News

LAWRENCE, Kan. - For the second year, Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network is seeking candidates for its $100,000 CREW Network Scholarship Program. Through the CREW Network Scholarship Program, CREW Network will award ten $10,000 scholarships to women enrolled full-time in their junior or senior year of an accredited real estate program at a college or university. The scholarships will be awarded based on academic excellence, and each scholarship recipient will receive a paid internship program at a commercial brokerage firm.

WINTER HAVEN - Florida Sen. J. D. Alexander (R-Winter Haven) has learned from state Department of Community Affairs Secretary Thomas G. Pelham that he will recommend DCA approval of the Winter Haven Integrated Logistics Center planned by Evansville Western Railroad, a subsidiary of CSX Transportation.

CB Richard Ellis has been selected as a primary advisor to the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for its owned real estate portfolios nationwide. CB Richard Ellis will be responsible for overseeing the management, leasing and disposition of the FDIC’s residential and commercial ORE throughout all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The portfolios are comprised of assets held by the FDIC in its capacity as receiver for failed financial institutions.

ORLANDO - The National Association of Realtors Land Institute named Florida as the Outstanding Chapter of the Year at the National Association of Realtors Annual Convention held here. Florida RLI was recognized for the most ALC’s (Accredited Land Consultants), and the chapter also added more new ALC’s than any other state. Other achievements included reaching out to work with others in the Realtor family such as GTAR (Greater Tampa Bay Association of Realtors), FAR (Florida Association of Realtors) and CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lawmakers under political pressure to “do something” to stimulate the economy and stop the slide in housing prices must act carefully and reject proposals that will do more harm than good, according to the National Multi Housing Council the and National Apartment Association. Among the bad ideas circulating are proposals for a new $22,000 homebuyer tax credit, legislation overturning the ban on seller-financed downpayment programs and calls for a federally financed interest rate buydown on mortgages.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - MBA expects economic growth in the second half of 2008 to be negative and remain negative through the first half of 2009 before a modest recovery, according to the latest economic forecast released by the Mortgage Bankers Association. MBA expects growth to pick up strongly by the end of 2009 and over the course of 2010. MBA expects total residential mortgage production in 2009 to be $1.67 trillion, down from an expected $1.86 trillion in 2008 and $2.3 trillion in 2007.

NEW YORK - Cushman & Wakefield released third-quarter statistics for the U.S. commercial real estate market that show an increase in the national office vacancy rate to 10.6% from 10.2%. The most significant factor in the rise was the increase in the sublease vacancy rate, which rose to 1.5% at the end of September, from 1.2% at the end of June.

By: Jim Lewis, Charles Wayne Consulting It seems that everything has become a “crisis.” That is the most used (overused) word now spoken in the media. We have the global warming crisis, the oil crisis, the banking crisis, the airline crisis, the refining capacity crisis, the unemployment crisis, the economy in crisis and, of course, the crisis of confidence. This was just from one evening in front of the tube, so if there are more crises that I should be aware of, please e-mail me. (I don’t want to miss any.)

MELVILLE, N.Y. - Whitehall Jewelers Holdings Inc. has selected DJM Realty, a Gordon Brothers Group Company, to exclusively manage the national disposition of all remaining retail store leases in the United States. Whitehall Jewelers Holdings is a national specialty retailer of fine jewelry doing business as Whitehall and Lundstrom. Included in the disposition project are leases of former Friedman Jewelers and Crescent Jewelers, which Whitehall acquired earlier this year. Whitehall was originally founded in 1895 under the name Marks Bros. Jewelers.

By: Joanna E. Iglesias and Steven Rubin, Bilzin Sumberg Real estate joint venture partners often race to begin a new project without adequately planning for an exit strategy. During the recent real estate downturn, some joint ventures without adequate financing have found themselves with no means to exit the venture, in some cases leading to disagreements among partners and to paralysis for the venture. However, a well-crafted exit strategy can provide a means by which partners may resolve disputes if the relationship fails.