http://www.altergroup.com/blog The Alter Group Blog Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:37:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Federal Reserve is pulling out most - if not all -- of the stops to thaw credit.  The central bank has cut its federal funds rate for overnight borrowing to just 0.25 percent, the lowest level ever.  But the move is likely too little, too late because the problem ... http://www.altergroup.com/blog/index.php/general/how-low-can-the-fed-go/ The credit crunch and sluggish return-on-investment environment are impacting green commercial real estate development - and not in a good way.  Even on projects where dirt actually gets moved, it will be more difficult to incorporate sustainable design principles as companies become more cost conscious.  The greening of the workplace ... http://www.altergroup.com/blog/index.php/general/green-buildings-impacted-by-the-credit-crunch-recession/ So what to make of President-Elect Obama's progressive economic policies?  What his critics miss are some of the most intriguing features of his plan -- providing companies with tax credits for hiring new employees; raising the investment expensing limit for small businesses; eliminating the capital gains rate for investing in ... http://www.altergroup.com/blog/index.php/general/how-will-president-obama-impact-commercial-real-estate-part-2/ With change expected to begin in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2009, the commercial real estate industry is bracing itself for the incoming Obama administration and the 111th Congress.  CoStar Advisor recently polled commercial real estate professionals on the top issues of the first 100 days.  The resulting list includes ... http://www.altergroup.com/blog/index.php/general/how-will-president-obama-impact-commercial-real-estate-part-1/ The residential mortgage market is experiencing an unexpected - but welcome -- boom, a result of interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans falling to 5.47 percent from 5.99 percent.  According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) weekly review, the average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate loan - popular when refinancing ... http://www.altergroup.com/blog/index.php/general/will-surge-in-mortgage-applications-find-a-home/ The Alter Group's One11 West Illinois Street, its 10-story, 227,604 SF Class-A-to-own office building in downtown Chicago's dynamic River North neighborhood recently received a rave review and from the Chicago Tribune's Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic Blair Kamin. Kamin praised architect Martin F. Wolf, Senior Principal with Solomon Cordwell Buenz & Associates, ... http://www.altergroup.com/blog/index.php/general/54/ Wonder where real estate titan Sam Zell's investment dollars are going during these recessionary times?  Despite the global financial crisis, Zell is investing in countries like Brazil, Egypt, Mexico and China - all of which he says have a shortage of affordable housing and lack infrastructure. Zell, the chairman of Chicago-based ... http://www.altergroup.com/blog/index.php/general/throwing-a-bric-at-the-economy/ It's now official.  We are in a recession and it started a lot longer ago than we thought - in December of 2007.  That's the verdict of the National Bureau of Economic Research's (NBER) Business Cycle Dating Committee, the non-profit organization that economists and the government regard as the arbiter ... http://www.altergroup.com/blog/index.php/general/52/ Britain's bailout of its ailing banks reflects a model that some critics characterize as nothing short of socialism, while the $750 billion bailout program in the United States is viewed as corporate welfare with very little oversight. Without supporting one or the other, following is a bare-bones comparison of the two ... http://www.altergroup.com/blog/index.php/general/us-bank-bailout-vs-uk-bank-bailout-a-comparison/ Inflation has returned with a vengeance, with a 1.1 percent increase reported during June - courtesy of soaring energy and food prices.  The Federal Reserve reacted to the warning signs on June 25, when it froze the Fed funds rate at two percent - ending nine months of rate cuts ... http://www.altergroup.com/blog/index.php/general/rising-inflation-rates-demand-caution-when-investing/