Current Events in the World of Industrial Property

REAL ESTATE: REIT aims for $1B; targets U.S. distribution hubs By Mark Mueller Sunday, November 7, 2010 The O’Donnell Group Inc., a Newport Beach real estate developer and property manager with a prominent history in Orange County, is looking to make a billion-dollar, nationwide push into industrial buildings. The company and John O’Donnell, its founder and managing general partner, have been running area real estate companies since the early 1970s. O’Donnell Group recently announced plans to raise up to $1 billion from individual investors through a new fund,...

---

Come Celebrate With Us We would like to announce that John O’Donnell, our founder, will be receiving The Lifetime Achievement Award from The UC Irvine School of Business on November 9th. This prestigious award recognizes John’s outstanding achievements in Commercial Real Estate over his 40+ years of service. Peter Ueberroth will be speaking at this amazing event and many industry leaders will be attendance. If you would like to attend, please email Becky Ezell at bezell@cgfassoc.com.

---

James McCaughan, of Principal Global Advisors shares his view on CNBC. Will the Commercial Real Estate Market rebound in 2011?   James suggests that real estate is a much safer investment haven than equities.

---

This is a great article written by The Financial Times. Click here to visit the article online. The trick to eating the curate’s egg is to sample only the good parts. Investors in US commercial property are showing they know how to do this. In the six top metropolitan markets – New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington – prices have bounced. Real Estate Analytics calculates a trophy index using repeat transactions worth more than $10m in the Moody’s/REAL commercial property price index. After falling two fifths from the October 2007 peak, it is up 19 per cent...

---

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). This Green Building Rating System was created to improve the environmental and economic performance of new and existing commercial, industrial, and high-rise residential buildings. LEED is a non-profit, non-governmental system promoting environmentally responsible, economically profitable, and healthy places to live and work.  The LEED movement is quickly becoming a necessity as water and electrical costs continue to increase.  Please review the below figures. The below figures document the average usage reduction...

---

The following article, by Robert McGrath at CBRE, predicts lower availability as demand rises for large distribution facilities since Q1 of 2010.  We strongly agree with his position; in fact, we have begun to see a rebound in rental rates in the Inland Empire, CA. Friday, September 17, 2010 -  Boston – September 17, 2010—The U.S. industrial real estate sector’s national availability1 rate should peak at 14.2% by the end of September (3Q 2010) before falling to 14.0% in the fourth quarter of 2010 and continuing a slow descent into the first half of next year, according to new analysis...

---

Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE O’Donnell Group Receives 2010 Best of Newport Beach Award U.S. Commerce Association’s Award Plaque Honors the Achievement NEW YORK, NY, September 6, 2010 — O’Donnell Group has been selected for the 2010 Best of Newport Beach Award in the Industrial Management category by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA). The USCA “Best of Local Business” Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USCA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their...

---

The O’Donnell Group’s Adopt-A-Highway sign was installed last week on PCH (southbound near Crystal Cove).

---

Can Port Traffic and Unemployment rise together? We have read a few articles lately that indicate 2010 Los Angeles port traffic is up over 2009. For example, the below article written by the Los Angeles Times states,  “Port traffic is up 21% to 369,389 containers compared with a year earlier.” The question we want to pose is: “How can port traffic be increasing with unemployment?” We are having a hard time understanding how rising unemployment is related to increased port traffic.   We want to know where the inventory is headed as unemployment is at a record high and consumer...

---

Economic uncertainty is definite until the Fed can decide what to do with its $1 trillion dollar investment in mortgage backed securities. Article by the New York Times- WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve provided most of the money for new mortgages in the United States last year, effectively lending more than $1 trillion to American homeowners. Vincent Reinhart, a former Fed division head, said reserves could be inflationary. Now the legacy of that extraordinary intervention is hanging over the central bank as it faces growing demands for an encore to help revive the flagging economy. While...

---