News
DEMOGRAPHICS DICTATE TO CRE
May 3, 2012
| Technology and demographic shifts are changing commercial real estate. And changing what many of the panelists at our 3rd Annual Atlanta Real Estate Summit are developing and buying. | ||
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| Carter's Scott Taylor says the firm's Mission Critical Validus REIT is partially driven by what he sees as demographic shifts. The $85M fund (in assets) seeks to buy mainly data centers and healthcare real estate, especially ambulatory facilities. And Scott tells our audience that shopping list has a lot to do with demographics. ?Right now, 11,400 people turn 65 each day. And the demand on convenient, very pleasant healthcare, is something we're all looking for,? he says. (Well now what are we going to do with all these leeches we bought?) As we become an increasingly mobile society, Scott says the need for data centers will also increase. | ||
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| North American Properties' Mark Toro stunned our audience of some 600 last week when he pointed out that there are more 22-year-olds today than ever in human history. And it's this Echo Boomer generation that will dictate the future of CRE. ?That group of people consume goods, services, and experiences in a totally different way than we do,? Mark says. ?They are driving the surge in multifamily.? Mark says the Avalon mixed-use project in Alpharetta is catering to tech workers who have ?an entirely different set of preferences than we do.? | ||
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| Cousins Properties CEO Larry Gellerstedt also says Emory Point— which beging its second phase in the next few months—is driven by demographics of the 5% of the 40,000 daytime employees who live around Emory University. It's an urban lifestyle populated by junior faculty, research assistants, and nurses who are seeking an environment ?they didn't have to get in their car for.? (With so many people walking, they need to come up with a system for signaling walking lane merges.) It's a similar demographic for Cousins' project in Chapel Hill, Larry says. | ||
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| Wells REIT's Don Henry sees the recovery being led by two distinct industries: tech and energy. The recovery is market-by-market, but Don says real estate investors need to take a longer view on CRE. ?Landlords who did not do leases say back in October... have been richly rewarded with increased rents.? Hear what else Don has to say about CRE investments in this video. | ||
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| And finally, Scott shares some insight into his recent trip to China, along with Mayor Kasim Reed. Scott, called his trip to China an ?intimidating? and "humbling" experience. But it also inspired the CEO of Carter. Hear what he had to say about the one thing he came away with from that trip by in this video. |
