Come check out the new blog from NAR's Information Central! "Power Tools for Commercial-Investment Practitioners" is no longer being updated, but you'll find plenty of interest in the InfoCentral Blog. The InfoCentral Blog keeps you up-to-date on new and useful information resources for the real estate industry -- websites, research reports, eBooks, news articles, services and databases from NAR's Information Central, and more. Surf on over to http://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/infocentral/.

As the baby boom generation retires, senior housing is one sector that has remained strong even in the present downturn. National Real Estate Investor has an interview with Patricia G. Will, CEO of assisted living owner and operator Belmont Corp. who says the housing slump has made her life easier. With residential developers sidelined for now, there is less competition for land positions. And while some raw material prices remain high due to overseas demand, Belmont is finding it easier to negotiate with contractors and subcontractors for services. Although banks are demanding more equity and higher credit when making loans, Wells says the senior housing market has never been highly leveraged and construction loans are still affordable.

Although the credit crunch and pending economic downturn would seem to bode ill for job seekers with commercial real estate dreams, the majority of firms are still looking to hire. Two-thirds of firms responding to FPL Advisory Group's annual hiring and compensation survey reported that they were looking to add staff in 2008. Firms most often were looking to beef up areas that would "enhance the core value of their operations." Top priorities include asset/portfolio management and property management functions. FPL surmises that strong underlying fundamentals and the continued availability of equity capital are driving the demand for talent. Firms also expect salaries and compensation to rise at least moderately.

The February issue of Entrepreneur Magazine has tips on shopping for a commercial real estate loan. While focused on the business owner looking to finance his or her business, the ideas work just as well for anyone looking for cash to invest in a property.

The article says to resist the urge to go to your existing bank off the bat. Review various loan terms from several lenders. Often you can get a better package from a lender with knowledge of your industry or the type of property you're looking to finance.

Watch out for recall provisions in the loan which allow the lender to ask for immediate payment. An unwise investor might have to scramble to refinance at the wrong time.

Although they charge a commission, it's sometimes useful to hire a commercial mortgage broker to help you find the best fit for your circumstances. They can often save time and money in the long run.

Be sure to hire a real estate attorney to review the loan documents and terms.

And finally, don't make your decision based on price alone - although important look at the whole picture and how your plans fit with the lender's.

Analyzing various factors, Grubb & Ellis analyst Bob Bach predicts that Los Angeles will be the top spot for commercial investment in 2008. Eliminating markets hard-hit by foreclosures and an oversupply of condominiums, Bach focused on cities with tight land supply, continued job growth, and cooperative zoning and regulation.

Los Angeles tops the Office, Industrial and Multi-family categories, and comes in second to Washington DC in retail. The complete list is available through the original Wall Street Journal article, available to members through ProQuest.

An article in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal [available for free at wsj.com, though possibly for only a limited time. Here's the more permanent Proquest link], details how the collapse of the subprime loan market for residential real estate is spilling over in to commercial as banks are reluctant to finance new deals.

The Journal reports that the number of major commercial deals has dropped by half in the last six months as banks struggle to recover from a slew of bad mortgage debt. For the commercial market, this fall-off in activity hasn't led to a sharp drop in prices, but rather is still in the early stages of 'cognitive dissonance' where buyers are offering less but sellers are unwilling to accept that the market has turned.

It seems more and more cities are adopting green building standards these days. Jones Lang LaSalle says that currently 1in 7 cities throughout the U.S. already have green building programs or enhancements in place. And that number is expected to rise to 1 in 5 in the next year. Are you making sure your clients and contacts are up to speed on programs in your area? NAR has a collection of Green Building resources at your disposal on our website. And keep up to date with GlobeSt.com's new Green Outlook.

This week's About Real Estate from Torto Wheaton [free registration required] looks at how the credit crisis resulting from the sub-prime mess might impact commercial absorption over the next few quarters. The short answer is that while a growing risk premium might impact the real non-residential portion of GDP, there is no clear indication that the sub-prime fallout will negatively affect absorption. TWR looks at past recessions and periods of tight credit and finds mixed results:
The good news is that low loan volume did not always translate into negative absorption for [office and industrial markets]. The 1990 bust, in spite of and as a result of the drop in rents in that period, saw net absorption stay positive. 1998 was a non-event for real estate demand. Of the recent financial crises, only 2001 saw significant negative absorption...

TWR goes on to say that even 2001 is inconclusive as it is hard to separate out the impact of 9/11 from the dot com crash. Other economic fundamentals, such as labor force and job growth, appear to have a more direct impact on absorption.

In his keynote address to this year's CommercialSource online conference, David Frosh, President of Sperry Van Ness, says that the combination of a slowing market, more agents fighting over a shrinking pie, and the general lack of service provided to clients all will contribute to downward pressure on commissions in coming years. The bottom half of the market will help to drive rates down for everyone. Frosh doesn't necessarily see the coming slowdown as the doom and gloom it is often portrayed as in the press.
If you do the right thing, then you will be successful. The coming market change is not the problem. Agents not changing with it is the problem. You need to adjust, you need to understand that your buyers and sellers may change.

CommercialSource, NAR's FREE online convention for commercial agents will be held Dec. 4-6. Speakers, including Sam Zell, Steven Good, and John Salustri, will present on commercial market trends, economic indicators and ways to improve your business. Vendors will also be available at an online business expo. Never participated in an online convention? Want to find out what will happen? Watch the demo tour. Be sure to visit CommercialSource.com for registration and more information.

Speaking at the convention in Vegas, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said yesterday that he sees a slowdown in commercial purchases, partly as a result of the residential credit crunch. While overseas investors continue to buy, taking advantage of the weakness of the dollar, domestic purchasers are taking a second look before they buy. Low cap rates - averaging around 6.5% for most markets - also are deterring investors. While some say it's merely a flight to quality, an article in Crain's Chicago Business shows that even quality properties are failing to meet pricing expectations.

Recently added to NAR's Virtual Library eBooks Collection: Master Guide to Income Property Brokerage (Adobe), Effective Networking (audio), The Game Plan: Your Guide to Mental Toughness at Work (Adobe). Also new this month: Negotiating for Dummies (Adobe), Crucial Conversations, (in Adobe and audio fomat). Check out eBooks.realtor.org for these and other titles. NAR members and association staff can borrow up to 3 eBooks, digital audios, and/or videos for FREE. New to NAR's digital library? Just follow the Quick Start Guide...and have your NRDS number ready!

General Growth Properties is slated to develop a 300,000-square-foot retail promenade as part of Echelon, an 87-acre resort development in Las Vegas. The project will cost roughly $500 million. "Under the agreement's terms, Boyd Gaming, Echelon's developer, will contribute the above-ground air rights real estate interest necessary to develop the promenade, and the joint venture will then develop the retail promenade." General Growth already has four highly visible retail centers in Las Vegas, including Fashion Show and The Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian.

Commercial real estate's heavy hitters in the U.S. are making online deals these days, particularly with the assistance of RealCapitalMarkets.com, "the country's biggest 'virtual matchmaker' of commercial real estate deal makers." RealCapitalMarkets.com partners up buyers and sellers of properties over $10 million in highly secure 'virtual deal rooms.' According to New York-based Real Capital Analytics, the online service "facilitated well over a quarter of all U.S. sales in that lofty price range in 2006."

RealCapitalmarkets.com is headed by Stephen Alter, a licensed broker who spent many yers in real estate finance as an officer before co-launching the online service in 2000. In November 2005, Inc magazine named the firm as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. due to 305% sales growth in 2004.

International Speedway Corporation recently entered into a 50/50 joint venture with one of the largest developers in the country, Cordish, "to explore a mixed-use entertainment destination development to be named Daytona Live! on the 71 acres ISC owns across from the Daytona International Speedway."

Preliminary designs for the 200,000-square-foot mixed-use entertainment project include a 2,500-seat multi-screen movie theatre, retail, dining, as well as a 160-room hotel and a residential component. According to an ISC spokesperson, the company saw "a strong opportunity to solve office space issues and leverage the unique assets with the Daytona USA museum and speedway across the street."