Mirroring a larger trend of slower global growth, United States GDP growth is forecast to slow to 1.5% next year, compared to 2.5% the year before, commercial real estate services firm CBRE said in its newly released 2020 outlook report. Paired with global uncertainty, however, the economic deceleration globally will keep the U.S. a haven for commercial real estate investors, according to Spencer Levy, CBRE’s senior economic advisor and author of the report. CBRE forecasts investment volume for 2020 to land between $478 billion to $502 billion, making it one of the strongest years on record. Of cap rates, Levy notes that they “should be broadly stable, with slight compression for multifamily assets and slight increases for the other major sectors for an average spread of about 260 bps over 10-year Treasury yields next year. Investors should not count on significant appreciation returns, but income returns will remain steady.” (CBRE)
Some of the nation’s largest delivery companies and retailers deepened their partnerships in 2019 and are relying on the strategy to bear fruit this holiday season. After Kohl’s announcement that it would begin accepting Amazon returns at some locations this year, crafts store Michael’s, CVS pharmacy and car-parts supplier Advance Auto Parts began rolling out new UPS drop-off points at their stores. The burgeoning strategy speaks to just how crucial retailers feel it is to reach consumers quickly in a digital age and this holiday season will surely prove a testing ground. For instance, UPS COO Jim Barber said in a statement that its daily package deliveries between November and January 2020 would be double its average of 20 million per day. Meanwhile, the United States Postal Service expects to deliver 800 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. (Retail Dive)
In the coming year, the streaming entertainment industry — bolstered by businesses such as Netflix and Amazon Prime — will feed a new wave of office leasing in Santa Monica, located west of Los Angeles, according to experts speaking on a recent industry panel in California. Kent Handleman, a senior vice president at Lincoln Property Company, noted while speaking at the event that tenants within the competitive industry “race each other to get as much office space as they can get, and then go and hire a bunch of creative people who can fulfill the worldwide demand for new content.” The highly paid workforce is competing for housing as well, creating opportunity for some developers. (Connect Commercial Real Estate)
More News to Note:
Smaller, Independently Operated Coworking Firms Gaining Momentum, According to New Report
Digitally Native Brands Keep Making a Splash in NYC’s Retail Real Estate Market
Mall REIT Macerich Scores $504M Refi on Brooklyn’s Kings Plaza Shopping Center
