continue its recovery in the second half of
2013.
Bob Simmons |
That’s the take of Hartman Simons, an Atlanta-based national
commercial real estate law firm that represents tenants and landlords in retail
leases as well as investors in retail properties.
The firm provided its analysis
as the 2013 ICSC RECon convention got underway in Las Vegas. The retail real
estate convention runs from May 19 through May 22.
Retail investment sales “have been blistering,” said Bob
Simons, a partner with the firm. “Leasing has been picking up too. Our work in
those areas is up significantly over last year and dramatically from 2009 and
2010.”
“We are very optimistic about the rest of this year,” Simons
added. “I think investment sales could become even more
competitive.”
REITs and institutional investors are in hot pursuit of core
assets, such as grocery-anchored shopping centers, in major urban markets, and
the capitalization rates for the sales of those properties have compressed to
2007 levels, Simons said.
Meanwhile, individual and pension-fund investors, in
search of higher yields than the miniscule returns offered by Treasury bonds,
have been gobbling up single-tenant, net-lease retail properties, such as drug
stores and banks, across the country, he said.
The sector is experiencing the expansion of several major
retailers, Simons said. Sporting-good chains and specialty grocers are among
those expanding aggressively, Simons said.
Unfortunately, financing can still be difficult to obtain for
smaller retailers. “Mom-and-pop tenants and local retailers are still struggling
for access to capital,” Simons said.
Among its high-profile projects, Hartman Simons is involved
in the
development of Avalon, a $600 million, mixed-use project in suburban Atlanta.
For
more information, visit www.hartmansimons.com or call
770-955-3555.
For a complete copy
of the company’s news release, please contact:
Stephen Ursery
The Wilbert Group
404-965-5026
sursery@thewilbertgroup.com
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