Archive for April, 2009
Lourie’s Building To Be Put Up For Auction
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The former Lourie’s clothing store on Main Street will be put up for auction next month.
A minimum bid of $799,000 has been set for the May 14 auction. The three-story, 44,000-square-foot building at 1601 Main St. had been appraised at more than $2 million at the time the menswear store closed. Later, the sale price was cut to $1.4 million.
The junction of Main and Taylor streets is “a great corner” for downtown traffic, said Matt Kennell, executive director of the City Center Partnership. Taylor Street, a main east-west connector, draws considerable traffic from Interstate 26 to Fort Jackson, he said.
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Moody’s: Property Prices Decline by 0.6%
Posted by: | CommentsMeadwestvaco Sells 25,000 Acres In S.C. For $49M
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MeadWestvaco Corp.’s first-quarter earnings were down compared with last year, as the weak global economy continued to hamper sales for packaged goods, office supplies and specialty chemicals.
But the company’s cash flow from operations more than doubled to $90 million in the first quarter, a boon credited in part to the company’s sale of 25,000 acres of timberland in pockets across Georgetown and Williamsburg counties.
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http://charlestonbusiness.com/news/27385-meadwestvaco-sells-25-000-acres-in-south-carolina-for-49m
Net Lease Opportunities Are on the Horizon
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Lack of debt capital and smaller deal size transaction activity were among the net lease market trends discussed both on panels and in hallway conversations at Wednesday’s RealShare Net Lease conference at the Marriott Marquis here. So, too, was the topic of a bottoming of the market, which, while anticipated, has yet to make itself apparent, though it certainly is making investors anticipate good buying opportunities.
“We are certainly in the bottom of the trough,” though not necessarily at the bottom, said Nicholas Schorsch, chief executive officer of American Realty Capital, speaking on the conference’s “Town Hall Meeting: The Net Lease Market Today & Tomorrow” panel. “To get off the bottom is going to take 18, 24, 36 months…and we’re going to have buying opportunities all the way along.
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2009 Economic Outlook: When Will Downturn End?
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Economists across the region are crunching the numbers, trying to answer the question that’s on everyone’s mind: when will the economy turn around?
The most optimistic prediction says it will be late this year. Others say it won’t be until 2010 that residents and businesses start to see any improvement.
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Chart of Upcoming Commercial Mortgage Maturities
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Ridgeland Gets Infrastructure Ready For Anticipated Population Explosion
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The population boom hasn’t happened yet, but Ridgeland officials are laying the groundwork to expand its services when it does.
The Town Council last week chose a site for a new fire station, committed money to re-activate an old well and told town employees to pursue funding for a sewer project.
Ridgeland has grown from two square miles to 45 square miles over the past several years, said town administrator Jason Taylor.Its population has stayed between 2,500 and 3,000 people, but there are enough permitted developments waiting in the wings for the population to explode tenfold.
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Spring Brings Rise in Hotel Occupancy, But Numbers Still Off From 2008 Season
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Hotel occupancy in Charleston County rose in March to 73%, following its regular spring trajectory. But occupancy remains lower than this time last year, indicating that tourism is still suffering from the weak economy.
In March 2008, county hotels were nearly 81% occupied, on average. That was about 9% higher than this year, according to a monthly report from the College of Charleston’s Office of Tourism Analysis.
Looking at total rooms sold instead of occupancy rate, Charleston County hotels tracked more closely with last year. Rooms sold this past March totaled 344,009, down less than 1% from the 345,924 sold in March 2008.
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New Commercial Listing Service Coming – RealUp.com
Posted by: | CommentsAs they are still in the development phase of the website, it is not yet available to view. However, a beta/demo site can be viewed at:
Burroughs & Chapin Co. Tries a New Tack
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Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. – the catalyst for diversified growth that transformed Myrtle Beach from a sleepy resort town to a national tourism destination in the 1990s – is quickly retreating from its aggressive development approach, and experts disagree over whether the change portends a leaner and more efficient company or one with waning influence on this area’s political and business stages.
“I think they will always have influence, because they still own the majority of vacant land in this area,” said John Rhodes, mayor of Myrtle Beach and a longtime observer of B&C’s changing business strategies. “Now, will they be as active as they were in the past? That’s a good question.”
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Commercial Property Loses Four Years of Gains
Posted by: | Comments– Wall Street Journal
Commercial real estate values are falling fast and are quickly catching up (or more precisely down) with the drop in residential values.
The Moody’s/REAL National All Property Type Aggregate Index is out and finds that value of offices, apartments, hotels, warehouses and malls has fallen to March 2005 levels. Remember March 2005? Big news then was Terry Shiavo and the Dow was still solidly above 10,000.
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http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2009/04/23/commercial-property-loses-four-years-of-gains/
Master Plan for Haywood Road Includes Amphitheater, New Sidewalks
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An amphitheater for family entertainment that could seat thousands is among the ideas a consultant has put forward for improving the Haywood Road area.
Design firm Clark Patterson Lee studied ways of sprucing up Haywood Road on behalf of the city of Greenville and a group of businessmen and property owners concerned about keeping the commercial corridor vibrant in the wake of newer retail development along Woodruff Road.
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Spartanburg Economic Forecast Still Cloudy
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Federal officials expressed their hope last week that the clouds of economic recession in the United States are beginning to clear.
But a review of some of Spartanburg County’s economic indicators, the statistics that show how well the economy is doing and how well it will do in the future, suggest the storms are persisting locally.
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South Financial Group Close To Decision on $100M Campus
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The South Financial Group’s Board of Directors in May will determine what to do with the company’s $100 million corporate headquarters under construction near the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research.
Facing quarterly losses and a growing number of problem loans, South Financial Group has been considering selling or leasing the building in an effort to reduce expense. The company also may move in as originally planned.
On a conference call with reporters Wednesday, President and CEO Lynn Harton said he will make a recommendation to the board in May. Harton previously said the bank would make a decision on the campus during the first quarter.
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Myrtle Beach’s Poindexter Hotel for Sale
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A 185-room hotel complex on Myrtle Beach’s oceanfront is for sale after a bank foreclosed on the property when the hotel’s owners, the Anderson family, defaulted on a bank loan, according to court documents.
The Poindexter, which comprises three buildings on Ocean Boulevard, is scheduled to be auctioned on May 4, according to court documents.
But Bert Anderson, whose parents own the hotel, said he expects the auction to be averted when a settlement is signed with the bank later this week.
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