Each Wednesday, The Wrap presents a compilation of recent noteworthy commercial real estate stories from a variety of publications. Below are links to five stories that caught our eyes in recent days.
• How Law Firms are Getting Creative by Carrie Rossenfeld of Globe St.
Key excerpt:
"The challenge firms are facing is how to implement these efficiencies while they occupy space. As a result, we have seen many firms elect to relocate altogether into more efficient space rather than go through the headache and business disruption of an occupied renovation. Firms that are downsizing in place are using the space they are giving back as swing space while they make renovations to their retained space in order to make it more efficient."
• Top 10 real estate trends for 2016 by Emily Peiffer of Construction Dive.
Key excerpt:
"Real estate professionals emphasized their belief that the suburbs are far from dead. The fear that millennials would abandon suburban-living has lingered in the real estate industry for years. But, according to the report, those millennials choosing to defer marriage and family creation will slowly start to take those major life steps and embrace the suburbs."
• Retail Finance Preview: Top Trends to Watch in 2016 by Patrick Ward for Shopping Center Business.
Key excerpt:
"With regard to financing for retail assets, we anticipate that capital supply will remain strong throughout 2016. There will be ample sources of capital available to finance a wide variety of retail properties — from small, unanchored retail centers to regional malls. Financing will also be readily available for retail investors to acquire assets, and for retail owners to refinance maturing loans."
• Landlords will hike rents by 8 percent this year by Quentin Fottrell of MarketWatch.
Key excerpt:
"The majority of property managers are planning on showing little mercy to their tenants this year. Some 88 percent of property managers raised their rent in the last 12 months and 68 percent predict that rental rates will continue to rise in the next year by an average of 8 percent, according to a survey of more than 500 of Rent.com’s property management customers, which the site says represents thousands of rental properties and hundreds of thousands of rental units."
• Five Megatrends Shaping Commercial Office Development by JoePobiner of GenslerOn.
Key excerpt:
"Highly amenitized office campuses epitomize what office workers want. They want more than a desk and a place to park. They want environments that provide access to retail, dining, recreation and child care amenities. They want places to grab lunch and run a few errands. And they would like to be close enough to home to check in with pets and family."