Commercial Investment Real Estate is the magazine of the CCIM Institute, the leading provider of commercial real estate education. CIRE covers market trends, current developments, and business strategies within the commercial real estate field.
Issue link: http://cire.epubxp.com/i/206598
REGIONAL OUTLOOK SOUTH Orlando's Big Deal Location, location, location convinced Hyatt Hotels Corp. to buy its sixth hotel in the Orlando market — the Peabody Orlando adjacent to the Orange County Convention Center. Hyatt purchased the 1,641-room hotel for $717 million cash from UST Hotel Joint Venture Ltd. in October. The deal gives Hyatt an instant convention presence in the nation's second-largest hotel market and is expected to bring in before-tax earnings of $55 million in 2014 according to the Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately the Peabody ducks that parade through the lobby every day were not included in the deal. Á N AT I O N A L N O R T H Canada's 1H 2013 Stats Sector 1H volume (in billions) YOY change $3.5 ↑92% Industrial $3.2 ↓37% Office $3.1 Land Retail $2.3 ↑3% Multifamily ↑42% $2.2 ↑12% 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 Source: Avison Young Conversion Trend Aloft Te opening of Alof Tulsa in the former city hall in Tulsa, Okla., exemplifes the hotel brand's new growth strategy: converting older urban buildings. Hotels are opening in rehabbed structures in Orlando, Fla., Tampa, Fla., Miami, Detroit, Calgary, Alberta, and Atlanta in the next two years. Tose join converted properties already opened in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Calif., Nashville, and Tucson. Te brand is aiming for 100 hotels worldwide by next year, according to Simon Turner, Starwood Hotels & Resorts' president of global development. Geared toward a younger generation of travelers, Alof views adaptive reuse as in keeping with millennial' ideals. "Adaptive reuse projects aren't just an expedient way to bring more Alof properties online quickly; they're also a way to expand sustainably, and merge Alof's urban aesthetic with historic structures," he said. "For the next generation of traveler, how we grow Alof is just as important as where we grow Alof." N AT I O N A L Walmart is happy enough with the performance of Walmart Express pilot stores to consider greenlighting the format nationwide, according to Bill Simon, president and CEO, in recent remarks. Te 20 pilot express formats range between 10,000 sf to 15,000 sf and ofer groceries, pharmacy, and gas, competing directly with drugstores, dollar stores, and small grocery stores. Simon also said that Walmart is increasing the number of Neighborhood Markets, a 40,000-sf grocery format that features fresh produce, from 300 to 500 in the next 18 months. "Tis is one of the fastest-growing formats in retail," he added. Commercial Investment Real Estate Frank Cangelosi/iStock Walmart Scales Down