Blumberg Capital Partners was recently featured in a Real Estate Channel article titled "Blumberg Capital Partners Chief Spotted the Crash and Exited Two Years Ago".
An excerpt:
Philip F. Blumberg may not have a crystal ball on his desk but says he spotted the current commercial real estate price drops two years ago and yanked his Blumberg Capital Partners company off the playing field.
By liquidating the bulk of his firm's holdings over the past two years, he generated a 30 percent return this year and cleared all debt from the company's books.
To read the rest of this article, click here.
Blumberg Capital Partners was recently featured in a Saudi Gazette article titled "Commercial estate bailout needs ‘painful deleveraging’ to succeed".
An excerpt:
An analysis of commercial real estate values, leasing and vacancy trends shows that any government bailout of the industry will require a painful, significant deleveraging to succeed, Blumberg Capital Partners, one of US leading investment fund managers, said on Tuesday.
Blumberg Capital Partners’ new office market assessment, which takes into account the fresh economic data from the past two months, comes on the heels of its widely cited prediction in October that commercial real estate prices in 2009 could drop some 20 percent further- - on top of an anticipated 15 percent drop this year.
Blumberg Capital Partners was recently featured in an article on GlobeSt.com titled "Fundamentals Worsen as CRE Industry Eyes Bailout Funds".
An excerpt:
Up until September the commercial real estate industry had had just enough breathing room to keep from going into free fall. A credit squeeze had shelved or delayed many projects – but fundamentals were still strong, and the economy’s recession shallow.
A new report by investment fund manager Blumberg Capital Partners, found that maturing debt obligations will come under even more stress in 2009 with leasing rates poised to drop an additional 20%. Office vacancies could potentially rise to 25% by the end of the year, and take until 2011 to stabilize.
To read the rest of this article, click here.
Market Exceptions: Philip Blumberg of Blumberg Capital Partners discusses the distinction between the contradiction in advising to sell and not buy in the current economy, and where the exceptions are. For more real estate news and information, visit Blumberg Capital Partners.
The National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation recently conducted a poll of small business owners that revealed 75% of small employers watched the actions of the Federal Reserve Board over the last six months - and 25% of them are worried that their businesses won't survive the recession.
"The fundamental small-business problem is the poor economy, abetted by the drop in real estate values and the nation's financial turmoil," said William Dennis, who directed the poll for NFIB, in a Business Journal article. "Efforts to provide additional credit, whether through encouraging bank lending or government loan guarantees, are not likely to be of much help to small-business owners," he said.
20% of small employers have reduced, postponed or cancelled a planned investment(s) or reinvestment(s) in the last six months, though 11% increased plans. A slowing economy is the primary reason for the curbed investment in over half of cases. An absence of finance is practically never mentioned as a reason for reducing investment. Only 9% cited an inability to obtain credit, the same percentage that cited falling real estate values.
For more news and information, visit Blumberg Capital Partners.
Philip Blumberg on CNBC's Closing Bell 12/23
Members of the commercial real estate industry are seeking government help. Steven Wechsler, CEO of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, and Philip Blumberg, CEO of Blumberg Capital Partners, discuss.
Blumberg Capital Partners, one of the nation's leading investment fund managers, today said that an analysis of commercial real estate values, leasing and vacancy trends by its staff shows that any federal bailout of the industry will require a painful, significant deleveraging to succeed.
The company said any bailout plan is working against a legacy of debt time bombs created by imprudent, unrealistic buyers who over-borrowed during the peak of the market in anticipation prices would continue rising unabated.
The Blumberg analysis shows that maturing debt obligations will come under even more stress in 2009 with leasing rates poised to drop an additional 20% to levels not seen since 2002, and with office vacancies potentially rising to 25% by the end of the year. Indeed, the nation's office market could take until 2011 to stabilize, the company's analysis shows.
"Creating a refinancing stimulus is helpful to thaw the credit freeze, but these ticking debt time bombs will make it difficult for our public officials to get their arms around this problem," said Philip Blumberg, Chairman and CEO, as well as firm's chief investment strategist. "Now, because the global economic recession has worsened over the past few weeks, coupled with layoffs at the front end of the cycle, demand for office space nationally is falling. Until companies can weather this storm and start expanding again, prices will remain low for landlords, and vacancies will rise."
To read the full article and analysis, click here.
Creaney & Smith has purchased an eight-building portfolio, primarily located in the DC Metro Area, for $75 million from Asset Capital Corp. according to a Washington Business Journal article. Asset Capital Corp. was represented by Jones Lang LaSalle, which said the sale - perhaps the largest investment sales transaction in the Washington area in 2008 - was helped by assumable financing offered by Asset Capital Corp.
"Despite the turbulence within the credit markets, we negotiated an attractive scenario for both sides of this transaction," said Collins Ege, managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle. "The attractiveness of the financing and the long-term appeal of the assets helped secure a committed buyer."
The 652,376-square-foot portfolio is 91% leased and includes six multi-story and two single-story office buildings. Included in the portfolio are Commerce Center, Metro 400, 4260 Forbes and 4550 Forbes and 7700 Montpelier, all in Prince George’s County. Executive Tower and Pinewood Plaza are in Hampton, Va., and 20 South Charles St. is in Baltimore.
For more real estate news and information, visit Blumberg Capital Partners.
Now is not the time to buy: Philip Blumberg of Blumberg Capital Partners suggests that people probably shouldn't buy real estate now with a few exceptions. For more real estate news and information, visit Blumberg Capital Partners.
Sallie Mae, the student-loan giant, has claimed a new location for its Delware operations center, a move that will create 1,1000 jobs in the Newark area. The company has finalized a deal to move into Nationwide Financial Network's former offices for $20.75 million, a deal brokered by CB Richard Ellis. Nationwide originally bought the building when it took over the former Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. of Berwyn in 2003, but realized it would not need all of the space available. Nationwide will lease back almost half of the total space next year as Sallie Mae expects to hire about 750 employees by the end of 2010, and 350 more the next year.
Sallie Mae also plans to invest an estimated $10 million for capital expenditures at the site according to a Yahoo! Finance article. The building at 300 Continental Drive, near Newark, Del., includes 160,000 square feet of offices, on 22 acres off I-95 between Wilmington and Newark.
For more real estate news and information, visit Blumberg Capital Partners.
