Urban One is currently seeking to fill an Associate position.  Applicants should view the following job posting for more information:

2013 Urban One Associate Job Posting

This (Job Posting – Associate Position – Real Estate Development / Planning / Project Management) was published by JR Riddle at Urban One. Please visit Urban One - Real Estate. Infrastructure. Transit. to learn more.

For those who do not read the popular real estate blog, Curbed LA, you should.  For those of us in the industry, and even those who are just interested, it is the go-to blog for the latest real estate information and gossip.  For several years now, Curbed LA has been holding an annual competition called the Curbed Cup, which allows the readers to vote on the hottest neighborhood for that particular year.  Think the NCAA March Madness bracket, but instead of college basketball teams, worthy neighborhoods within the City of Los Angeles are seeded in a head-to-head, winner takes all tournament.  The criteria for what determines the best neighborhood of the year cannot truly be determined as everything is voted on by the readers; however, from what we can tell, gentrification seems to be the #1 reason. This year, the winner ended up going to #11 seed Atwater Village, the small little “river-adjacent brunch zone, which this year got to work on less parking and more parks.”  It beat out higher seeds Santa Monica, two-time winner the Historic Core, Hollywood, and then Silver Lake to secure the title. Now, don’t get us wrong.  We have nothing against Atwater Village.  We actually like it and think there is a gentrification process occurring there right now on a small scale.  Most of Atwater is zoned for single-family residential, with denser residential and commercial zones on the outskirts.  Lately, Atwater has seen a surge in development and redevelopment.  Hipster home flips, some new retail, parks, along with some small lot subdivisions and multi-family apartment projects popping up.

However, this we feel that the 2012 title should have gone to the neighborhood that Atwater Village narrowly beat out in the 2nd Round, the two-time winner, Downtown’s Historic Core.  Here are just a few of the reasons why we feel that the Historic Core should be celebrating its third Curbed Cup title right now.

There were a plethora of new adaptive reuse and ground up multi-family projects, both planned and completed.  Joseph Hellen plans to build 90 apartments on top of six stories of parking on the 500 block of South Spring Street, between the Spring Arcade building and the Alexandria Hotel.  Barry Shy plans to build a 40-story, 350-unit tower dubbed SB Omega at Sixth and Main.  The Hanover Company plans to build a 281-unit complex at Olympic and Hill.  Vancouver-based Onni Group plans to build a 32-story, 283-unit tower at 9th and Olive.  Wood Partners plans to build a 22-story, 290-unit tower at 8th and Hope (they are actually digging the hole right now).

ICO Development plans to build 50-60 units at 430-434 S. Broadway.  Izek Shomof’s 250-unit condo conversion of the Title Insurance Building at 4th and Spring.  Completed projects include the Chester Williams Building, The Jeffries, Brockman Lofts, and Roosevelt Lofts.

There have also been many retail and restaurant openings along two of the streets that have the most gentrification potential in the Core, Spring and Broadway.  A Starbucks even opened up in the ground floor of the Hayward Hotel on Sixth and Spring.

This was the year of Broadway though.  Broadway, which has almost brought in the tail end of the gentrification of the Historic Core has started to catch up and solidify Council District 14‘s Bringing Back Broadway initiative.

Two Boots Pizza and Umamicatessen both opened next to The Orpheum.  Clifton’s Brookdale Cafeteria is getting a rehab by The Edison‘s Andrew Meieran and Wood & Vine‘s Kelly Architects.  Paragon Commercial Group is bringing a 39,000 sf Ross Dress for Less to the 1920 historic Woolworth Building.  Four historic theaters (Palace, State, Los Angeles, and Tower) owned by the Delijani family are going to be brought back to life by transforming them into concert venues, restaurants and bars.

Speaking of theaters, the United Artists Theatre building (with the famous “Jesus Saves” neon sign in the back) is currently getting converted to a 180-room Ace Hotel.  Most importantly, in our minds though, is that our Downtown Streetcar project, which will run along the street, is moving ahead after receiving approximately 73% of the vote in November!

Downtown LA Streetcar is the “missing link” in Downtown Los Angeles, to get people that “last-mile.”  The Streetcar will spur employment, increase property values, and general economic growth by stimulating to Downtown’s historic resources and entertainment facilities.

(Images courtesy of http://spmcrector.blogspot.com/2012/11/jesus-saves-and-people-on-our-doorstep.html, http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/09/spring_street_gets_a_damn_starbucks_full_grand_park_opening.php, http://framework.latimes.com/2012/02/08/cliftons-cafeteria/#/1, http://www.bringingbackbroadway.com/index.htm, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/umamicatessen-eat-sheet-los-angeles-restaurant-296957, http://theveganmancave.blogspot.com/2012/10/two-boots-pizza-design-entry.html, http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/12/curbed_cup_round_2_atwater_village_11_vs_historic_core_3.php, and http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/12/curbed_cup_finals_atwater_village_11_vs_silver_lake_4_1.php)
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This (Why the Historic Core should have won the Curbed Cup) was published by JR Riddle at Urban One. Please visit Urban One - Real Estate. Infrastructure. Transit. to learn more.

According to AIA.org, “the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) is a diffusion index derived from the monthly Work-on-the-Boards survey, conducted by the AIA Economics & Market Research Group. The ABI serves as a leading economic indicator that leads nonresidential construction activity by approximately 9-12 months. The indexes are developed from the monthly Work-on-the-Boards survey panel where participants are asked whether their billings increased, decreased, or stayed the same in the month that just ended. According to the proportion of respondents choosing each option, a score is generated, which represents an index value for each month.”  To understand the index a little better, an ABI of 50 translates to no change in architecture firm billings from the previous period (month).  A score above 50 indicates an increase in billings and a score below 50 indicates a decline in billings.

AIA reports that the index has climbed for the second consecutive month in September, up to 51.6.  This was a 1.4 increase from August and marks the strongest growth the industry has seen in approximately two years.  When analyzing on a regional basis, the West region of the United States lead the pack at 53.4, followed by the South at 51.9.  The Northeast (49.5) and  Midwest (47.2) showed a decline from last month.  Furthermore, when analyzing based on sector, Residential (Multifamily) surged at 57.3, followed by Institutional (51.0) and Commercial/Industrial (48.1).

So, what do these numbers say?  Well, it is clear that Multifamily billings in the West are ramping up and are currently some of the strongest in the country.  AIA predicts that hard construction spending tied to these numbers will start to occur in 9-12 months, which is your average project entitlement period.  The ABI is a unique form of measurement as it allows us to gauge what is on the “horizon” for future construction projects that are currently in the entitlement/predevelopment process.

“Going back to the third quarter of 2011, the multifamily residential sector has been the best performing segment of the construction field,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker. “With high foreclosure levels in recent years, more stringent mortgage approvals, and fewer people in the market to buy homes, there has been a surge in demand for rental housing.”

To read more, see the AIA story here:  http://www.aia.org/practicing/AIAB096284

Images courtesy of AIA.org

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This (Architecture Firm Billings at Two-Year High) was published by JR Riddle at Urban One. Please visit Urban One - Real Estate. Infrastructure. Transit. to learn more.

Randyl Drummer from CoStar recently posted a story on their website of the need and recent trend for repositioning distressed assets such as malls and other under-performing retail centers in order to transform them into income-producing properties through alternative uses.  This story really hit home with Urban One as we have been consulting in the retail sector for the past several years now.  For retail properties that have gone dark or are far from meeting original expectations, a major redevelopment, downsizing, changing the tenant mix, or resetting debt (refinancing) are some of the ways to reclaim the particular property’s highest and best use.

As Generation Y and a substantial portion of Generation X are moving away from suburban areas in favor of transit-oriented urban city cores, property owners and developers face difficult choices.  Their malls, retail centers, and suburban office buildings, which were once very lucrative, are now becoming distressed and essentially, obsolete, due to a shift in the market and demographics.  They are now forced to go back and take a harder look at the highest and best use of their properties.  In most cases, the only way to turn these back into an income-positive asset is to “rehabilitate, re-tenant, refinance, and reposition left-for-dead mall properties, or tear them down and start over again,” according to CoStar.  This hypothesis is also in line with Wednesday’s newly released Emerging Trends 2013 forecast and survey by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC).

According to ULI, “visonary local planners, [property owners] and developers [alike] have a target-rich environment for reconsidering how these “ghost” mall sites can reconnect with future growth in communities. Urban theorists are revisiting the whole concept of piecemeal development of malls, strip centers, housing and office campuses as compact mixed-use projects near transit hubs gain traction.”

Since, re-tenanting, or changing up the existing tenant mix and bringing in new blue-chip national tenants, can be a daunting task and sometimes an unachievable one due to terms of existing long-term leases,  therefore “blighted properties that cannot be re-tenanted with department stores or shops are being converted into churches, office buildings, light-industrial, government buildings, town centers, parks and transit centers, said Jonathan Miller, author of the Emerging Trends study, during a presentation Wednesday.”

ULI Chief Executive Officer Patrick Phillips said “local governments are beginning to show more flexibility in zoning and development standards combined with public-private tools like tax-increment financing, to encourage redevelopment of old malls for such uses.”

“The regulatory and financing structures are evolving in a way that should allow more of these properties to be repurposed in a productive way,” Phillips said.

According to Stephen Blank, chief ULI fellow, capital markets and finance, ”there may be some breakout in certain markets where capital flows into these assets. And there are funds to repurpose them, rather than watching them sit and wither away.”

Our advice to any property owners that may have assets that fall into this category, is to run several different repositioning scenarios to see how each of them effect your incremental return.  Of course, if you need any assistance on this underwriting to determine the highest and best use for your property or portfolio, Urban One is always here, so just let us know.

To read the full story on CoStar, please follow this link: When Retail Won’t Work: Alternative Uses for Converting Former Ghost Malls Back Into Income-Producing Property: Major Mall Makeover, Downsizing and Debt Reset Often Only Way to Reclaim Property’s Highest And Best Use.

Images courtesy of Urban One and Regency Centers

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This (Repositioning Distressed Retail Assets) was published by JR Riddle at Urban One. Please visit Urban One - Real Estate. Infrastructure. Transit. to learn more.

Some of you avid Urban One fans out there may have read our previous blog posts back at the end of May regarding the resurgence of the multifamily and retail real estate markets.  If you’re like me, you have been driving up and down the streets of Los Angeles seeing construction fencing, flagmen, tower cranes and pile driving rigs sprouting up on what seems like every couple blocks.  Of course, this is an exaggeration, but the truth is, many projects have broken ground in the past six months.  Curbed LA just put out a great map of multifamily, mixed-use, and hotel developments to look for right now.  Some are new projects, although the majority are older projects that have been on the sidelines ever since the market went south.  Now you can be well informed and impress your passenger(s) with your endless supply of real estate development knowledge and wisdom.

Check out the story here on Curbed LA, along with the map:

25 LA Housing and Hotel Developments to Watch Right Now

Los Angeles Housing & Hotel Developments
image courtesy of www.la.curbed.com

This (Top Housing and Hotel Developments to Watch For Right Now in LA) was published by JR Riddle at Urban One. Please visit Urban One - Real Estate. Infrastructure. Transit. to learn more.

Urban One is currently seeking to fill an internship position.  Applicants should view the following job posting for more information:

2012 Urban One Intern Job Posting

This (Internship Position – Real Estate Development / Planning / Project Management) was published by JR Riddle at Urban One. Please visit Urban One - Real Estate. Infrastructure. Transit. to learn more.

Urban One’s Ben Feingold and Eric Metz collaborated with UCLA Anderson School of Management lecturer/developer, Paul Habibi, on a report that was commissioned and released earlier this week by the Los Angeles Business Council (LABC). It is a study on the current state of workforce housing, economic competitiveness, and real estate development in Los Angeles, along with recommendations on how to improve it.

Excerpt from the report’s Executive Summary:

“In 2008, the Los Angeles Business Council (LABC) published a Workforce Housing Scorecard (2008 Scorecard), which evaluated the balance of jobs and housing across the 88 cities of Los Angeles County. The 2008 Scorecard concluded that most cities fell short of an ideal jobs-to-housing balance of 1.5 to 1, and that workforce housing was relatively scarce in proximity to major employment and activity centers. The 2008 Scorecard stressed the need for a jobs-housing balance, whereby the number of jobs in a community relative to the amount of housing units located nearby must be at the appropriate proportion to support healthy economic growth. The logic behind the jobs-housing balance is that if a community or region adds jobs without adding the necessary housing to support new employees, workers will either face unaffordable housing costs or be forced to move away from employment centers and bear the high costs of commuting. Ultimately, a jobs-housing mismatch may force employees to live in more affordable communities far from employment centers, resulting in increased congestion and commute times, reduced air quality, and reduced quality of life (SCAG, 2001). Four years later, the need for workforce housing – housing that is affordable to households earning between 50% and 120% of Area Median Income (AMI) of $53,000, or between about $26,500 and $63,600 – remains critically high throughout the County. This report will present and synthesize updated jobs, housing, and development data to make specific recommendations as to how the supply of workforce housing can be increased in order to improve the jobs-housing balance. Further, this report will demonstrate why planning efforts need to focus on transit corridors – not Transit Oriented Developments (TODs) – to promote long-term development of livable communities that integrate residential, commercial, and everyday amenities through an integrated transit network. Los Angeles County is at a crossroads in its regional development. In the wake of an extended recession and foreclosure crisis, an economic recovery is starting to take shape. Economic and construction activity is picking up, although slowly, and business investment is gaining traction. Concurrently, the public transportation sector – backed by Measure R—is making an unprecedented push to reshape transit infrastructure across the region. Over the next 30 years and potentially beyond, an estimated $40 billion or more of tax revenues will be committed to expanding and enhancing Los Angeles’ transit system.”

You can download a copy of the report here:

Building Livable Communities – Enhancing Economic Competitiveness in Los Angeles

The report has picked up quite a bit of buzz on blogs across the internet, such as Curbed LA:

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/10/the_average_la_worker_still_cant_actually_afford_to_live_in_la.php

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This (LABC Report – Building Livable Communities: Enhancing Economic Competitiveness in LA) was published by JR Riddle at Urban One. Please visit Urban One - Real Estate. Infrastructure. Transit. to learn more.

After a court decision earlier this year that brought redevelopment in California to an end, many projects around the state and in the City of Los Angeles came to a halt, their fates uncertain with questions of what would happen to money that had been committed by the CRA/LA. But thanks to a decision by the California Department of Finance, the entity that is responsible for dismantling redevelopment agencies throughout the state,several projects within L.A. will receive a total of $318 million in funding in 2012. These projects include the Cleantech Manufacturing Center, a key economic development project on the east side of Downtown, and the Broad Museum and the Related Companies project on Grand Avenue.

The infusion of redevelopment money into these catalytic projects is another step forward in the renaissance of Downtown Los Angeles, and a sign of the enduring commitment to real estate and economic development throughout the city.

Read the full articles at CurbedLA and LA Business Journal below:

• CurbedLA
• LABJ

This (Los Angeles Development Projects Get Infusion of Former Redevelopment Dollars) was published by ben at Urban One. Please visit Urban One - Real Estate. Infrastructure. Transit. to learn more.

A couple days ago, we did a brief blog post on the retail market heating up.  Today, let’s talk about multifamily.  The multifamily market, specifically new development, has shown signs of growth in 2012.  After the financial crisis, since 2009 the multifamily rental market has experienced an uptick in renter demand and a dip in vacancies.  Couple this with the fact that there has been limited supply due to a lack of debt financing.  However, over the last several quarters, we are starting to see a recovery on all fronts, with Los Angeles leading the pack.  According to CoStar, “the recovery has shifted away from the southern metros and toward West Coast markets in the last six months, much of it driven by strength in technology sector. Los Angeles was ranked first in the nation in the first quarter in year-over-year nominal demand growth with about 12,000 units, followed by Dallas, Chicago, New York and Houston.”

Back in the heyday of the early 2000′s, artificially inflated home prices and cavalier underwriting standards on single-family homes and condominiums pushed the ownership rate up north of 70%.  As we all saw, this resulted in the subprime mortgage crisis and a bubble that quickly deflated after 2006.  Foreclosures across the country, in turn plummeted, and home ownership dropped off significantly.  According to the new Director of Multifamily Research for CoStar Group’s economic and market forecasting company, Property and Portfolio Research (PPR), Luis Mejia, “apartment markets will continue to see additional demand while the foreclosure rate remains above pre-crisis levels and potential home buyers are cautious about committing to a purchase, even amid all-time low mortgage rates.”

Mejia also points that as foreclosures remain elevated and renters mull their home-buying decisions, the home ownership rate will likely continue to decline, thus strengthening the multifamily rental market.  Although the extent of the decline depends on the length and strength of the housing recovery.

National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) Chief Economist Mark Obrinsky adds, “the strength of the sector’s recovery has attracted capital to the industry,” said Obrinsky. “But our latest survey finds that capital is largely targeted at top-tier properties in core markets…”

Many, such as the 2012 Casden Multifamily Forecast, project that over the next two years, vacancies will continue to rise and rents will increase moderately, with Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California being the strongest.  The report, released by USC’s Lusk Center for Real Estate, notes that “renters have been moving out of the so-called shadow market – rentals of single-family homes, townhouses, and condos – and into traditional apartment complexes.”

All things considered, it seems as though Los Angeles is a good place to be right now as an apartment investor.

Click here for the full story at CoStar:

http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Apartment-Market-Shifting-Focus-To-New-Supply/138475

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This (Multifamily Development Market Gaining Momentum) was published by JR Riddle at Urban One. Please visit Urban One - Real Estate. Infrastructure. Transit. to learn more.

Not only will this year mark a resurgence in the multi-family real estate market, but retail will become stronger as well.  Already this year, there has been an increase in the trading of new retail properties by REITs nationwide, with the activity projected to grow moving deeper into 2012.  According to CoStar Group, “The deals highlight not only expanding investor interest for retail properties beyond the prime markets and core properties, but also a widening interest on the part of major national tenants to expand in mid-sized markets.”  The majority of this activity has been in Tier B properties and neighborhoods.  National tenants who are used to having spaces in larger and more desirable cities are now looking at how to adapt their stores to the smaller markets.  This trend has, in turn, created more buyers in this Tier B market.

Click here for the full story at CoStar:

http://www.costar.com/News/Article/More-Buyers-More-Properties-Coming-to-the-Retail-Market/138059?ref=100&iid=279&cid=33904ED53496D28568D4B42B5318234F

Images courtesy of www.costar.com

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This (Retail Real Estate Market Heating Up) was published by JR Riddle at Urban One. Please visit Urban One - Real Estate. Infrastructure. Transit. to learn more.