Entries by admin

The Pandemic has accelerated many real estate trends. Student housing is no exception.

The Covid19 pandemic has caused distress in hospitality and retail assets, but apartments have largely been spared. However, a subset of the multifamily sector has been placed under pressure: student housing. University enrollments had already been declining steadily over the past 8 years and the pandemic has accelerated the decline. Indeed, demographic trends foretell an […]

Office REITs: Value Opportunity or Value Trap?

Commercial real estate is under pressure. Hospitality properties are in distress and many retail assets are struggling amid restaurant closures and the acceleration of online shopping. Thus far, long-term leases and high-quality tenant rosters have spared Class A office properties from pain. Second quarter results for major publicly traded office real estate investment trusts offer […]

Investment Opportunities in Apartment REITs

I have listened to the second quarter earnings conference calls for three of the largest apartment real estate investment trusts: Equity Residential Trust (EQR), AvalonBay Communities (AVB), and Mid-America Apartment Communities (MAA). Together they own over 250,000 apartments. I was struck by the generally positive tone in spite of our troubled economy. I have assembled […]

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Tax Reform: No free lunch for apartment owners

Rural Nebraskans suffered from heavy flooding this past March, so the IRS allowed residents of many counties to extend their filing deadline to July 31st. As we wind down this uniquely painful tax season, it’s time to reflect on what has been a most unpleasant set of surprises unleashed upon many real estate investors by […]

Aksarben Village, 15 years in the making, is nearing the finish line

March 3, 2019: By Cindy Gonzalez / World-Herald staff writer Noddle Cos. estimates that private investment within Aksarben Village has topped $630 million. Those involved since the onset say the project, boosted by tens of millions of public dollars, has exceeded expectations. Office and research space has doubled the amount projected to be built; the […]

An aerial view of our new project in Aksarben Village

ZONE 6 APARTMENTS, AKSARBEN VILLAGE64TH AVENUE AND FRANCES STREET OMAHA NE We are excited to announce our newest apartment project in Aksarben Village. The building will feature 62 studio, one and two-bedroom units. We expect completion in early 2021. This building will be adjacent to to our other projects Pinhook Flats and CUE Apartments. We […]

Pigeons, Chickens and Interest Rates

There was a hilarious video making the rounds on social media last week that featured a pigeon strutting around a barnyard with a puffed up chest and its head cocked high in the air. The pigeon was imitating a flock of brown chickens who were parading about, pecking at the seeds on the ground. I […]

Apartment Development has a Big Lebowski Moment

By now, just about everyone knows the boiling frog metaphor. The business parable now sits among the regal pantheon of Vince Lombardi quotes, TedTalks about body postures, and the mystical epiphanies which occur when you gaze deeply in your Steve Jobs mirror. So let’s take the boiling frog story and give it a new level […]

Does Omaha need any more apartments?

A couple of years ago I published my views about the supply and demand of multifamily rental housing in the Omaha metropolitan area. My conclusion was that softness would appear by late 2017 due to an acceleration of supply. I have been pleasantly surprised by the continued strength of the market. Occupancy levels are at […]