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March | April | 2016 Commercial Investment Real Estate
REGIO NAL
OUTLO O K
Sam Zell's Big Deal
Does Sam Zell know something the rest of us
don't? Obviously he knows more about making
money, but whether he's prescient about mar-
ket timing remains to be seen. Equity Resi-
dential's sell-off of a 23,262-unit apartment
portfolio for $5.37 billion to Starwood Capital
caused some industry watchers to recall Zell's
nicely timed 2007 sale of a $39 billion offi ce
property portfolio to Blackstone, just before
the market crashed.
However, this time Zell is cleaning house:
selling secondary market and suburban assets
to focus on the urban core. The 72 properties,
which sold for an average of $230,634, are
in South Florida, Denver, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Inland Empire, Calif.,
markets. Equity also plans to sell 26 additional properties in Connecticut and
Massachusetts later this year. "Our belief is that long-term risk-adjusted returns
in the urban core will exceed those in other markets," said David Neithercut,
Equity Residential's CEO. "Core, high-density urban markets will drive Equity
Residential's performance for many years to come."
N A T I O N A L
Top Retail Markets
Based on YOY percentage increase in transaction volume
Market YOY percentage increase
4Q14–3Q15
Palm Beach, Fla. 326.5%
San Jose, Calif. 225.5%
Columbus, Ohio 200.4%
Source: Integra Realty Resources
MIDWEST
S O U T H
Ä
Offi ce Vacancy Rates
Market 4Q14 4Q15
Atlanta 17.8% 16.2%
Birmingham, Ala. 12.4 13.6
Charleston, S.C. 9.7 8.7
Miami 14.7 12.2
South 13.9 13.1
Source: Cushman & Wakefi eld
Photography
Firm/Thinkstock