The Rethinking the Office Market panel at the ULI Fall Meeting dovetailed nicely with an article I wrote for Urban Land in August about the office market. The takeaway quote of this panel is “we don’t need any more office space.” Those were the words uttered by Chris Macke, principal at General Equity Real Estate and presenter at Re-Thinking the Office Market. While that may be dire, admitting this may be the first step in the road to recovery. Phil Mahoney, Executive Vice President at Knight Frank indicated cost is secondary to value right now. “It’s more about my competitors…

Everywhere you look, local food is a hot topic. Community gardens provide healthy food and a place for neighbors to meet. Popular restaurants, like the Wise Acre in Minneapolis, feature food sourced from a farm just 50 miles away. Farmers markets are everywhere, and food carts are a mobile option for budding restaurateurs to demonstrate their talent. The popularity of food and its source is driving real estate development in not-so-subtle ways. Here at the ULI Fall Meeting, a session entitled The Food Revolution and its Impacts on Real Estate discussed this topic. Chris Meany, a partner at Wilson Meany…

I have searched the world to find the perfect neighborhood, and perhaps I need look no further than the Highland neighborhood in St. Paul, less than three miles from my home. Is it really perfect? Of course not, but I once lived there and now spend a lot of time shopping and eating there. So I can speak from experience that I believe it offers the right blend of housing, retail, jobs, civic space and transportation options, all in a relatively pleasant walkable setting. And on a recent visit, I took my camera to try and document what it looks…

The Northeaster newspaper has reported that the Sheridan Neighborhood Association in northeast Minneapolis has indicated their preferred development team for redevelopment of a parcel and final historic building on the historic Grain Belt Brewery complex in northeast Minneapolis. That is good news, as I was part of the Diversified Equities team proposing 125 market rate apartment units, a public plaza and event center. The apartments will be located in a new building, while the event center and possible retail use will be in the historic Grain Belt office building. I provided the market study for the proposal, which found strong…

I’m happy to say the owners of the proposed Smokehouse Brewpub have raised the necessary funding to move ahead with financing for the restaurant. They managed to raise $200,000 from the community, more than the $150,000 they originally targeted! So they are still on track to open next spring. Mmmm, I can taste the beer and smoked meats already….