The green movement is still strong, but most owners and managers of commercial buildings over 10 years old are missing out on a great money-saving opportunity, according to Pike Research’s “Energy Efficiency Retrofits for Commercial and Public Buildings” report. If the commercial property sector were to follow a 10-year energy retrofit agenda, it could ultimately reap over $41.1 billion in savings each year.

There’s a lot of space to be tackled. In the U.S., the pool of commercial buildings, which account for much of the country’s energy consumption and carbon emissions, total a whopping 79 billion square feet, 80 percent of which exists in structures that are over 10 years old. As per the report, the long-term financial and environmental benefits of retrofitting commercial and public properties is enormous, however, only a small percentage of commercial building owners have taken it upon themselves to engage in an energy retrofit program.

“Most of the focus on efficiency retrofits has been on public buildings,” Eric Bloom, a research analyst with Pike Research, told CPE.

Factors that have kept the commercial sector trailing the public sector in efficiency retrofits are familiar. “Awareness is an important issue for private building retrofits,” he adds. “And even with Energy Performance Contracts where owners don’t have to invest the money up front for retrofits, there is a reluctance to participate. It’s an awareness issue and a financial issue.”

While the 10-year program Pike Research analyzes would lead to an annual savings in energy expenses of $41.1 billion, it would cost commercial property owners a $22.5 billion annual investment to institute the changes over that 10-year period.

The economic slump has done little to help the situation, as commercial property owners have less financing available for investing relatively large sums of money in major energy efficient upgrades today, in return for substantial savings down the road. “The returns in the public sector aren’t what commercial building owners want to see,” Bloom notes. “The government will accept that it may take 10 to 20 years to see a return on the investment, but private owners are reluctant to invest in anything with more than a four- to five-year payback period; they may not want to hold on to a property for longer than that.”

However, if the prospect of substantial savings in energy expenses in the long run is not reason enough to entice the reluctant, energy retrofitting presents a reward that is more immediately tangible. Commercial building tenants and investors are becoming increasingly focused on the benefits of environmentally friendly properties, so the greener the building, the greater the value.

“The potential exists in the private sector for sustained growth and energy retrofits,” Bloom said. “The government has a stronger stomach for risks but the private sector is reaching the point where they see the benefits of this model. We’ll see an increase in private sector participation within the next four to five years and beyond. It will definitely catch up to the public sector, but it’s a matter of time.”

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Real estate services firm Avison Young has bought Atlanta-based Hodges Management and Leasing Co., which provides third-party property management and leasing services to real estate owners.

The acquisition not only expands Avison’s coverage in the Atlanta region, but also increases the company’s North American property management portfolio. The two companies’ combined portfolio totals 50 million square feet of retail, industrial and office properties in Canada and the U.S.

Effective immediately, Hodges’ seven principals will become principals of Avison Young. These are director of management services Todd Blalock, Agency Leasing Group members Chet Koenig, Tom Crowe and Bruce Logue, director of financial management Krista Reid, director of project management Chris Stanley, and controller Belinda Lauderbaugh.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

“As part of our southeastern U.S. expansion, and our commitment to provide our sophisticated clients with leasing and management solutions in addition to services, the combination of Hodges and Avison Young demonstrates once again the ongoing execution of our clearly defined strategy,” Avison chair and CEO Mark Rose said when announcing the news.

Since its inception in 1978, Avison has grown to incorporate 700 employees in 21 offices across Canada and in the U.S.

Mark Carrell and Shirley Hawley have joined GPE Management Services, bringing nearly half a decade of combined property-management experience to the Scottsdale, Az.-based firm.

Carrell has 33 years of management experience in office, retail, industrial, medical office, back-office and special-use properties along with 26 years of redevelopment experience. He will manage the West Coast Capital Partners portfolio, which comprises more than 200,000 square feet of retail and office space.

Hawley has worked in the Phoenix commercial property management sphere for since 1997, and will spearhead the management, leasing and administration of the Phoenix portfolio held by RJ Realty Investors. That comprises eight buildings and 222,000 square feet.

The duo will also work to expand the scope of the property management division.

Founded in 1973, GPE Commercial Advisors and GPE Management Services provide sales, leasing, property management and consulting.

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In these still-stinging-from-recession days, distressed assets continue to provide a major buzzword in commercial real estate. As part of this trend, Voit Real Estate Services has been named asset manager on a $150 million, 12-asset portfolio in the greater Sacramento area.

The portfolio is mixed, containing retail and office as well as industrial and multifamily assets totaling 500,000 square feet. Those include a 339-unit Class A apartment community, a 150,000-square-foot retail community center, and retail strip centers.

“Our charter is clear,” Voit Executive Managing Director of Asset Services John Strockis said when announcing the news. “Create value back into the assets using our experience as real estate operators while minimizing risk to our client.”

A year and a half ago, Voit created a new real estate model by which multiple real estate services are offered in-house. The company said Monday that it is expanding those capabilities in Sacramento by opening a local full-service commercial real estate office there. The office will be Voit’s seventh in California and will be overseen by newly appointed Managing Director Kevin Sheehan.

Voit is headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., and has offices in California, Arizona, and Nevada.

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Retail development and property management firm NewMark Merrill Companies has expanded its portfolio by 385,712 square feet. The Woodland Hills, Calif.-based firm has inked five new property management contracts, all on shopping centers in Southern California.

Now under NewMark management are the 58,126 square-foot Del Amo Plaza in Cerritos; the 31,793 square-foot Lemon Creek Village in Walnut; the 154,219 square-foot Park Plaza on Maine Shopping Center in Baldwin Park; the 117,363 square-foot Santa Maria Commons in Santa Maria; and the 24,211 square-foot Capistrano Collection in San Juan Capistrano.

“For over 25 years, NewMark Merrrill Companies has prospered in good and tough markets by (knowing how to operate) centers for long-term value,” NewMark president and CEO Sandy Sigal said when announcing the news. “Now, more than ever, NewMark’s integrated management, leasing, marketing and accounting expertise is helping those centers it owns and manage to outperform the market and put them in position to thrive.”

NewMark has a portfolio of more than 44 shopping centers under ownership or management in California, Colorado and Illinois, with more than 6 million square feet and nearly $1 billion in value. In addition to its Woodland Hills headquarters, the firm has regional offices in Orange County, Ventura County, San Francisco, San Diego County, Colorado and Illinois.

Commercial real estate services firm Cassidy Turley said Friday that Louisville, Ky.-based Harry K. Moore will join the company on May 13. Harry K. Moore was formerly affiliated with Colliers International.

Harry K. Moore has been locally owned and operated since 1948, specializing in sales and leasing of industrial and commercial properties in Louisville and southern Indiana as well as many surrounding cities in Kentucky. Since 2000, the firm has completed more than 2,000 transactions consisting of 53 million square feet valued at more than $1.2 billion. During its transition, it will operate as Cassidy Turley Harry K. Moore.

“We are delighted to join Cassidy Turley,” Harry K. Moore managing member Powell Spears said when announcing the news. “With 162 years of combined commercial real estate sales and leasing experience among our brokers, we share a strategic vision of creating value and opportunities for our clients nationwide.”

The firm offers office brokerage, industrial brokerage, investment services, retail services, landlord and retail representation, with other activities including tract assemblage, client expansion needs, consultation, site procurements, and buying and selling investment properties. Its website calls it “an aggressive, action-directed real estate brokerage company.”

Cassidy Turley officially incorporated on March 1. Its portfolio includes 420 million square feet of managed space in 58 locations and $13 billion in completed transactions for 2009.

Real estate manager, investor, and developer The Muller Company has been awarded three new management contracts totaling more than 1.9 million square feet.

DCT Industrial Trust, Inc., has selected the Denver-based company to manage its Phoenix portfolio of 14 industrial buildings totaling more than 1.6 million square feet. In addition, Bank of America tapped Muller to manager Creekside Executive Center in Camarillo, Calif., which entails a two-story office building and 13 office/medical condos totaling 73,892 square feet, and an unnamed global financial services company chose the company to manage a 19-story, 255,477 square-foot building in Phoenix.

The Phoenix portfolio will be managed by senior property manager Tiffany Lauchlan, while Creekside will be managed by property manager Patti Mallen. With more than four million square feet under management in the Phoenix market, it is a particularly keen one for the company.

Muller recently hired two commercial real estate veterans: Lori Ann Haigh as director of business development and Susan Rosenblatt as director of asset management.

“The company has an extremely cohesive and dynamic management team with a strong base of talented employees,” Rosenblatt said when the announcement was made early this month. “The company’s linear and nimble organizational structure, combined with the vision of the two key principals, will position it for significant growth in the future.”

Muller has more than 30 years of experience in developing, acquiring and managing a portfolio of more than 20 million square feet of office, industrial, and retail real estate throughout the western U.S., with nearly 11 million square feet currently under management in California and Phoenix.

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Means Knaus Partners has signed a 12 million square-foot property and construction management, leasing and development deal with Lexington Realty Trust, thereby doubling the size of its property management portfolio. Financial details were not released.

Lexington CEO Will Eglin told CPE that the portfolio encompasses 48 cities in 19 states. He could not put a value on the portfolio as it is not for sale and thus hasn’t been recently appraised.

Means Knaus CEO Doug Knaus told CPE that the most promising markets in the portfolio are the New York area, Chicago, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. “All of these markets have upside potential from internal and external growth,” he said. “In addition, there are acquisition and development opportunities as the financial markets gradually improve.”

The joint venture expands the Means Knaus management portfolio to 20 million square feet and moves the Houston-based firm into the top 100 commercial property management firms in the U.S., the company said.

Lexington is a New York-based REIT with interests in 45.9 million square feet in 259 properties throughout the U.S., with more than 350 tenants in small, medium, and large companies operating in more than 20 industries.

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It’s been in the works for years and now it is official: Cassidy Turley has officially launched.

Cassidy Turley is comprised of partner firms Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, Colliers Pinkard, Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers, Colliers ABR, Colliers Houston, BT Commercial, BRE Commercial San Diego, BRE Commercial Phoenix, and CPS CORFAC International. The companies’ combined portfolio encompasses 420 million square feet of managed space in 58 locations and $16 billion in completed transactions for 2008.

Colliers Houston & Co. president David Houston told CPE in January that the genesis of Cassidy Turley came four years ago as the firms began to consider how to take their business to the next level. After Colliers and FirstService combined, the firms that ultimately launched Cassidy Turley decided not to join the new network, which is publicly held.

“We liked the vision of an employee-owned company as it was privately held,” Houston said. “It’s just two different models and the model that worked best for us in terms of our culture was the Cassidy Turley model.”

He told CPE that in part the decision came from a desire to maintain what had long existed.

“We’ve had a profit-sharing plan for 42 years, so everybody’s always had a share of the profits, even the receptionists,” he said. “So being employee-owned made more sense than being owned by a public company who could buy us and sell us in a heartbeat.”
Along with the launch comes new brand positioning, a fresh logo, and a new advertising campaign spearheaded by Interbrand, a global brand consultancy.

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It all seemed to have started out innocently enough, with Indianapolis-headquartered Simon Property Group Inc.’s $10 billion cash offer on February 8 to buy beleaguered Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc.

But now it’s turned into a written war of words, of sorts, with letters flying between CEOs of the retail REITs on such issues as the non-disclosure agreement and bankrupt GGP’s process for exploring alternatives. The most recent issue that has set the statements to flight is Toronto, Ont.-based real estate investor and asset manager Brookfield Asset Management Inc.’s competing offer involving $2.5 billion in cash; an offer that GGP finds attractive.

Brookfield’s proposal calls for the company to invest $2.5 billion at $10 per share for new GGP common stock, and as much as $125 million at $5.00 per share for common stock of GGO, a new entity that will own designated non-core GGP assets, including GGP’s master-planned communities. GGP lauds the proposal, noting that it would leave the company with enough liquidity to support its emergence from bankruptcy and a platform for raising as much as $5.8 billion in capital via various means, including the opportunity to rely on Brookfield’s tight knit relationships with capital sources around the world.

“The Brookfield-sponsored recapitalization–coupled with the more than $13 billion of restructured debt, our compelling scale as the second-largest regional mall owner, our fortress assets and a business plan that focuses on further deleveraging the balance sheet and building liquidity–provides a strong financial foundation for the future,” Adam Metz, CEO of GGP, wrote in a statement announcing GGP had reached an agreement in principle with Brookfield.

GGP is talking up the Brookfield proposal, but Simon is not impressed–and not happy.

“The proposed recapitalization amounts to a risky equity play on the backs of its unsecured creditors,” Simon noted in a statement in response to GGP’s announcement of the Brookfield offer. “While continuing to block the immediate and certain 100% cash recovery provided by Simon’s offer, General Growth has preempted its own self-proclaimed ‘process’ in favor of a highly speculative and risky plan to attempt to raise $5.8 billion of new capital in today’s uncertain markets. Simon is providing $10 billion of real value–$3 billion to shareholders as well as $7 billion to creditors–as compared to a complex piece of financial engineering that is so highly conditional as to be illusory.”

Neither GGP nor Brookfield has released a response to Simon’s assessment of the situation–yet. Apparently, Simon believes it is still in the running. “The offer is subject to confirmatory due diligence and the negotiation and execution of a definitive transaction agreement, as well as required bankruptcy court and creditor approvals,” Simon officials documented in the company’s annual report submitted to the SEC on February 25. “As of the filing of this report, no transaction has occurred.”

And the door remains open for bids from other potential buyers. The winner will get its hands on GGP’s ownership interest and management position in over 200 regional shopping malls accounting for approximately 200 million square feet of retail space across 43 states.