Chancellor University to lease current home for first half of 2011 - Cleveland Business News - Northeast Ohio and Cleveland - Crain's Cleveland Business

Chancellor University to lease current home for first half of 2011 - Cleveland Business News - Northeast Ohio and Cleveland - Crain's Cleveland Business

Chancellor University is turning over the title to its home at East 40th Street and Chester Avenue at year's end, but the local for-profit college will lease the property for an additional six months under a deal approved by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority yesterday.

University Circle: moca finalizes plans for stunning $27M university circle museum

moca finalizes plans for stunning $27M university circle museum

University Circle's Uptown project took a major step forward last week when the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Cleveland board approved plans for a new home, a dramatic, six-faceted, $27 million structure of highly reflective stainless steel and glass to be built at Euclid Avenue and Mayfield Road.

Cleveland: Investors plan $55 million hotel project in historic Euclid Avenue buildings

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An out-of-state investor group plans to open a hotel on Euclid Avenue, in a $55 million project that could eliminate a dead zone in downtown Cleveland.


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Downtown advocates aim to rebrand, remake Cleveland's financial district

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- While developers plot a casino on Public Square, patrons fill restaurants on East Fourth Street and club-goers flood the Warehouse District, Cleveland's one-time financial district sits quiet.

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Airport Executive Park

GOOD NEWS FRIDAY!!!!

Keep on Truckin’

Households and businesses purchased light trucks – pickups, SUVs and mini-vans – at an annualized rate of 6.4 million units in October, the highest level since August 2008. The performance broke through the elevated levels of late 2009 when the cash-for-clunkers program was in effect. Many analysts view light truck sales as a leading indicator of confidence among small businesses, which need the vehicles to service their clients as reported in a recent article by the AP. The increase in light truck sales coincides with an increase in optimism among small businesses according to the latest report from the National Federation of Independent Business, though the index remains depressed. Small business growth will help drive the economic recovery over the next two years.

DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND - GREAT VIDEO BY DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND ALLIANCE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp6gPQuexIY&feature=player_embedded

Weekly Market Insight

The tightening cycle for commercial real estate debt has just about run its course according to the Federal Reserve’s quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices. In the just-released October survey, 3.6 percent of respondents said they tightened standards for commercial real estate loans in the prior three months, the lowest level in 4 ½ years.

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GOOD NEWS FRIDAY

Doing Better

Job growth in October doubled analyst expectations.

·         The establishment survey revealed that employers added 151,000 net new payroll jobs. The private sector added 159,000 while the government – primarily local – subtracted 8,000.

·         August and September data were revised higher by a combined 110,000.

·         Since employment bottomed last December, the labor market has expanded by 874,000. This is just 10 percent of the jobs lost in 2008 and 2009, and the rate of improvement has been disappointing, but the trend is up. Average monthly private sector job growth this year was 79,000 in the first quarter, 118,000 in the second quarter and 122,000 in the third quarter. October’s 159,000 private sector jobs provide a running start for the fourth quarter.

·         The growth in October was led by education and health services with 53,000, professional and business services with 46,000 (including 34,900 temp jobs) and 27,900 in retail trade. Manufacturers laid off 7,000.

·         Average hourly earnings and average weekly hours both increased slightly

·         The household survey revealed that the unemployment rate remained stable at 9.6 percent as both total employment and the labor force declined. The household survey does a better job than the establishment survey of tracking changes in employment at small businesses and among the self-employed – a sign that small businesses remain stressed.

The October employment report is not a blow-out number by any means, but along with other indicators such as the ISM manufacturing and non-manufacturing indexes, factory orders, vehicle sales and consumer spending, it suggests the economy is slowly gathering momentum.

landmark detroit shoreway building gets second chance thanks to keen developer

landmark detroit shoreway building gets second chance thanks to keen developer

Grandon's investment is part of a redevelopment trend in the area. According to Ian Andrews, Director of Development for the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization (DSCDO), 33 new businesses have opened in the neighborhood since 2006. These include restaurants such as Luxe Kitchen and Lounge, Stone Mad, and the rebranded Happy Dog, and specialty retail like duoHome.

deal could make cleveland first city on great lakes with container service to canada

deal could make cleveland first city on great lakes with container service to canada

Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority officials recently revealed that they are reconsidering long-stalled plans for a ferry between Ohio and Ontario. Last week, they announced another international transit plan, this time for container service.

GOOD NEWS

Come to the Revival

Early last year when the labor market was shedding several hundred thousand jobs per month, multifamily was in the crosshairs of the unfolding housing crisis. Lost jobs plus burgeoning shadow supply (unsold condos and foreclosed houses being offered for rent) meant that demand and supply were heading in opposite directions. Today the multifamily market is recovering at a brisk pace. How did the turnaround happen?

·         The labor market is growing, albeit slowly. Private employers added 863,000 payroll jobs year-to-date through September even as governments eliminated 250,000.

·         As jobs become more plentiful, households are “unbundling.” Recent graduates who moved in with parents or friends are finding jobs and leasing apartments.

·         Though mortgage rates are at historic lows, it is harder to qualify for a loan than it was during the boom because lenders are more carefully scrutinizing borrower credit.

·         Renters feel no urgency to become homeowners. Prices are flat or still declining in most markets with the exception of coastal California according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes. It could be awhile before homeownership is once again viewed as an avenue to long-term wealth creation.

·         Foreclosures continue to mount, but the crisis seems to be adding renters faster than potential new rental units. Most foreclosed homeowners become renters right away or soon after they move, whereas their former homes can remain in limbo for awhile before they are sold, and only a fraction of them will become rental units.

·         Many of the unsold or foreclosed units that enter the rental market are not directly competitive with professionally managed apartment communities with amenities, 24-hour maintenance and other features.

·         As a result, the multifamily vacancy rate fell to 7.1 percent in the third quarter from 7.8 percent in the second quarter according to Reis. This is among the sharpest drops in the history of the Reis database.

·         Long-term demographic trends favor the multifamily market. The 20-34 age cohort – prime renting years – will grow by 4.3 million in the current decade. These are the baby boomers’ kids, and they will fuel demand for apartments over the next few years.

·         New construction is at a minimum, and favorable financing is available for investment properties through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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