Toys R Us is leasing a large number of sites on a temporary basis: smaller stores and only for the Christmas season. Temporary leasing might be a trend to capitalize on, especially where you have vacant space in a decent geographic market. And if you can combine it with a different, complimentary seasonal concept (ice cream
Remember Enron and off-balance-sheet accounting scandals? The efforts to clean up these accounting practices are still in the works and are about to hit the world of commercial real estate—arguably at the worst possible time. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) (which is endowed with the power to decide U.S. generally accepted accounting principles) and its international counterpart, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are hoping to enact a new lease accounting standard by 2013. The Securities and Exchange Commission in a 2005 report to Congress estimated that the current lease accounting standards which went into effect in 1976 allow tenants to keep about $1.25 trillion in future liabilities off-balance-sheet.
Currently, a lease may be shown on a tenant’s balance sheet as either a capital lease which is treated on the balance sheet much like a finance transaction or as an operating lease which is mostly off-balance sheet. The FASB and IASB believe that investors are not getting a full picture of a tenant’s obligations when the lease is treated as an operating lease because the lease payments are recognized as an expense when they are incurred or paid rather than all of the rental payments for the term appearing as a liability on the balance sheet.
Continue Reading ELIMINATING OFF-BALANCE-SHEET ACCOUNTING OF LEASES
The current economic downturn and the corresponding contraction of the retail sector have resulted in a glut of vacant “big-box” retail stores in shopping centers across the country. Vacant big-box spaces pose special challenges for landlords and communities. While the number of vacant big-box spaces is daunting, there are glimmers of hope as landlords and communities have become increasingly creative in their re-adaptive uses of these dark spaces. For creative landlords who are willing to invest in redesigning and redeveloping vacant big-box spaces, big boxes can provide opportunities for both landlords and communities.
Across the U.S., vacant big-box spaces have been successfully retrofitted for use by nonretail users such as churches, schools, colleges, medical and dental facilities, libraries, office and municipal tenants, health clubs, and other tenants who require large parking areas. Because traditional retail tenants are not available to fill vacant big-box spaces, Landlords should strongly consider non-traditional tenants for re-adaptive uses of vacant big-box spaces because they fill up highly visible vacant spaces (and community eye sores); they tend to be long-term, stable, credit tenants who may invest up-front in infrastructure improvements; and they are often well received by the community because of the benefits they provide.
Take a look at a very informative article appearing in the July 2010 Shopping Center Today describing the recent activity of several sovereign wealth funds shopping for distressed real estate to acquire. Perhaps this is the cash we have been hearing about which has been sitting out the downturn ?
The current economic downturn and the contraction of the retail sector have resulted in an increasing number of vacant “big box” retail stores in shopping centers across the country. A “big box” is a freestanding building occupied by a single retail tenant that contains between 20,000 to 200,000 square feet of space and is surrounded
Truckloads of sand will begin cascading across hurricane-battered beaches along the Destin and Walton County shorelines, thanks to a recent 8-0 decision by the Supreme Court. Coastal homeowners originally sued Florida arguing that the Beach Erosion Control Program (BECP) would cause the value of their homes to decline, turning their “oceanfront” property into “ocean view&rdquo
Congratulations to Kayla Ashley daughter of Jennette Ashley, one of our real estate paralegals, for the recognition of her work on behalf of the Ronald McDonald House near Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. The local Fox TV affiliate Channel 19 recognized Kayla’s volunteer work during their Pass the Cash spot. Click on the link to watch.
The typical co-tenancy clause provides that if occupancy at a shopping center falls below a certain level and/or certain other key tenants close, the tenant gets rent relief and at some point the right to terminate its lease. In the current retail environment, all sophisticated tenants demand some sort of co-tenancy protection. Landlords have generally
Since early 2009, Housing prices have stabilized and valuations and affordability of homes have improved. This stabilization is primarily attributed to government housing policies, such as the home buyer tax credit, the federal government’s purchase of mortgage-based securities, and temporary mortgage modifications through the Home Affordable Mortgage Program. However, many economists believe that the housing
According to FEMA the National Flood Insurance Program is no longer in effect. See the post from the FEMA website below and on this link:"The NFIP will not be reauthorized by Congress by midnight of May 31, 2010. Therefore, the Program will experience a hiatus – a period without authority to: