NATIONAL

With $2B In Maturities Coming By Year's End, Senior Housing Owners Face Fading Demand
BisNow
Betting on a forecast "silver tsunami" of baby boomers seeking varying levels of at-home healthcare after retiring, developers in the five years leading up to the pandemic poured billions into new assisted living centers and skilled-care facilities. But now, with that population hesitating to take the step into senior housing, many of these bets are in questions as the sector deals with labor shortage, depressed demand and $2B in encroaching loan maturities.

Spiking Power Costs In Big Markets Pushing Some Data Center Developers Away
BisNow
Over the past year, data center operators have seen the cost of electricity shoot up in some of the industry's most important markets. Northern Virginia's average industrial power rate has increased nearly 35% since 2021, while New Jersey saw a more than 56% increase during the same period according to JLL. Atlanta at one point saw rates spike to more than double the prior year's pricing before stabilizing.

‘A Rarity': Green Street Upgrades 145 Shopping Malls As Anchor Vacancies Fall By 30%
BisNow
Shopping malls appear to be coming out of their pandemic-era rut, as key factors in the sector are showing signs of improvement. Green Street's Annual Mall Grade Review found that the overall performance of the 1,000 malls it tracked improved over the last year. It upgraded 145 malls and downgraded 83 malls, with the remainder keeping the same grade. 

U.S. Apartment Rents Drop Year-Over-Year For First Time Since Early 2021
BisNow
On a nationwide average, August apartment rents were 1.2% cheaper than they were in the same month last year, according to Apartment List's September rent report released Wednesday. Rent prices were also down month-to-month in August, .01% below July levels, Apartment List found. National rent growth has been cooling over the last 18 months after peaking at a 17.6% increase over the course of 2021.

FLORIDA

‘Dead on arrival': Tampa City Council axes Mayor Castor's tax hike
Tampa Bay
The Tampa City Council voted to slam the brakes on Mayor Jane Castor's proposed budget Tuesday night, axing the double-digit property tax rate increase she said was a “critical investment” to tackle an ever-growing backlog of maintenance projects and meet the needs of a growing city.

Without Quorum, Century Can't Act On 290% Tax Increase, 39% Higher Budget
North Escambia
The Century Town Council was unable to vote due to a lack of quorum Tuesday on a property tax increase of nearly 300% and an $8 million budget proposed by interim Mayor Luis Gomez, Jr. Because the tax increase is so high, the state required approval by a unanimous vote of all four council members. Council president Dynette Lewis was absent from the meeting with the town clerk explaining that she was “very sick”.

NEW YORK

'DiNapoli: NYC's Property Tax Bills Rise Along With Burden on Working- and Middle-Class Homeowners
OSC
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused property tax disparity to worsen in New York City, driving housing costs higher for many. Property tax disparities have been well documented for decades by advocates, fiscal monitors and the city, but the report found even when property values declined for many condos, co-ops and rental apartments due to the pandemic, property tax bills continued to rise. 

N.Y. Hotel Occupancy Soars 10% As Tourists Flock To The City
BisNow
While many hotels around the country experienced a weaker summer than expected, New York is reaping the benefits of scores of visitors. Hotel occupancy hit 86% in July, a 10% jump compared to the year before. That continues a trend of the city outpacing the nation. Occupancy has gone up 13% year-to-date in New York compared to a national average of 9%, per the publication.

VIRGINIA

How Arlington Developers, Officials Aim To Bring Down Its 23% Office Vacancy
BisNow
The pandemic-driven shifts in office use have exacerbated the county's already-high office vacancy. The county's 37M SF of office space had a 23.2% vacancy rate as of the second quarter, one of the highest in the region, ahead of Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties. “The market is not easy,” Monday Properties Executive Vice President Jennifer Burns said Thursday at Bisnow's Future of Arlington County Event.

WISCONSIN

Microsoft Breaks Ground On $1B Data Center Campus At Former Foxconn Site In Wisconsin
BisNow
Excavation has begun on Microsoft's planned 315-acre campus in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Business Journal reports. The massive facility, which could see more than 700 megawatts of power delivered to the property, sits on land once expected to be part of a megacampus for Taiwanese manufacturing giant Foxconn, a project former president Donald Trump once touted as “the eighth wonder of the world” but that has since been scaled back.