commercial real estate – Page 6 – The Sundance Company

September 5, 2011September 5, 2011 sundancecompany Boise Commercial Real Estate, Boise Commercial Real Estate Development, commercial real estate, Commercial real estate news, Economy news, The Sundance Company

Will The U.S. Commercial Real Estate Market Outshine The Stock Market?

According to a new CB Richard Ellis report, the U.S. commercial real estate will perform better than the country’s volatile sharemarket during the current economic downturn because investors value its intrinsic quality.

Please click below to read the rest of the story.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/property/us-real-estate-to-outshine-risky-stockmarket-20110814-1isxt.html

Do you agree with the report?

About The Sundance Company

Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs in Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and the greater Treasure Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime Boise and Meridian locations. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.

August 11, 2011August 5, 2011 sundancecompany Boise Commercial Real Estate, boise valley commercial real estate, business information, commercial real estate, Commercial real estate news, Meridian Commercial Real Estate, The Sundance Company

The More You Know: Commercial Real Estate Terms You Should Understand

Learning basic commercial real estate lease terms will help you build your knowledge in the commercial real estate investing arena. The following terms should be understood before signing a commercial lease:

Common Area Maintenance (CAM): This is a very important commercial real estate lease term to know. Most of the time when you have a multi-tenant building, you factor in charges for CAM. Usually tenants pay $12 a square foot for annual rent, plus a certain percentage for CAM. So CAM for a building is passed on to tenants.

Many of the issues considered in the commercial arena are not even available in residential leasing. For instance, if your commercial real estate investment target is small office warehouses, strip malls, or strip retail centers, CAM is one of the items you need to research.

Before you start renting or buying those types of facilities, you should know what the standard CAM is for your type of property. Sometimes in some smaller properties, there is no CAM, since the landlord pays it.

That’s all part of your costs as a landlord in this type of property. It’s not a pass-through, because you can’t legitimately pass through CAM expenses to your tenants, if no one in the area who owns a similar property is having their tenants pay it.

Percentage Leases: When you pay a fixed rent plus a percentage of sales over and above the fixed rental, you have a percentage lease arrangement. You will probably not run into percentage rent situations very often as a landlord. Most of the time, percentage rents are used in retail businesses located in large shopping centers and other similar areas.

You might charge percentage rent, if you had a $2,000,000 shopping center with a JC Penny’s, Sears, or Dillard’s, and the attraction of those mega stores brought traffic to your store. Therefore, they want to become your partner, in effect, by charging you a percentage. This is not common in small to moderate businesses.

Ground/Land Leases: This type of arrangement is where the tenant rents the land and builds on the property. Any way in which you improve the grounds, including any buildings, usually belong to the landlord when the lease ends. This is actually a form of financing.

You’ll find many ground tenants in high-cost land areas, like New York City. People don’t want to tie up personal capital in owning a piece of land when they could be putting that money into business operations. The standard land lease is a very long-term lease.

Sublease: A sublease is when you lease the whole property and then sublease a portion of it to someone else. For example, you might rent 10,000 square feet from a landlord. If you don’t need all that room, you have the right to put your own tenant onto the property using a sublease.

Assignment: An assignment is very similar to a sublease, in that you initiate the rental lease. However, you become a landlord by assigning the entire property to one or more tenants whom you manage.

There was a time when real estate investors would lease property and negotiate a very low rental rate. Then they would assign that same property to tenants at a much higher rate. Their real estate business consisted entirely of collecting money from their assignment.

Assignment Not Allowed: In some commercial leases, there’s a sublease clause stating that you are allowed to sublease the entire property, subject to the landlord’s approval. This clause, in effect, means that you cannot assign the lease. Particularly when you get into larger properties, you’ll want to be sure to personally check personally the credit of everybody who expresses interest in leasing your property. Tip: Assignments can get you into trouble. If you don’t know whether the assignee is credit worthy, don’t assign under any conditions.

Understanding commercial real estate lease terms will benefit you in the long run pastedGraphic.pdf , and remember always have your commercial real estate leases reviewed by a real estate attorney.

About The Sundance Company
Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs in Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and the greater Treasure Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime Boise and Meridian locations. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.

July 6, 2011 sundancecompany commercial real estate, Commercial real estate news, The Sundance Company

Optimism Abounds For Commercial Real Estate Market

A recent article from REIT.com discusses how analysts and investors are finding plenty of reasons to be positive about the general outlook for the commercial real estate market in the second half of 2011. As they look ahead to the next six months, industry observers are projecting healthy demand for commercial real estate space in light of a brightening jobs picture.

Please click below to read the rest of the story.

http://www.reit.com/Articles/Optimism-Abounds-for-CRE-Market-in-Second-Half.aspx

May 26, 2011May 5, 2011 sundancecompany commercial real estate, Commercial real estate news, The Sundance Company

Creating a Culture of Innovation

Here are some ways to help your organization help foster an environment of innovation in your office. Commit to a few of these today and you might be surprised at the results.

Remember that innovation requires no fixed rules or templates — only guiding principles. Creating a more innovative culture is an organic and creative act.
Wherever you can, whenever you can, always drive fear out of the workplace.
Have more fun. If you’re not having fun (or at least enjoying the process) something is off.
Always question authority, especially the authority of your own longstanding beliefs.
Make new mistakes.
As far as the future is concerned, don’t speculate on what might happen, but imagine what you can make happen.
Increase the visual stimuli of your organization’s physical space. Replace gray and white walls with color. Add inspiring photos and art, especially visuals that inspire people to think differently. Reconfigure space whenever possible.
Help people broaden their perspective by creating diverse teams and rotating employees into new projects — especially ones they are fascinated by.
Ask questions about everything. After asking questions, ask different questions. After asking different questions, ask them in a different way.
Ensure a high level of personal freedom and trust. Provide more time for people to pursue new ideas and innovations.
Notice innovation efforts. Nurture them wherever they crop up. Reward them.
Encourage people to get out of their offices and silos. Encourage people to meet informally, one-on-one, and in small groups.
Think long term. Since the average successful “spin-off” takes about 7.5 years, the commitment to innovation initiatives need to be well beyond “next quarter.”
Don’t focus on growth. Growth is a product of successful innovation. Focus on the process of becoming adept at taking ideas from the generation stage to the marketplace.
Make customers your innovation partners, while realizing that customers are often limited to incremental innovations, not breakthrough ones.
Before reaching closure on any course of action, seek alternatives. Make it a discipline to seek the idea after the “best” idea emerges.
Know that attacking costs as a root problem solves nothing. Unreasonable costs are almost always a sign of more profound problems (e.g. inefficient structures, processes or training).
A great source of new ideas are people that are new to the company. Get new hires together and tap their brainpower and imagination.
Get customer feedback before committing resources to a product’s development.
Seek diversity of viewpoints. Get people together across functions. A diversity of views sparks more than conflict — it sparks innovation.
Don’t make innovation the responsibility of a few. Make innovation the responsibility of each and every employee with performance goals for each and every functional area.
Give your people specific, compelling, and measurable innovation goals.

About The Sundance Company

May 19, 2011May 31, 2011 sundancecompany commercial real estate, Commercial real estate news, Economy news, The Sundance Company

Keep Your Employees Happy and Make More Money

Are your employees giving your company ‘their all?’ Do they believe that what they’re doing is important? Do they feel appreciated? Do they show up for work each day with passion and purpose?

A ‘red flag’ should go up if you answered “no” to any of those questions. Why? Managers who aren’t taking care of their employees are missing out on significant cost-savings and profits.

For business leaders in companies of all sizes, the writing is on the wall: You can make and save money by keeping employees engaged. Today’s managers must make it a priority to get to know them so that they, in turn, can provide whatever’s needed to keep their teams fully engaged in what they do. This creates wins for everyone. With that in mind, here are nine management tips for creating and sustaining employee engagement:

1) Let go of any negative opinions you may have about your employees. Approach each of them as a source of unique knowledge with something valuable to contribute to the company. Remember that you are co-creating the achievement of a vision with them.

2) Make sure employees have everything they need to do their jobs. Remember when you started a new school year and you’d prepare by getting all new school supplies? Why not build just such an opportunity into your department simply by asking each staff member, or the team as a whole, “Do you have everything you need to be as competent as you can be?” Remember, just as marketplace and customer needs change at daily, so do your employees’ needs change.

3) Clearly communicate what’s expected of employees – what the company values and vision are, and how the company defines success. Employees can?t perform well or be productive if they don’t clearly know what it is they’re there to do ? and the part they play in the overall success of the company. Be sure to communicate your expectations – and to do it often.

4) Get to know your employees – especially their goals, their stressors, what excites them and how they each define ‘success.’ I’m not suggesting you pry too deeply or start ‘counseling’ your team members. What I am suggesting is that you show an interest in their well being and that, when appropriate, you do what it takes to enable them to feel more fulfilled and better balanced.

5) Make sure they are trained – and retrained – in problem solving and conflict resolution skills. These critical skills will help them interact better with you, their teammates, customers and suppliers. It’s common sense – better communications reduce stress and increase positive outcomes.

6) Constantly ask how YOU are doing in your employees’ eyes. I know it can be difficult for managers to request employee feedback – and it can be equally if not more challenging for an employee to give the person who evaluates them an honest response. To get strong at this skill and to model it for employees, begin dialogs with employees using conversation starters such as, “It’s one of my goals to constantly improve myself as a manager. What would you like to see me do differently? What could I be doing to make your job easier?” Be sure to accept feedback graciously and to express appreciation.

7) Pay attention to company stories and rituals. Are people laughing at each other or with each other? Do they repeat stories of success of moments of shame? Stay away from participating in discussions that are destructive to people or the organization, and keep success stories alive.

8) Reward and recognize employees in ways that are meaningful to them (that’s why getting to know your employees is so important). And remember to celebrate both accomplishments AND efforts to give employees working on long-term goals a boost.

9) Be consistent for the long haul. If you start an ‘engagement initiative’ and then drop it your efforts will backfire, creating employee estrangement. People are exhausted and exasperated from ‘program du jour’ initiatives that engage their passion and then fizzle out when the manager gets bored, fired or moved to another department. There’s a connection between an employee’s commitment to an initiative and a manager’s commitment to supporting it. A manager’s ongoing commitment to keeping people engaged, involved in and excited about the work they do and the challenges they face must be a daily priority.

Ultimately, you must keep in mind that employees are a company’s greatest assets. Their collective ideas, feedback and enthusiasm for what they do can help your business grow and succeed. Some people are naturally wired to give their all and do their best no matter where they work. But the majority of people require the guidance of skilled managers who welcome their ideas, ask for feedback and generate enthusiasm in order to have a sense of purpose and energy about what they do.

About The Sundance Company

April 26, 2011April 5, 2011 sundancecompany commercial real estate, Commercial real estate news, office productivity, The Sundance Company

Improving Productivity with Hand Sanitizers?

Every year, companies across the country lose more than 63 billion dollars of productivity due to employee sickness. Work illnesses contribute to lost output, reduced worker efficiency, and man power shortfalls that account for the majority of the money lost due to worker illness and injury.

Throughout the fiscal year, workers on average take 8 annual sick days. Once regarded as a simple “cost of doing business” scenario, companies now have an option to fight unforeseen and avoidable staff sick time which ultimately drains the organization’s bottom line. This highly effective tool for fighting illness and keeping office productivity high is hand sanitizer. Surprisingly, merely installing and using a hand sanitizer dispenser on site can help save an organization billions of dollars a year.

By simply installing dispensers and enforcing a company policy on their use, the office can stay healthier and more productive throughout the year. A hand sanitizer dispenser at the entrance of the cafeteria, conference rooms, and any other high-traffic common area will help stop the spread of germs. Something as simple as a rinse free, nonalcoholic gel or foam can stop illnesses from spreading through an innocent handshake or cough.

Convenience is king when it comes to an effective office policy. Mounting a clearly visible and easily accessible hand sanitizer dispenser on the wall next to all main entrances and outside of bathrooms will help employees remember to use them often. Workers will quickly become accustomed to accessing a quick shot of hand sanitizer as they function throughout the day in various parts of the office. This practice will ultimately help prevent them from becoming infected with any sickness as well as help prohibit them from passing germs on to colleagues.

Communicable illnesses force companies to forfeit copious amounts of productivity annually. Due to the strain of the current economic climate, people tend to return to work before obtaining a completely clean bill of health, thus perpetrating a germ’s continuing lifecycle by passing it on to unsuspecting coworkers. Each cold working its way through the staff ranks makes it easy to recognize its effect on overall output.

April 5, 2011April 12, 2011 sundancecompany commercial real estate, Commercial real estate news, The Sundance Company

Globe St: Commercial Real Estate Recovery on Track

A recent article on Globest.com discusses how the nation’s commercial real estate market is back on track.

Despite the fits and starts and multiple global and domestic headwinds addressed in recent blogs, the economic recovery should continue this year and hopefully gain more momentum as bad news abates. A similar pattern exists for recovery of the nation’s commercial real estate market, only with different lag and lead times by property type.

Please click here to read the rest of the story …

http://www.globest.com/blogs/streetsmart/-308429-1.html

March 19, 2011April 12, 2011 sundancecompany boise valley commercial real estate, commercial real estate, The Sundance Company

Signs That It Is Time To Move Your Business

As a successful small business owner, you may soon find yourself in the enviable position of outgrowing your current office space. Staying put in a cramped office is not a solution. A smart business owner knows when it’s time to trade up and move somewhere with more breathing room.

Here are 10 surefire signs that it’s time to move or expand your office:

1. People are sitting on top of one another. Face it: your employees need their space, especially if being on the telephone all day is part of their job. Nobody wants to listen to every conversation his or her neighbor makes, which can be very distracting while trying to do other work.

2. The break room is “standing room only.” If your on-site lunchroom or break room is always full, employees may start going elsewhere for their breaks, which can mean extended lunch hours. Remember that happy employees are productive employees, so don’t scrimp when it comes to providing them with adequate space in which to recharge.

3. Workstations are cramped. If your employees practically have their computers sitting on their laps (and they’re not laptops), it’s time for roomier office space. People need to feel physically comfortable to do their jobs effectively.

4. The conference room is now an office. Stashing a few employees in the conference room is a convenient, short-term solution to office overcrowding. But it’s also a red flag for any business owner, indicating that it’s time for a more permanent solution to your space issues.

5. The mailroom is swamped. Don’t waste time and energy trying to operate with a mailroom that has long outgrown its capacity to service your office. If your mailroom is becoming a bottleneck due to overcrowding, it’s time for a bigger one.

6. Filing cabinets are overflowing. Yes, it’s important to save paperwork. But if your filing cabinet doors won’t shut because of the amount of papers and records crammed into them, your office is getting too big for its britches.

7. There’s high employee turnover. While a steady exodus of staff can be indicative of a number of problems, it may also be your wake-up call, telling you that your office is not a comfortable place in which to work.

8. The hallway is the new storage closet. Besides being a fire hazard, using the hallways as storage takes away the professional appearance of your office. If you let the physical space spiral into cluttered chaos, that can reflect upon your employees’ work, which may become messy and unfinished.

9. Parking has become a challenge. If you’re starting to overhear complaints about the difficulty employees have in finding an available space in the parking lot, it may another sign to look for new digs.

10. Your business has increasing needs. More employees, new equipment, and other resources may be necessary to meet the increased demand of your business. If space limitations are preventing you from adding such necessary resources, you may be limiting the potential growth of your business.

December 5, 2010 sundancecompany commercial real estate, Commercial real estate news, The Sundance Company

Commercial Real Estate News: Markets Stabilizing

A recent article from NAR (National Association of REALTORS®) discusses what 2011 looks like for commercial real estate markets.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said commercial real estate sectors appear to be stabilizing. “The basic fundamental of rising commercial leasing demand, resulting from a steadily improving economy, means overall vacancy rates have already peaked or will soon top out,” he said. “The outlook for the office and industrial markets has moderated with modestly declining vacancy rates expected as 2011 progresses, while the retail sector should hold fairly steady. Still, high vacancy rates imply falling rents.”

Yun anticipates a rise in household formation from an improving economy, which will increase demand for housing, both ownership and rental. “Multifamily housing is the one commercial sector that has held on relatively well in the past year, and can expect the best performance in 2011,” he added.

“Apartment rents could rise by 1 to 2 percent in 2011, after having fallen in 2009 and no growth in 2010,” Yun said. “This rent rise therefore could start to force up broader consumer prices as well.” He noted that the housing shelter cost of primary rent, and owner’s rental equivalence, is the biggest component in the Consumer Price Index, accounting for 32 percent of its total weight.

The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors®, in its SIOR Commercial Real Estate Index, an attitudinal survey of more than 400 local market experts, shows vacancy rates are slowly improving, but rents continue to be soft with elevated levels of subleasing space on the market. The SIOR index, measuring the impact of 10 variables, rose 1.6 percentage points to 42.6 in the third quarter, but remains well below a level of 100 that represents a balanced marketplace. This is the fourth straight quarterly improvement following almost three years of decline.

The last time the commercial market was in equilibrium at the 100 level was in the third quarter of 2007; the index now matches where it was at the beginning of 2009. Fifty-nine percent of respondents expect improvements in the office and industrial sectors in the current quarter.

Commercial real estate development continues at stagnant levels with little investment activity, but is beginning to pick up in many parts of the country.

September 25, 2010September 14, 2010 sundancecompany commercial real estate, Commercial real estate news, Economy news, The Sundance Company

Commercial Real Estate Investment Remains a Smart Play

In economic terms, inflation is defined as a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When prices rise, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services, eroding real consumer purchasing power. Although deflation also is a risk to the economy, moderate inflation is much more prevalent over the course of modern history.

In the long run, the most significant factor influencing inflation is the growth rate of the money supply. Inflation occurs when the nominal supply of dollars grows faster than the real demand to hold dollars. However, in the short and medium term, inflation may be largely affected by supply and demand pressures in the economy, and influenced by the relative elasticity of wages, prices, and level of interest rates.

In the U.S., inflation is estimated by calculating the rate of change of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI measures prices of a selection of goods and services purchased by a typical consumer. The magnitude of inflation — the inflation rate — is usually reported as the annualized percentage growth of the CPI Index.

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