Real Estate and Financial - News

To send Corporate Facilities Management news to The McMorrow Corporate Facilities Management Report,
please e-mail: corporatefm@mcmorrowreport.com

British companies want more open space

LONDON — A study by global design firm Gensler and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) into the value of public open space reveals that businesses’ desire to be located in close proximity to open spaces could release £1.3 billion of investment in the creation, development and maintenance of new public space, offsetting London’s future open-space deficit, projected to be 1100 hectares (ha) by 2031.

Further, 95% of property professionals would be willing to pay up to 3% more for property with easy access to quality open space. 

For more information, see www.gensler.com

[ page top ]

Office vacancy rate expected to fall

BOSTON—TheU.S. office market vacancy rate is expected to fall to 16.1% by the end of 2011, a 30-basis-point (bps) improvement from previous forecasts, according to analysis from CBRE Econometric Advisors (CBRE-EA). CBRE-EA's latest forecast states that the office vacancy rate peaked in 2Q2010 at 16.7%, and will continue to slowly decline over the next two years, falling to 15.0% by the end of 2012. According to the CBRE-EA analysis, occupancy in the office market has stabilized, as the vacancy rate began to fall in the second half of 2010. However, tenants are using pricing power to trade up their space while significant slack remains.

Progress to date in office leasing velocity and pricing continues to be inconsistent both regionally and across properties of differing quality. Demand increases to date have largely been driven by leasing of "Class A" space as tenants are using their pricing power to acquire higher quality accommodations.  Cities on the East Coast—in particular, Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston—continue to perform well, while many markets in the West Coast and in the Southern United States lag behind. The CBRE-EA analysis also projects rent stabilization in 2011, as the rent correction eased in 2010 with effective rents declining by a modest 4.5% on a national basis.

For more information, see www.cbre.com

[ page top ]

CBRE ranked tops

LOS ANGELES—CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. announced that CB Richard Ellis has been named the premier global brand in commercial real estate, according to a survey of industry professionals worldwide by The Lipsey Company. CB Richard Ellis has been voted the industry's top brand for ten consecutive years, ever since Lipsey inaugurated its survey in 2002.

For more information, see www.cbre.com

[ page top ]

BOMA’s program improves tenant satisfaction scores

WASHINGTON, D.C.—According to a recent study conducted by Kingsley Associates, buildings that achieve the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International 360 Performance Program® designation have higher tenant satisfaction scores in 47 out of 50 categories relating to tenant relations compared to commercial office buildings without the BOMA 360 designation.

The BOMA 360 Performance Program, developed by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International, is a new commercial real estate building designation that recognizes all-around excellence in building management and operations. Since its launch in 2009, BOMA 360 has already conferred more than 200 buildings in major U.S. cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

For more information, see www.boma.org

[ page top ]