So to answer definitively the “What should I do now?” investment question previously posed, I say it's time to hold with the caveat—sell anything sketchy or past its prime. I don't think it's a great time to buy and the always narrow development window is closing.
Well-located core properties in the leading 24-hour markets are too richly priced, but they are well leased and will throw off very solid income returns with values buoyed by consistently strong buyer interest. Recent jobs and GDP numbers suggest tenant demand could at least marginally strengthen, supporting modest rent growth. For owners, this is a sweet spot— you can sit back and collect your monthly revenue stream, while the time is right to lock in some long-term leases.
If you sell any of these prime properties, where are you going to find a better investment? All you are doing is making money for the brokers, investment bankers and lawyers, who have been egging you on so they can get a cut of the transaction booty, and then some if they can get you to buy something else on the rebound.
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Jonathan D. Miller
A marketing communication strategist who turned to real estate analysis, Jonathan D. Miller is a foremost interpreter of 21st citistate futures – cities and suburbs alike – seen through the lens of lifestyles and market realities. For more than 20 years (1992-2013), Miller authored Emerging Trends in Real Estate, the leading commercial real estate industry outlook report, published annually by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). He has lectures frequently on trends in real estate, including the future of America's major 24-hour urban centers and sprawling suburbs. He also has been author of ULI’s annual forecasts on infrastructure and its What’s Next? series of forecasts. On a weekly basis, he writes the Trendczar blog for GlobeStreet.com, the real estate news website. Outside his published forecasting work, Miller is a prominent communications/institutional investor-marketing strategist and partner in Miller Ryan LLC, helping corporate clients develop and execute branding and communications programs. He led the re-branding of GMAC Commercial Mortgage to Capmark Financial Group Inc. and he was part of the management team that helped build Equitable Real Estate Investment Management, Inc. (subsequently Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, Inc.) into the leading real estate advisor to pension funds and other real institutional investors. He joined the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the U.S. in 1981, moving to Equitable Real Estate in 1984 as head of Corporate/Marketing Communications. In the 1980's he managed relations for several of the country's most prominent real estate developments including New York's Trump Tower and the Equitable Center. Earlier in his career, Miller was a reporter for Gannett Newspapers. He is a member of the Citistates Group and a board member of NYC Outward Bound Schools and the Center for Employment Opportunities.
