Keep Napa Napa

Last week I received a letter entitled "Keep Napa Napa" from a group of business leaders of the community.  I would like to hear your input as this letter is confusing to me and is contradictory of what I am reading in the news article in the Napa Valley Register from December 20 (see my blog from December 20).  Also in reading the readers comments you will find there to be extreme bias of the Napa Redevelopment Partners, Keep Napa Napa as well as this "shadowy, unidentified group."

-Burt

Taxation of Forgiven Debt - The 1099C & You

A foreclosure on a home may also result in a 1099-C from the mortgage lender if the property is sold for less than the amount of the loan. In this instance, a person loses their home and may also face a tax bill. Usually, the bill comes many months after the tax return was filed as a result of an IRS document matching program. This "under-reporter" notice brings grief to the taxpayer.

Source: Ezine Articles

Trust Buys Napa Land for $10 Million

Investor Sells 6 Acres at 2355 California...Hu Family Trust purchased a 6.11-acre site at 2355 California Blvd. in Napa for $10.28 million, or approximately $1.68 million per acre.  The property includes a single structure of 65,413 square feet occupied by Albertsons. Ground lease is for 20 years with 16 years remaining.  Thomas Lackovic of Thomas Lackovic and Associates in Campbell represented the buyer. Kase Abusharkh of Sperry Van Ness in Danville represented the seller.

Source: CoStar Group

Commercial Real Estate Prices Decline

Several market benchmarks corroborate fears that a five-year run of escalating prices for commercial real estate ended in August for all but a handful of U.S. markets.

Source:  National Real Estate Investor

The Industry Insider

Top Story

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Reis Reports Apartment Rents Increase in 3rd Quarter

Industry News

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Commerce Dept. Reports Apartment Construction Figures
Davis, Calif., Apartment Vacancy Rate Less Than 1 Percent
Apartment REIT Issues Forecast
U.S. CMBS Delinquencies Rise on Continued Multifamily Decline
Redwood Capital to Buy Apartment Communities
Prysmian to Launch Breakthrough Innovation In Optical Cable for Apartments
Taking a Look at Portland's Apartment Market
EPA to Test Alternative Demolition Method on an Apartment Building in Texas
Workforce Housing Shortage Is a 'Silent Epidemic'

Legislative/Legal News

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Push for Affordable Housing Ballot Question in Massachusetts Fails
Wisconsin Law Will Require More Apartments to Have Sprinkler Systems
More Baltimore County Residents Seeking Rent Subsidy

South Napa showdown

Today, both sites are battlegrounds, and in a sense may be competing against each other. The Ghisletta family and the city of Napa are marching toward a plan in which nearly 1,000 homes may stand where one or two homes stand today. No blueprints exist, but the city has moved toward annexation of the land, with the Ghislettas’ encouragement...Across the Napa River floodplain, Napa Redevelopment Partners paid some $40 million to acquire the 152-acre Napa Pipe site, with a plan to reinvent it. The proposal is for 3,200 townhomes as well as commercial and industrial activity on the land between the Napa River and the Napa-Vallejo Highway.

Source: Napa Valley Register

 

 

$10.8 million in '08 for Napa flood control

The $555 billion omnibus spending bill approved by Congress Wednesday includes $10.8 million for Napa River flood control.

Source:  Napa Valley Register

Napa Pipe supporters fire back

A new group is declaring war against an initiative that would torpedo the 3,200-home Napa Pipe proposal, and the battlefield is your mailbox.

Source: Napa Valley Register

Just Published: Watch List (Dec. 16-22): This One is all about Money

Retail
Facing Financing Crisis, Fast-Growing Centro May Sell Assets
In another ominous sign of how tight commercial real estate credit has gotten in the U.S., the fifth-largest shopping center owner/manager in the United States is having trouble refinancing $2.3 billion in short-term financing.
Land
Simon, General Growth Write Down Cash Value of Residential Holdings
The two retailers take about $100 million of impairment charges.
Financing
Lack of Exit Financing Keeping DURA Automotive in Bankruptcy
DURA Automotive Systems has elected to postpone its exit financing process in light of abnormally challenging credit market conditions.
Hotels
Tight Credit Market Blocking Hotel Deals
Sonesta decides not to sell; and one buyer can't get financing to buy.
Industrial
Loan Repayments Stop on Troubled Water Bottling Plant
Loan repayments have quit coming in on LeNature's nearly brand-new 530,856-square-foot water bottling plant in Phoenix.
Funds
Money To Spend
Now after all that bad news, here is news of four groups that have lined up new funds to invest in underperforming assets.
Downsizings
Facility Closures and Mass Layoffs
This week's listings include downsizings in California, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
Properties
Watch List
This week's properties on the Watch List are in: Oakland, San Francisco and San Mateo, CA; Lansing and Shelby Township, MI; Lagrange, OH; Seaside, OR; Havertown, PA; Allen, Ennis, Houston and Lubbock, TX.
Source: CoStar Group

Commercial Real Estate Fundamentals Are Sound But Investment Slowing

WASHINGTON, December 19, 2007 - 

The fundamentals in commercial real estate remain healthy with only slight increases in vacancy rates expected for the office and industrial sectors during 2008, although credit restrictions have recently slowed overall investment activity, according to the latest COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE OUTLOOK of the National Association of Realtors®.

Source:  NAR

Commercial Real Estate Outlook

Commercial Real Estate Outlook

A look at the health of the commercial real estate market, with Harvey Green, of Marcus and Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, and Dennis Yeskey, of Deloitte and Touche.

Source: MSN Video

CoStar Lead Street (Dec. 16-22): CalPERS To Boost Real Estate Allocations

A Weekly Report on Future Trends and Plans, Acquisition/Disposition Strategies and Properties Under Contract.

Source: CoStar Group

AmCan banking on road tax to ease traffic woes

Saying south county traffic troubles are a regional concern, American Canyon leaders want the extension of a key north-south route to be paid for by a future countywide transportation sales tax increase.

Source: Napa Valley Register

Commercial sales outlook turns darker

In a city that prides itself on its skyscrapers, One North Wacker Drive is considered a supertrophy tower. But the struggle to sell the 6-year-old office building this fall signals the dramatic slowdown in Chicago's multibillion-dollar commercial-property sales market.

Source: Chicago Tribune

New Plans Unveiled For Sacramento Rail Yard Transformation

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Plans for transforming the old Southern Pacific rail yard in downtown Sacramento were unveiled Thursday...But at the heart of the design by Millennia Associates is something that is quickly drawing praise -- a new residential neighborhood...After years of discussion and environmental cleanup, there are solid plans for the 240 acres of prime land...The future home for up to 10,000 people is still undergoing massive toxic cleanup. All contaminated soil will have to be removed...Consultants said the project would have to be funded through a combination of private and public money.
Source: KCRA3

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This would be an excellent opportunity for the City and County of Napa representatives, the Napa Redevelopment Partners as well as the proponents and opponents to research with the City of Sacramento for insight into the Napa Pipe redevelopment. My understanding is that the Southern Pacific rail yard redevelopment in Sacramento will be one of the largest redevelopment projects of its type in the nation.
Burt

Napa's Oxbow Public Market redefines shopping

NAPA, CALIF. -- You say you want to know more about where your food comes from and how it is prepared? At Napa's new Oxbow Public Market that opens this weekend, the butcher and the baker will do their work behind windows that will allow you to observe almost every step of the preparation. And the wine will be fermented in barrels you can reach out and touch.
Source: Los Angeles Times

CoStar Lead Street (Dec. 9-15): Strong Fundamentals Propping Up Portfolios

A Weekly Report on Future Trends and Plans, Acquisition/Disposition Strategies and Properties Under Contract.

Source:  CoStar Group

Fed Cuts Interest Rate a Quarter Point

Federal Reserve Cuts Key Interest Rate by One-Quarter of a Percentage Point to 4.25 Percent.

Source: ABC News

Thomas Keller's Yountville inn hopes to break ground in spring

YOUNTVILLE – After a six-year delay, nationally renowned chef Thomas Keller has told town officials construction on his long-anticipated 20-unit Aloysius Inn could break ground as early as next spring.

Source: North Bay Business Journal

Napa breaks ground on $41 million hotel

THE 141-ROOM LUXURY HOTEL IS PART OF THE CITY’S EFFORT TO REVITALIZE DOWNTOWN...Ms. Doll said the company chose places that have a “propensity for discerning and affluent customers.” According to a recent Napa County Visitor Profile Study, more than half of respondents had an income of $100,000 or more and contributed approximately $176 million in revenues to commercial hotels and $40 million to bed and breakfasts in 2005.

Source: North Bay Business Journal

Commercial Real Estate Forecast

Commercial Real Estate Forecast

Investors plan to bank on commercial properties in 2008, according to a new survey. Harvey Green, CEO of Marcus and Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, discusses the survey with CNBCs Erin Burnett.

Source: CNBC

Tapping a source for east Napa water

County joins regional effort as it seeks to bring recycled water to Coombsville.

Luxury-home prices edge up in Bay Area in Q3

The index for San Francisco is based on a portfolio representing a cross-section of homes valued at $1 million or more in eight Bay Area counties. The cross-section includes homes in Alamo, Atherton, Belvedere, Danville, Healdsburg, Hillsborough, Lafayette, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Mill Valley, Moraga, Orinda, Palo Alto, Piedmont, Portola Valley, Ross, St. Helena, San Francisco, Saratoga, Sonoma, Tiburon and Woodside.

Source: East Bay Business Times

US housing to slump thru 2009, prices to fall 30 pct-Moodys.com

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Housing markets from Punta Gorda, Florida, to Stockton, California, will crash and suffer price drops of more than 30 percent before the housing crisis is over, a report from Moody’s Economy.com said on Thursday.

Source:  Reuters Real Estate

 

Bidding heats up on control of resorts

Six companies have submitted bids to run Lake Berryessa’s lakeshore resorts, the Bureau of Reclamation confirmed Wednesday.

Source: Napa Valley Register

5-Year Mortgage Rate Freeze Looms

The Bush administration has come up with a plan to help strapped homeowners facing a daunting jump in their monthly mortgage payments. The proposal, reached in negotiations led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson with the mortgage industry, would freeze introductory "teaser" rates on subprime mortgages, preventing them from resetting to higher rates for five years.

Source: ABC News

Ghisletta annexation hits a county hurdle

County supervisors have thrown a wrench into city plans to annex 142 acres on Foster Road.  By unanimous vote, supervisors nixed a revenue sharing agreement Tuesday that had been endorsed by city and county staffs. Without an agreement, the annexation cannot be heard by the Local Agency Formation Commission.  As required by state law, the city and county now must retain a mediator to try to resolve the dispute.

Source: Napa Valley Register

Just Published: Watch List (Dec. 2-8): Delinquencies, Delays and Foreclosures

Structured Finance
CMBS Delinquencies Decline, CDOs Increase
Loan defaults to increase more than 50% next year.
REIT
BRT Realty's Problems Worsen
REIT raises estimate of non-earning loans it will report.
Deals
Deals Not Getting Done
As the year-end approaches, we're beginning to hear of several deal cancellations and delays.
Downsizings
Facility Closures and Mass Layoffs
This week's listings include downsizings in Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Properties
Watch List
Read all of the above stories and access this week's properties on the Watch List in: Patterson, CA; Orlando, FL; Chicago, IL; Jackson, MI; New York; Brooklyn, NY; Columbus, OH; Blakely, PA; Memphis, TN; Houston and Lubbock, TX; Salt Lake City, UT; and Lake Stevens, WA.

Source: CoStar Group

The chill spreads to commercial real estate

The global credit crunch that took hold of financial markets in the summer is now taking the steam out of commercial real estate.

Source:  Los Angeles Times

Commercial property feels the chill

Prices decline and deal cancellations mount as tougher lending standards hit the sector. But favorable fundamentals and good cash flows should limit the downside, analysts say.

Source: Financial Week

EXCLUSIVE: Treasury Secretary Paulson 'Optimistic' Mortgage Plan Will Be Finished Soon

"If there was ever a role for government, it's to help facilitate a solution when innovation has outrun the private sector's ability to deal with it," said Paulson. "And there's been a lot of innovation and complexity in the mortgage market, and we need to do everything we can to help get the industry ready to meet the growing number of resets that are going to be coming in the subprime mortgage market."...Paulson said the plan will not be a government-run bailout of subprime borrowers, and the banks that loaned them money. Instead, Paulson said, the government is just providing an industry-sponsored solution to borrowers who can afford to own a home but would have trouble making their mortgage payments after a reset..."This is not a government subsidy that we're talking about here," said Paulson. "This is something that the industry will do where it makes sense."

Source: ABC News

Nevada Learns to Cash In on Sales of Federal Land

Supporters say the law, which authorized competitive auctions, has been a godsend for a region dealing with rampant population growth, limited room to grow, scarce water and facilities overwhelmed by their own popularity. But critics see it as having created a limitless federal bank account that has encouraged and subsidized unbridled growth at the expense of taxpayers from the 49 other states, all while Nevada continues to draw new residents as a low-tax state disinclined to pay for such projects itself.

Source: The New York Times

25% loss in economic growth projected

The cities with the biggest-percentage losses are projected to be Myrtle Beach, S.C., the California cities of Merced, Madera and Napa, and Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla. In total dollar terms, New York, Los Angeles and metropolitan Dallas are expected to see the largest lost growth.

Source:  The Mercury News

This week's Real Estate stories

After holding up well for months into the current market downturn, the Golden State has joined most of the rest of the U.S. in an all-out real estate swoon. And that just makes things worse for everyone.

Source: MarktWatch