NOVEMBER 9, 2019

Top Stories

Finance & Investment

Under New Leadership, Will McDonald’s Grill Up a New Real Estate Strategy?

By John Egan, Contributing Writer

Steve Easterbrook became president and CEO of McDonald’s Corp. in March 2015, just eight months before the fast-food chain rejected the idea of spinning off its vast real estate holdings into a REIT. But now that Easterbrook has been ousted as the head honcho of McDonald’s, will the country’s No. 1 fast-food chain as measured by revenue revisit the REIT route?

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Retail

Though a Buyout Deal for Walgreens Is Far from Certain, it Would Make Sense for the Retailer

By Liz Wolf, Contributing Writer

Going private move would mean the company could step out of the public eye, not have to report to shareholders quarterly, and more easily adapt to the rapidly shifting retail environment, analysts note. Fierce competition from Amazon and other retailers has hurt Walgreens’ sales of household goods, beauty/care products and food-and-beverage items.

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Office

Some WeWork Landlords May Be Left Holding the Bag if WeWork Decides to Exit Their Buildings

By Patricia Kirk, Contributing Writer

Troubled co-working operator WeWork has structured some leases under LLCs that are not guaranteed by its holding company, which will leave those landlords holding the bag for the free rent and TIs they provided to help get the spaces up and running. The landlords will also be left with vacant spaces, which may be backfilled with former WeWork tenants or another co-working operator at a lower price.

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Analysis

Multifamily

Tech Giants Are Often Blamed for the Affordable Housing Shortage in the Bay Area. CRE Insiders Say the Issue Is Not That Simple

By Patricia Kirk, Contributing Writer

California needs new zoning laws and less NIMBYism more than it does affordable housing money from Apple and Facebook, industry insiders say.

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Finance & Investment

Will New Rules Be a Game Changer for the EB-5 Industry? Insiders Doubt It

By Beth Mattson-Teig, Contributing Writer

The rules are drawing mixed reviews from industry players. Some believe they represent a “sea change” for the EB-5 industry, while others fear that it could further drag on a program that has struggled under a cloud of uncertainty and huge backlog of processing applications.

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Alternative Properties

Student Housing Properties Are Beginning to See Fallout from Overdevelopment

By Bendix Anderson, Contributing Writer

Developers continue to open tens of thousands of new student housing beds every year. But it is getting increasingly difficult for them to get the numbers just right—especially since so many of the new student housing properties are so expensive that only a fraction of students can afford them.

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Commentary

Finance & Investment

Low U.S. Interest Rates Are Fueling a Bubble in Commercial Real Estate

By Jay Rollins

A flood of money is flowing into “hard” assets, including commercial real estate and gold, driving up prices of the former to levels that now can be viewed as overvalued. The result is a “low interest rate asset bubble.” If interest rates continue to fall, people will continue with this behavior and real estate values (and gold prices) will continue to rise. When, not if, interest rates revert to the mean, high real estate values will fall.

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NREI Wire

Living with Fire: Editorial Board

Bloomberg

When it comes to planning new construction in California, the probability of wildfires needs to be considered.

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