News
GRUBB & ELLIS COWBOY UP
January 12, 2011
 | |
| We never heard the Imperial March or saw the emperor, but we did hang out with the Grubb & Ellis folks at the firm's 2011 CRE forecast at the Death Star yesterday. We snapped Myers & Crow’s Richard Crow, Grubb & Ellis executive managing director of Texas Moody Younger, and chief economist Bob Bach in a pre-game pump up. (We hear that Moody considered pouring the wine over Bob’s head in celebration, but opted wisely to drink it.) Moody tells us that 2010ended on a positive note with Dallas' transactions up 69% over the previous year, and Grubb's Dallas Top 10 producers were up 93%. “In 2009, you couldn’t find a deal. In 2010, it was hard to get across the goal line, but the deals were there. In 2011, we hope to see more game in the market,” he says. | |
 | |
| With a little more than three weeks until the Super Bowl, the $1.4BCowboys Stadium is undergoing a facelift to rival Jerry Jones’ work. We snapped the construction progress as the normally 80,000-seat stadium—with a 100,000-person capacity for most Cowboys games—adds enough seating for 120,000 ticket-holders. The retractable-dome stadium held a record 108,000 fans for the NBA All-Star game last year and Jerry's seeing dollar signs as he shoots for 120,000 to attend the Super Bowl. | |
 | |
| We like having fun with Bob (as we did in November). Even though he may have his own 10-gallon hat (from his days as a Dallas city planner from '79 to '84), we gave him a virtual one. He says theinvestment market has been the biggest surprise: capital returned in a big way in 2010, with a 90% capital return over the 20% to 30% forecast. The best Class-A properties in constrained markets (like midtown Manhattan and DC) erupted in bidding wars for core properties with Boston and San Francisco following the melee. In2011, he’s optimistic and forecasts a 75% increase, “though problems are still out there like debt and public sector debt.” | |
 | |
| Grubb & Ellis’ Billy Vahrenkamp and Daniel Rudd surround Community Hospice of Texas CFO Kim Vaughn on the Cowboys Stadium turf. Both Billy and Daniel are among Grubb & Ellis’ Top 10 producers for 2010. Bob’s forecast for 2011: a lot more optimism, not only in CRE but across the economy. “And, I forecast that the Cowboys will do better next year, too,” he adds. |
