Category: Real Estate

Small Apartments Serve Large Portion of Renters

Smaller multifamily buildings are vital to affordable housing. These units tend to have more bedrooms, fewer amenities and are more affordable – perfect for families of America’s workforce. Financing the abundant supply of existing Class B and Class C buildings that typically make up small multifamily housing is crucial.

Yet borrowers looking to finance small apartment buildings have faced many issues that have been less common in larger conventional multifamily lending. In the past, these borrowers have struggled to find lenders willing to finance a smaller building if the asset didn’t fall inside a major city. Once a lender was finally secured, the process and paperwork involved were usually not streamlined, which led to inefficiencies and delays. And finally, lending programs in this segment were inconsistent across lenders and regions.

View entire article here in National Real Estate Investor

Find out more about financing your multi family property here

Forever 21 files for bankruptcy

The trend continues for retailers to experience slowed sales and lower earnings that are resulting in store closures and bankruptcies. Forever 21 is another in a growing list of retail tenants that are closing locations throughout the country. As reported in Chain Store Age:

Forever 21, the retailer that popularized fast-fashion in the U.S., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a plan to close most of its global locations. 

The filing by the privately held, family-run chain, which operates 815 stores worldwide, was not unexpected as it comes after weeks of speculation. The formerly high-flying Forever 21 has struggled in recent years, challenged by over-expansion, increased competition from discounters such as Target and the rise of online subscription services and rental retail. Online resale (secondhand) sites have also grown in popularity. 

Forever 21 said it has obtained $275 million in financing from its existing lenders with JPMorgan Chase and $75 million in new capital from TPG Sixth Street Partners, as well as affiliated funds, to help it support its operations in bankruptcy. As part of its restructuring strategy, the company plans to exit most of its international locations in Asia and Europe as well as in Canada. It has requested approval to shutter up to 178 U.S. stores and up to 350 in total, the New York Times reported. (The retailer will continue operations in Mexico and Latin America.)

Read the entire article at Chain Store Age and to discuss financing a commercial property contact Liberty .

To find out more about refinancing a commercial property contact Liberty.

 

 

MidAmerica Industrial Park adding retail, homes, parks

With its own water and wastewater treatment plants and custom electricity generation from the Grand River Dam Authority, MidAmerica Industrial Park has competitive advantages out the wazoo.

But occasionally, site selectors view those perks as too good to be true.

“Sometimes, we don’t make the first cut because they don’t get it,” said David Stewart, chief administrative officer of MAIP. “They’re skeptical. It looks too easy.”

When searching for new venues, company power brokers also can rely too much on empirical data, part of which shows that MAIP lies outside Tulsa’s MSA (metropolitan statistical area).

“We really fight the traditional method and ways of data collection and interpretation of data,” Stewart said. “It’s a fact. We can’t change it. What we have to do is work around it.”

That work has begun in earnest.

Located between Chouteau and Pryor, MAIP is in the midst of a master plan that addresses infrastructure, housing, quality of life and workforce at the 9,000-acre business park, which delivers at least a $1.4 billion annual economic impact to the region.

Originally posted in Tulsa World

To find out more about commercial real estate financing for a property contact Liberty here.

 

Tulsa is to often overlooked by national media but is finally being recognized as a hidden gem here in the heartland. Thanks for CBS Sunday Morning visiting Tulsa.