New report shows MoCo’s economic growth ‘shockingly slow’
It’s no secret that Montgomery County has seen slower economic growth in recent years, in large part due to contraction in federal employment.
But a new report by Baltimore-based Sage Policy Group released Friday morning shows just how bad it's gotten, with the report's author using stark words to illustrate the problems.
“The level of underperformance is shocking,” said Sage CEO Anirban Basu. “It's shockingly slow for a county that is so educated, that is so well situated and home to the…
Evon Smith, Lee Weyland selected to national list of CRE influencers
Evon Smith, president and CEO of OneWest, and Lee Weyland, director of leasing and branding for Weyland Ventures, have been selected to a national list of notable commercial real estate executives.
The Business Journals’ Influencers: Commercial Real Estate spotlights 100 executives having an influence on real estate and development in their respective communities. These 100 executives represent large, nationally recognized firms and smaller, family-owned businesses. Some are long-tenured executives,…
From Central High to A-Rod’s house: How one nonprofit is opening doors for Memphis teen
Last summer, an investment banking tycoon brought his real estate nonprofit to Memphis.
Today, the impact from that program is still being felt by one Central High School graduate.
Founded in 2016 by Cedric Bobo and Fred Greene, Project Destined teaches minority teenagers how to invest in real estate through a multiday program. It culminates with students making real bids on properties. If the offers are accepted, Bobo writes a check, and a portion of profits generated from those properties —…
This broker found a buyer for her dad’s property in Mesa
The property sold for nearly $3 million.
Behind the deal: E-commerce co. faced competitive market in move to Houston
“We’re looking at multiple deals where a year or two years ago, we had very little activity.”
Clermont to get rooftop bourbon bar, luxury waterfront condos
Here are renderings and plans for a new rooftop bourbon bar and luxury condos coming to Clermont.
Food hall, pingpong bar planned near Mill at Broadway
An adaptive reuse proposed for a building near the Mill at Broadway housing development in Sacramento would create a new food hall, pingpong-themed bar and creative office space.
Former owner of Denver’s Writer Square shopping center indicted for securities fraud
Duane Howell, The Denver PostA view of Writer Square on June 22, 1981.A grand jury has indicted the former owner of downtown Denver’s Writer Square for allegedly masterminding a complex real-estate scheme that landed him enough cash to travel on private jets, gamble in Las Vegas, and run up tabs at liquor stores and with credit card companies.
The nine-count felony indictment against Gary Dragul, 55, of Cherry Hills Village, alleges he committed securities fraud through his company, GDA Real Estate Services, which was part-owner of Writer Square until 2013.
Although Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said Dragul allegedly ran his scam as far back as 2007, the indictment handed up by a state grand jury involves only conduct since 2013. Though never licensed to deal in securities in Colorado, Dragul allegedly failed to tell his latest investors of troubles he had with investors from his 2007 venture, in which funds were used to buy and manage commercial real estate ventures and shopping ..
Denver will see highest rate of rent increases if Amazon picks the city for HQ2, says Zillow
Denver rents are going up, but if the city lands Amazon’s second headquarters, the impact on rents will be greater here than in any of the other 19 cities competing for HQ2, according to a report released Thursday by real estate market researcher Zillow.
Zillow estimates that Denver’s median rents, currently around $2,047 a month, will rise 3.6 percent next year even without Amazon and its 50,000 jobs for a future campus. But should the city be picked, rents will increase an additional 2.3 percent, said Zillow. That translates to about an extra $1,452 a year in rent payments.
“While the prospect of 50,000 new jobs is no trivial matter for any city, the home to Amazon’s second headquarters likely won’t experience the kind of dramatic boost in rents Amazon helped fuel in Seattle,” Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas said in a statement. “Nashville and Denver are the only two metros that could see a greater boost to rents due to Amazon than Seattle has seen.”
Amazon HQ2 would have a..
Metro Denver apartment rents are up in 2018, snapping three quarters of declines
For most of last year, apartment rents moved lower and vacancy rates rose as thousands of new apartments hit the market in metro Denver.
But the streak, which ran three quarters, was snapped in the first three months of this year after average apartment rent in metro Denver rose 1.7 percent, or $24, from the fourth quarter to $1,420, and the vacancy rate fell to 6.1 percent from 6.4 percent, according to the Metro Denver Vacancy & Rent Report published by the Apartment Association of Metro Denver.
The rent gains and tighter vacancy came despite the addition of 2,443 new apartments in the first three months of the year, which is down from the 3,246 added in the first quarter of 2017.
“Rents almost always increase in the first quarter of the year,” Mark Williams, executive vice president of the association, said in a statement accompanying the quarterly report. The last time average rents fell in a first quarter was at the start of 2009, following the financial crisis.
Despite the re..