This article appeared in the Colorado Real Estate Journal's Retail Properties Quarterly on February 17th, 2020 LINKRetail investor sentiment appears to be slowly improving as recent economic projections indicate a higher probability of a V-shaped recovery commencing in the next few months.  The cloud of uncertainty will be hanging around for some brick and mortar retailers longer than others with omni-channel sales.  However, some experts are predicting the hardest hit tenants like restaurants and health clubs will come back quickly when occupancy restrictions are fully lifted. Experiential retail is another good example where rapid improvement could result fr...

Denver, January 4, 2021 – Essex Financial Group (“Essex”) has formed an exclusive correspondent relationship with PGIM Real Estate to source loans intended for sale to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. With this relationship, Essex will work with PGIM Real Estate’s origination team in the Rocky Mountain region and have access to their DUS and Optigo lending platforms. PGIM Real Estate is one of the only lenders to hold DUS and Optigo licenses that is not a bank or a brokerage company and is one of the top agency lending platforms in the country. In 2019, PGIM Real Estate originated $2.1 billion on behalf of Freddie Mac and $5.0 billion on behalf of Fannie Mae, making the fir...

As the presidential election appears to be concluded, commercial real estate investors are now strategizing for the future impacts of new taxation policies under a different administration. It is worth prefacing this article with the fact that these changes / proposals are all preliminary at this point, as there are many factors that will ultimately determine whether or not these become a reality. That being said, it can greatly benefit investors to be proactive in re-evaluating their investment strategies under increased taxation policies.There are three primary proposed changes to the tax law that would affect CRE investors:Raising capital gains from 20% to ordinary...

This article appeared in the November 2020 Issue of the Colorado Real Estate Journal's Multifamily Properties QuarterlyThere has never been a better time to be a commercial real estate borrower.  The cliché has been repeated on a loop for the last several years, but it is still truer than ever today.  The Fed has signaled it is going to hold short-term interest rates at near-zero for at least three more years, and credit spreads have stabilized after spiking in the early days of the pandemic.  The net result is we are living in a period with the lowest interest rates the team at Essex has ever seen.  [Author's Update 11/17: Since this article was...