Farmland Investments

Tags

Farm Land, Institutional Investors, Real Estate Value, USDA

As demand for food increases farmland has become increasingly attractive to both US and overseas investors. While new buildings can built, land cannot be created and is proving to be a stable long-term investment.

USDA reported farm real estate value (land and structures) was $2.38 trillion in 2014.  Farm land is often rented to local farmers. Owning a number of farms in various locations can increase the variety of crops grown, insuring against one crop experiencing a lower yield.

Investor farms typically grow corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton. Specialty crops are becoming attractive as an investment and specifically blueberry farms are being acquired in Michigan.

According to USDA Land Values Summary (August 2015), farm real estate value (land and buildings) in Michigan has increased 4.3%.

Source: DesMoines Register

Source: USDA

Source: Economic Research Service USDA

Source: CNBC

 

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Detroit – Matching Vacant Space and a Business

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Business, Commercial Real Estate, Detroit, Entrepreneurs, Grants

In 2015, Motor City Match provided $500,000 in matching grants; connecting business owners with property owners. Property owners with vacant space looking for tenants and entrepreneurs looking for space in Detroit may look to find help through this potentially viable option.

Grant Applications for Business Owners and Building Owners in Round 3 is currently open and will close January 1st.

In the previous round, 10 businesses received a share of the $500,000 Grant to start or expand a business plus 87 businesses received assistance in planning or guidance to get their businesses started.

For more information and to submit an application go to www.motorcitymatch.com.

The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, a private, non-profit organization, one of the partners in Motor City Match, has a lot of resources to help companies and businesses arrive and thrive in Detroit.

 

We’re Still Talking about Millennials…

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Commercial Real Estate, Marketing, Millennials, Trends

And we will be for the foreseeable future. In order to market commercial real estate to Millennials, the 20-34 year age group, you have to understand them.

A good place to start is the government report, 15 Economic Facts about Millennials by The Council of Economic Advisers, issued late last year. Some facts stated are:

• 15% of that age group were born in a foreign country
• They are technologically connected
• A study found half of those surveyed expressed interest in starting a business
• They are a third of the labor force
• They stay at early-career jobs longer
• Women have more labor market equality
• Millennials get married later
• They are less likely to be homeowners
• They are more likely to live in urban areas

Millennial Nicole Weinburger gives her perspective in a National Real Estate Investor article. Some of her key points are:  You have to keep up with technology to close sales; millennials will demand more information; video tours of commercial real estate listings will become more prominent; online leads will outpace referrals. Ms. Weinburger writes: “Millennials that have started to build up some equity and need to know with whom to invest their new, hard-earned money……Millennials who are first generation investors that don’t know who to trust will immediately turn to the internet as their first source.”

Photo:  Death to the Stock Photo

Work-Life Integration

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Business, Commercial Real Estate, Labor force, Startups

Work-life balance is now about work-life integration.

Startups are currently looking for spaces and  buildings where their workers can live and work.  Co-living, or group living, with a small personal space and large communal spaces for living and working.

It’s not a 9 to 5 workday, it’s 24 hour accessibility for hours that work best for work, rest or play.

Both shared and independent office space are in high demand. Freelance workers, independent contractors, and the self-employed are estimated to be 33% of the work force and may grow to 50% by the end of this decade, certainly an opportunity for landlords to be creative.

Source: Buzzfeed

Source: Bizshift-Trends

Photo: Death to the Stock Photo

Commercial High-Rent Blight

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Blight, Commercial Real Estate, Detroit, Downtown Ann Arbor, Retail Leasing

Recently an article in The New Yorker explained high-rent blight in the West Village area. Rising properties values allow landlords to justify raising rents on commercial properties often pricing long-term tenants out of the market. This has resulted tenants being forced to close their business or having to move. Many storefronts have been closed for a long time, as landlords wait for higher paying tenants, often whom are national chains.

New York City is not the only place that high commercial rents start to undermine the unique character that makes areas of a city appealing to shop and visit. When too many national chains move in, it reduces an area’s special attributes and hurts the small businesses that have created the charm and character in the first place.

Ann Arbor’s State Street retail district, adjacent to the University of Michigan’s central campus, recently saw two restaurants closing with claims of “high rent” as a factor in their decisions.

One city is finding a way to deal with empty storefronts. In 2011 a group of people in Minneapolis came together to develop a community real estate cooperative. Northeast Investment Cooperative buys and develops real estate. They have bought, sold, and renovated buildings in an area that was once empty storefronts. The area is now thriving with several businesses enhancing the neighborhood.

To reduce blight in Detroit a task force was created in 2013 called Detroit Blight Removal Task Force. They have been targeting residential neighborhoods first; starting with those that are most populated and have the fewest abandoned homes. The city’s goal is to tear down 200 houses a week.  Commercial blight will be more challenging as there are more than 5,400 commercial, civic and church properties on the removal list.

Source: MLive.com

Source: MLive.com

Source: Crosscut.com

Source: Detroit Free Press

Source: MLive.com

Office Work Space – Open Reigns

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Commercial Real Estate, Millennials, Office Buildings

For several years the square footage of workers private office space has been getting smaller. The trend is toward open concept work areas verses individual offices and cubicles. In those companies that still use office cubicles, workers find these shrinking, as well.

As technology is increasingly mobile, it effects the way we work and the spaces we work in. We are always connected with each other.  We can (and do) work anywhere.  The open concept work space is an extension of that.

Open office floor plans (ideally):

• Save money
• Encourage worker collaboration
• Promote creativity
• Increase productivity
• Attract younger talent

Some of the drawbacks can be: distraction, noise, lack of personal space and overhearing workers who talk too loud on the phone.

Nevertheless, traditional offices are on the way out and the open concept use will continue to grow.

Source: The New York Times

Source: Newtimes.com

Source: Entrepreneur

Source: Los Angeles Times

Source: Quartz

Bottom photo: DeathtoStockPhotos

 

Malls: Dead or Alive?

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Businesses, Cities, Malls, Retail

Every adult must know of a mall that they grew up with that is no longer a mall. While some may have been repurposed most have been closed or torn down. If you’re unsure of the status of your childhood mall go to the website deadmalls.com. There is a forecast that hundreds of malls will be gone in the next decade.

Some of their demise can be attributed to consumers doing their shopping online. However, high-end malls seem to be doing better and are getting a help from sales at technology stores, think Apple and Microsoft.

As malls are declining in the US, it appears that investors are interested in financing malls in China and Korea where there is growing demand.

Malls have always been social gathering places and as baby boomers age the mall is still a good place to meet.

Racked has some ideas of what a mall might look like in the future: interactive technologies (full body scanner); hypercustomization (3-D printing); commerce center to community experience (unique activities); digital shopping carts, varied tenant mix and smarter selling floors.

Source:  The New Yorker

Source:  Fortune

Source:  Wall Street Journal

Source: Yahoo Finance

Buying or Selling a Business

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Ann Arbor Businesses, Business Resources, Buying Businesses, Commercial Real Estate

Reinhart Commercial agent, Jay Houghton, specializes in selling businesses. Some points to consider from his experience:

• Most businesses don’t have real estate and are on leased property
• The top two reasons owners want to sell are burn-out; which may occur during the first 5-7 yrs of the business, or retirement
• Businesses on average take six months to sell and it may take another 60 days to complete due diligence and paperwork
• Every business’s worth is based on it’s individual characteristics like assets, location, earnings, revenue, etc. There is no set magic formula to determine worth

The government’s Small Business Administration’s website has information about buying a business.

Another good resource is Richard Parker’s website and book, How to Buy a Good Business at a Great Price, these are guides for buying an Online, Retail, Restaurant, Gas Station business and more.

Jay has a very profitable Burger Restaurant and Bar listed for sale which is located adjacent to the University of Michigan’s main campus in the heart of student housing. A rare opportunity to purchase a business in this location with a Class C Liquor license. This is a busy student hangout. Owner is retiring.