Family offices control a staggering amount of wealth globally, and they have a strong appetite for commercial real estate. And although a growing number of private equity funds and sponsors are counting family offices among their investor bases, getting a foot through the door to reach those investors remains no easy task. Family offices have become a popular catchphrase over the last few years, notes DJ Van Keuren, co-managing member of Evergreen Property Partners, a private real estate investment platform created for family offices to invest together. Definitions of a “true” family office vary with the minimum threshold for wealth between $100 million and $250 million depending on the source. According to the Global Family Office Report 2019, published by Campden Research, there are 7,300 families globally and 3,100 in North America with estimated wealth greater than $150 million. “As funny as it sounds, if you get a family that is worth $50 million or $100 million, they are really just ultra-high net worth. So, it has become a bit of a loose phrase, but everyone wants to find those big whales,” says Van Keuren. “There also is a misperception on how much a family office will invest. Everyone thinks they are going to write a $15-million to $25-million check. It does happen, but it is not the norm,” he adds. Click to read more at www.wealthmanagement.com.

Have you ever noticed the telecommunication antennas on the top of your city’s tallest buildings and wondered, “Who takes care of those?” In many cases, the answer is Subcarrier Communications, a leading tower site management and telecommunications infrastructure support company. “We work with building owners and managers to plan for the efficient use of building rooftop space then leasing it to the telecommunications industry,” says Greg Weger, Operations Manager for the company’s Houston office. “We also handle the management of existing and future wireless infrastructure.” An important feature of Subcarrier’s services is negotiating with telecom providers on behalf of property owners. In-depth knowledge of PUC Rules and Regulations, Building Rules and Standards and industry standards are critical to protecting the properties while also recognizing the highest possible revenue. There is an abundance of contractual process involved with many rooftop tenants and fiber providers. And even after agreements are reached, there are ongoing technical responsibilities and access issues at hand. There are renewals, there is expansion of equipment, and there are escalation clauses, as well as many other technical contractual clauses to be mindful of. We monitor and deal with all of these issues which allow property managers the time needed for a myriad of other crucial tasks. Click to read more at www.rednews.com.

The logistics industry is having a bit of a Charlie Brown moment. After years of working to kick the football through the uprights and score big in developing fast, cost-efficient last-mile strategies, the pandemic is proving to be another game-changer. Logistics firms have benefited from a surge in e-commerce that is feeding demand for more space. At the same time, supply chains need to adapt to a huge shake-up in where people are living and working that has further complicated last-mile delivery. Amid this disruption, logistics companies are trying to solve the same fundamental issues: How do they get products in the hands of consumer or business customers more quickly? And how do they improve cost efficiencies in last-mile delivery? “We have had a number of things converging at once. It wasn’t just the pandemic, but the pandemic has shined a spotlight on several issues that were evolving,” says John Dohm, SIOR, CCIM, a partner at Infinity Commercial Real Estate in Miami Lakes, Fla. The logistics industry is dealing with advances in technology that include automation, robotics, and autonomous vehicles, as well as sensors and radio-frequency identification (RFID) codes that not only track shipping containers but track every individual item within those containers. Simultaneously, the logistics industry had to account for new and changing omnichannel delivery models, including click-and-collect and curbside pickup, not to mention the need to account for the return of goods. Click to read more at www.ccim.com.

The pandemic has hit commercial properties hard – especially restaurants, retailers and hotels, which are having a hard time making mortgage payments because of reduced business. As a result, the industry is facing a “wave of foreclosures” over the next several quarters, according to securities data company Trepp, which warned that “borrowers may be strategically defaulting on their loans.” Borrowers with loans coming due in 2021 or before have stopped making payments at a rate six times greater than those whose loans are due later, according to Trepp (a 1.66 percent delinquency rate compared to 0.27 percent, respectively). That suggests such borrowers, believing they will not be able to find financing to keep their buildings when their current loan expires, are cutting their losses by defaulting sooner, rather than later. Stopping payments can also put pressure on a lender to negotiate with the borrower, said Matt Anderson, managing director at Trepp. While data suggest owners of smaller properties are more directly impacted by the recession — loans with balances of less than $1 million have a delinquency rate twice that of the overall portfolio — larger property owners appear to be most aggressively cutting their losses. The term of a commercial real estate loan generally comes due before it is fully paid off. When the loan expires, or becomes mature, borrowers generally take out a new loan to pay off the first – a practice that allows both sides the flexibility to reset the terms to better reflect market conditions and the borrower’s financial state. Click to read more at www.lmtonline.com.