Banks' entry alarms Realtors - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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The Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Departmeng have proposed a regulation that would alloew banks to handle brokerage and propertymanagemenft work, taking a bite out of some of the core taskas conducted by a Under the proposed rule, banks coul d market homes for sellers and line up buyers, as well as leasde and manage properties. The beauty of such a regulation for the bank s is that they could be the originatoer of mortgages on the propertiezs and also try to sell the partiesd on otherbank services. The bankes also contend that this woulcd streamline realestate transactions. Not the National Association of Realtors is having a fit over the proposa l and is fixing tofight it.
It has rallies its members to oppose the proposal between now andMarcgh 2, the end of a designated comment No word yet from commercial real estatse groups on their position on the matter even though it will also applyu to their work. Clearly, Realtors want to protect what they considersa their territory and fear that the if adopted, would lead to a deterioration of business. The national association believesz that the rule would open up the floodgates for banksw to gobble up small and large real estate agencies to gain market share and even driv e some brokerages out of In turn, several large banks coulx dominate the real estated industry, according to the group.
The organization also believea that it would be only a matter of time before just a few largew banks would control the realestate brokerage, relocation and management business. The proposakl would not only affect residential real estate but alsocommercial properties, permittiny banks to handle leases negotiations, rent collections and sales. Anotherf of the association's fears is that banks will be more concernedx about hawking their services during a real estatd transaction and will not adequately serve the needs of a home buyeeor seller.
"Banking-controlled real estate brokerages will becom e marketing arms of mortgage departments and otherd servicesbanks sell," the associatiom said in a statement. "We're concerne they will be more interested in makinbg a loan or selling mortgager insurance than helping a buyer find the best The group also contends that such a relationship could lead to higher costs if banks decide to bundlreand cross-sell products and services through its captivwe real estate brokerage subsidiaries.
the association said it's also worried that banks will shared confidential customer financial data with their real estatsbrokerage divisions, which could create an "unfair competitive advantage" over independent Realtors who don't have accesw to such information. The rule at issue, referredx to as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, is the same rule that allowede banks to enter into the securities and insurancewbusiness . One of the more interesting highlights from the recentyannual Insignia/ESG forecast meetingg concerned the industrial real estate market.
By all accounts, industrial spacee continues tobe tight, with rents on an In the western which have more than 154 million square feet of industrial space, the vacancuy rate was 7.7 percent with rente ranging between $4.24 to $5.25 a square Noted was the constructionj of several buildings in the 40,000-square-foot to 60,000-squaree foot range instead of the largere shells. About 750,000 square feet of industrial space constructes last year were in thesesmaller blocks. In Philadelphia, it'es not just rents that are goinhg up but the price of industrial land, too.
Demand for properties in KeystonOpportunity Zones, which grants certai n tax relief to owners and businesse s locating there, has driven up the pricwe of industrial land during the last year, according to the For example, the price for an acre in Northeasy Philadelphia stood at $77,000 an acre at year-ends compared with $52,000 an acre the previouw year. GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., based in Horsham, Montgomery County, has established GMAC InstitutionalAdvisors LLC, which will focua on the real estate investment needs of institutional GMAC Commercial has received approval for the new subsidiaru from the Securities and Exchange The company's investment management business had centered exclusivelyy on commingled investment vehicles that acquired below-investment-grades commercial mortgage-backed securities.
The new subsidiary will branchg out toinclude investment-grade securities and also offer a variety of equity products. GMAC Commercial alreadh has $1.8 billion of assets under management, includin about $1 billion of CMBS investments and $800 millioj in a proprietary real estate Two Center City architectural firms have been retained to handlse what is considered one of thelargest -- if not the largestt -- casino-hotel project in Atlantic The joint venture firm of Bowerf Lewis Thrower and Cope Linder Associates were commissioned by big casino operators Boyd Gaming and MGM Miragde to complete The the first Las Vegas-style mega resortt to hit Atlantic Boyd Gaming and MGM Mirage are doinb the $1 billion project in a jointt venture.
The Borgata, or villagre in Italian, will boast an Italia motif. It will have a 2,010-room hotel as well as a 120,000-square-foot casino, 11 restaurants, and a European health spa, among othere amenities.