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Commercial Real Estate Weekly | June 12, 2019
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Iowa State launches real estate development master's program
By Kathy A. Bolten | Senior Staff Writer
Iowa State University in August is launching a new Master of Real Estate Development degree program aimed at people currently working in the profession.
The 21-month, 33-credit-hour program is mostly online. However, three courses are taught on campus during one-week sessions.
The program offers courses in real estate finance, investments, law and development,
architecture and sustainable design, basics in construction, building systems and project management, sustainable community development, and leadership and conflict resolution.
The cost is $890 per credit hour.
The master's degree in real estate development is not offered at Iowa's other two regents institutions. However, the University of Northern Iowa offers a bachelor's degree in real estate.
Planning for the ISU program took more than two years and included input from an advisory council composed of Central Iowa professionals in leadership
positions in real estate management and development firms.
Jackie Rees Ulmer, an ISU professor who spoke at the Iowa Commercial Real Estate Association’s June breakfast meeting, said the advisory council provided valuable input.
"They told us [the program] had to be tied very closely to the industry and that it had to provide networking opportunities because that’s how business gets done," she said.
The master’s degree program begins Aug. 5. Applications are due in mid-July. The GRE and GMAT are not required to be accepted in the program.
More information about the program can be found here.
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| A West Des Moines investment firm recently bought Normandy Plaza in West Des Moines. The strip shopping center, built in 1986, is mostly full. Photo from Polk County Assessor
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Local investment firm buys Normandy Plaza
By Kathy A. Bolten | Senior Staff Writer The real estate management arm of Bernau Capital, a West Des Moines investment firm, has bought the Normandy Plaza strip shopping center at 1960 Grand Ave. in West Des Moines for $5.6 million, documents filed with the Polk County Recorder’s Office show. The shopping center, built in 1986, sits on 5 acres and includes three buildings with a total of 54,846 square feet of retail space, according to the Polk County assessor. Among the center’s tenants is Chicken Coop Sports Bar and Grill. The center was assessed in 2019 at $4.88 million. Bernau Capital’s Aterra Real Estate Holdings is the property’s buyer. The holding company, according to its web site, owns and manages more than 80 commercial and multi- and single-family properties in Iowa and the Upper Midwest. Bernau Capital’s offices are also located on Grand Avenue in West Des Moines, near Normandy Plaza. "It’s
something we’ve looked at for some time," said Brenda Jackson, the investment firm’s director of commercial real estate. "We’re not changing anything" about the center, she added. The purchase of Normandy Plaza was completed on May 29, documents show. The property’s previous owners were Normandy Partners LLC, NPC LLC and Friedl Pfeifer Aspen Real Estate Trust, records show.
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THE INSIDER NOTEBOOK
BY PERRY BEEMAN: Indonesian Ambassador to the United States Mahendra Siregar visited Des Moines recently and talked about the future of trade with Iowa. Currently, the state is sending $60 million worth of corn, soybeans, ag machinery and chemicals to Indonesia, which in return is sending $30 million worth of goods to Iowa, Siregar said. "Now we are interested in the derivative products of agriculture, including the biosciences," he said. Read more.
MORE NOTEBOOK ITEMS: Read more Insider bits and bites of the finer side of Iowa business online.
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MEMBERSHIP EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
The Elbert Files: O. Kay Henderson
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Columnist Dave Elbert writes about O. Kay Henderson, who covers state government, often producing three or more stories a day for Radio Iowa, a network of 72 independent radio stations in 46 Iowa towns. Henderson, writes
Elbert, is on a first-name basis with many of Iowa's -- and the nation's -- leaders. Elbert asked Henderson why she's stayed in radio for more than 30 years. "I like radio because the words mean something," she said. Read more
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LOCAL NEWS
Want to know more about agrihoods? Attend ULI event on June 27
Agrihoods, residential or mixed-use developments built with a working farm or garden focus, are replacing golf courses as a healthier and more sustainable amenity that can also attract healthy investment returns. Learn about the Dows Farm agrihood project in Linn County and its strategy for agrihood development at 7:30 a.m. on June 27 at Des Moines MPO, 420 Watson Powell Jr. Way, Suite 200. The session is hosted by the Urban Land Institute Iowa. The cost is $10 for ULI members; $20 for nonmembers. To register, go to iowa.uli.org.
Groundbreaking for Des Moines Heritage Center planned
A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Des Moines Heritage Center at 120 E. Fifth St. is planned for 1 p.m. Friday at the site.
The Des Moines Heritage Center consists of the restoration of the landmark 1909 East Des Moines Union Depot and the construction of an adjacent event space that together will become the home of Des Moines’ heritage organizations including the Des Moines Heritage Trust, the Des Moines Historical Society, Friends of Des Moines Streetcars, and Des Moines Rehabbers Club. Construction is expected to be completed in late spring of 2020. Speakers at Friday’s groundbreaking include Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie, Polk County Supervisor Tom Hockensmith and members of the Des Moines Heritage Trust board of directors.
226 apprentices graduate from ABC of Iowa
Associated Builders and Contractors of Iowa hosted a graduation ceremony last week for 226 apprentices who completed 576 hours of classroom training and 8,000 on-the-job
training hours.
Through ABC of Iowa’s program, students are taught proper safety and specific skills in the areas of electrical, plumbing, HVAC, sheet metal, millwright, insulation, laborer and electronic systems. In the U.S., there will be 6.1 million jobs in the construction industry by 2021 and 1.5 million craft professionals will be needed to fill them. ABC of Iowa, the state's largest construction industry apprentice program, has training centers in Grimes, Davenport and Hiawatha and offers 19 remote sites throughout the state.
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NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS
A Spirt Lake entity on May 31 bought an office building at 1455 29th St. in West Des Moines for $6.44 million, documents filed with the Polk County Recorder’s Office show. CF Des Moines LLC, based in Spirit Lake, bought the 11,200-square-foot building from 1455 29th Street LC on May 31. The property’s 2019 assessed value is $2.29 million.
Kwik Trip Inc. on June 3 bought an undeveloped parcel at 320 N.W. 36th St. in Ankeny
for $980,460 from Kimberley Properties Inc. The parcel’s assessed value in 2019 was
$3,200, records show.
Commerce Center LLC on June 10 paid $1.1 million for a tract in Delaware Township’s subdivision of Berwick Heights. Developer Rich Eychaner had owned the parcel.
Hurd Ponderosa LLC on June 7 paid $2.43 million to LB Properties XIV LLC and PGC LLC 1 for an office building at 5959 Village View Drive in West Des Moines. Built in 2007, the two-story, 14,000-square-foot brick structure sits on 1.1 acres just east of South 60th Street. The property’s 2019 assessed value was $2.2 million.
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NATIONAL/REGIONAL NEWS
Minneapolis developer wants to convert apartments to short-term rentals
Sherman Associates, a Minneapolis-based developer, wants to convert an apartment building in that city's downtown area into an Airbnb-style rental service, reports Mark Reilly for the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. The proposal is being met with outrage from neighbors and at least one Minneapolis City Council member. Sherman officials have said that Sonder, based in San Francisco, has signed a five-year lease for 94 of the 122 units in the building that is located in Minneapolis' Mill District. Sonder would make the units available for tourists and other short-term stays, Reilly writes. Sherman Associates has done projects in the downtown Des Moines area.
Will fewer Chinese students studying in the U.S. affect the housing market?
China’s warning to students considering studying in the U.S. about long waits for visa approvals and increased visa rejection rates could have an adverse impact on housing markets surrounding universities and colleges in the
United States, reports therealdeal.com. In 2018, Chinese buyers spent $30.4 billion on residential properties, the most of any group of foreign homebuyers.
Enthusiasm for self-storage properties waning
Rents have stopped rising at many self-storage properties, a consequence of competition from nearby, new facilities, reports Bendix Anderson for the National Real Estate Investor. The stagnant rents are dampening enthusiasm for new self-storage facilities, Anderson writes. With fewer storage facilities expected to be constructed, rents should eventually begin to increase.
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FINANCIAL UPDATE
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