Would the last business leaving South Florida get the lights please.

Another picture tour of South Florida commercial real estate in crisis !

The first set of pictures from tues. morning generated close to one million views in 2 days according to the stats in my photobucket account so I am here to share some more.

I did the same thing as before I got in my truck and drove and walked around Fort Lauderdale , Florida for 3 hours a little after 5 pm on July 30 and took over 300 pictures of distressed Fort Lauderdale commercial real estate and just to have some balance not all of the pictures are properties in trouble . I took some pictures just to show you how nice an area these properties are located in . This is some of the best real estate in the country folks. Yes , some of the pictures are duplicates only because some of the properties are so big and I wanted to show different angles . Remember just like before every pictures has a date and time stamp. Very rarely did I have to go more than a few thousand yards to find something and most of the time I just looked over my shoulder .

I took 300 pictures , so I am shooting about one picture every 45 seconds on average. Everywhere you turn something is for sale , lease or rent and there is no business going on . It is dead .

The first thing you might notice is... " where is everybody " where are all the people and cars . A year or two ago it was bumper to bumper with cars and people and now they are all gone.

You will see million dollar homes next to abandoned properties . You will see many abandoned lots with fences around them . You will also see big empty lots . Those are abandoned projects where speculators bought the whole block , razed everything and were going to build some sort of huge project that went bust. I know because I remember the buildings that used to be there . You will see properties that look like they should be torn down as well as brand new buildings. The rough looking ones got that way from 2 years of neglect. Think about it , This is the toxic real estate that the big Wall Street banks have on their books and dont want you to see.

I started at the Fort lauderdale beach area and some of the Oceanfront properties and worked my way south to the world famous Las Olas Blvd. which is very upscale as you can see from all the boats just sitting inches fron the road in front of million dollar homes . I then parked downtown at the Riverwalk and Middle River Area.. A year or two ago this was the busiest attraction 24/7 in Fort Lauderdale . Bustling shops , Nightclubs , Restaurants , it was the downtowns crown jewel. Now look at it .... A ghost town at 6 pm on a thurs. evening and yes it is open with only several tenants left . I went to the roof of the parking garage so you could see what the neighborhood is like . There is no reason for this to ever happen yet it did.

I then proceeded up Andrews Ave about a mile turned left on Sunrise Blvd. to I-95 and then turned around and hit an industrial area just off Sunrise Blvd. I then got back on Sunrise Blvd. and headed east back toward the ocean and drove by the beautifull new Rolls Royce - Bentley showroom and ending at the huge Autonation owned deserted Mega-dealer car lot . Who on earth is going to ever move in there and what will they ever do with that property ?

Look at the pictures good . You can see the ocean in many because they are Oceanfront properties. You will see Trump Condo-Hotel with all its problems.

http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/5/18/83255/5587/hotels/Fort_Lauderdale_May_Not_Get_a_Trump_Condo_Hotel_After_All
You will see Mom and Pop Hotels that went bust and projects that never even broke ground.

Three hours , 300 pictures , two albums !

PICTURE ALBUM ONE

http://s218.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/pictureserverphotos/Ocean%20Property/?albumview=slideshow

PICTURE ALBUM TWO

http://s218.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/pictureserverphotos/?albumview=slideshow

Downtown Miami condo closings cut in half

Anybody have a calculator ? Lets see , tens of thousands of unsold condos just in Miami and we are actually selling 2.7 a day . How many years until they are all sold ?

I'm sorry my mistake I meant to say " thats better then expected " no no no " less bad " no , " the underestimate of the severity of contractions during the early stages of the revision of the economic analysis from the catastrophe failure to , blah blah blah ... Folks these are just words !
JUST DO THE MATH 2.7 A DAY

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2009/06/29/daily46.html

Shadow inventory you wont find on MLS

http://rocktrueblood.blogspot.com/2009/07/two-examples-of-shadow-inventory-in.html

Miami Mayhem.... the worst is yet to come

There are 135,000 permitted, planned, or constructed residential condominiums. The average demand at the height of the market was 7,700 per year.

http://www.glgroup.com/News/Miami-Mayhem-the-worst-is-yet-to-come...-38154.html

It's easy to get an increase in housing starts for the quarter

When You only had to beat the number 17 .

In Broward County, Florida there were just 17 housing starts in the first quarter and only two ( not a typo ) condo unit starts in Broward and Palm Beach saw nine total condos.

By the way over 3 million people live in these 2 counties .

Read paragraph 7 . Folks you have to stop just reading the headlines and read the actual numbers ! I know the article is 2 months old but I am trying to make a point here .

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2009/05/04/daily9.html

In South Florida, most boom-era home buyers are underwater

http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/1036019.html

South Florida ghost towers

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2009-06-18/news/south-florida-s-housing-crisis-leaves-behind-ghost-towers/

South Florida Real Estate Crash

This was Saks Fifth ave.

(CRE) Commercial real estate crash in pictures .

PICTURE ALBUM

http://gs168.photobucket.com/groups/u191/KLMGVE6P6T/?albumview=slideshow

I took a drive this evening from 5.30 pm - 7.30 pm and shot over 200 pictures of Florida real estate in crisis. What is really amazing if you notice the time and date on each picture . I was able to shoot a picture about every 45 seconds while all alone driving in traffic including stopping for traffic lights and gas and parking in a safe place each time for each shot . Everywhere you turn something is for lease or rent.

All these headlines in the media dont seem to have any effect on people so here is one road in one town ( out of thousands ) in Fort Lauderdale Florida up to Pompano Beach ( about 8 miles ) I pretty much only shot the right side of the street because I did not want to do any u turns . Some pics I shot across the street . This does not even include office buildings .

There is something for lease or rent in almost every single plaza or strip mall without exception . I also missed a lot more because of traffic and buildings set back from the street. This does not even include offices , homes , condos etc, this is just stuff abandoned or had a sign in front of it and I missed a LOT of signs . This is not even all the empty lots that sit because the developer abandoned the project after buying up the whole neighborhood .

This is Fort Lauderdale Florida . The Gold Coast , The Venice of America the Yachting capital of the world folks.The pictures start at the Fort lauderdale beach on Sunrise Blvd. and go west to federal Highway ( rte 1 ) north to Pompano Beach about 8 miles and finish in a random warehouse district off the main road . After that it got dark and I had to stop .

You will see Exotic car dealerships Burger King, Wendys , Fuddruckers , Hooters , Pier one , furniture stores , restaurants , clubs boat dealers, Business that have been there 20 + years , Supermarkets , Saks 5th avenue ( big white building in beginning ) Macks groves , Flaming Pit , the old 50's diner . A Ford dealer and a Dodge dealer . A golf course in beginning of slideshow . All GONE in just one 8 mile strip . Folks this is the good side of town with the money I did not even go to the other side of the tracks or to other streets just one !!!

Howerver it's not all doom and gloom . Please Note Ferrari is building a beautifull new dealership. I guess that is where Goldman Sachs employees will spend their money.

FEDERAL RESERVE BEIGE BOOK

These are excerpts from todays Beige book by the FEDERAL RESERVE on June 29 2009 .

These are the excerpts concerning Commercial real estate .

For the whole report click the link .

http://www.federalreserve.gov/FOMC/Beigebook/2009/20090729/FullReport.htm

Real Estate and Construction
Commercial real estate leasing markets were described as either "weak" or "slow" in all 12 Districts

Significant weakness in the retail leasing sector was reported for the Boston, Minneapolis, and New York Districts, and industrial vacancy increased in the Atlanta, Dallas, Minneapolis, and St. Louis Districts. Commercial real estate sales volume remained low, even "non-existent" in some Districts, reportedly due to a combination of tight credit and weak demand.

Boston -
Sentiment is mostly negative among commercial real estate contacts this period. Throughout the region, vacancy rates rose again across all commercial property types as sublease supply continues to expand.

Sales transaction volume remained very light across all markets, as large gaps persisted between bid and ask prices and credit remains tight.

The pace of write-downs by commercial lenders is expected to accelerate over the next twelve months.

New York -
New York City's market, however, has shown further signs of deteriorating, in both the sales and rental markets. In the second quarter, the median sales price for existing co-ops and condos in Manhattan reportedly fell 26 percent from a year earlier, while the number of sales transactions fell 50 percent;

Vacancy rates have risen in office, industrial, and retail buildings. Rents have moved down and landlord concessions have increased. Several contacts echoed the comment of one who said, "The balance of power has moved back toward the tenant." Contacts also indicated that financing for commercial construction and investment remained very difficult

Philly -
Vacancy rates have risen in office, industrial, and retail buildings. Rents have moved down and landlord concessions have increased. Several contacts echoed the comment of one who said, "The balance of power has moved back toward the tenant." Contacts also indicated that financing for commercial construction and investment remained very difficult

Cleveland -
The residential construction industry remains weak. Although most builders continued to experience a slight increase in sales, their outlook is less optimistic than in the second quarter.
We continued to hear numerous accounts of difficulties in obtaining financing for private-sector projects

Richmond -
On the commercial side, lending activity continued to decline, with demand for loans "unseasonably low

Commercial real estate activity remained weak since our last report as contacts reported fewer prospects and smaller transaction sizes. Contacts cited multiple reasons for recent transactions that did occur, including firms cutting back on space, moving to a less expensive building, or extending existing contracts early in order to negotiate lower rental rates.

Atlanta -
Commercial real estate activity continued to trend lower in June and through mid-July. Vacancy rates rose in many parts of the District, which has put additional downward pressure on rents. Contacts reported that some tenants were requesting lower lease rates on existing contracts. Commercial construction continued to slow as well. Contractors continued to report an increasing number of projects being delayed or cancelled, especially in the retail sector.

Most Florida contacts experienced improvements in sales, particularly for existing homes, although partly because of increased foreclosure sales. Most contacts continued to note downward pressure on home prices from foreclosures and short-sales. Both builders and Realtors noted some increased demand at the low-end of the housing market. The majority of homebuilders and contractors reported that new home construction remained at very low levels.

Chicago -
Construction activity in the District remained weak. Residential construction was low, especially for apartments and condominiums.
Nonresidential construction declined, led by the commercial and industrial sectors where high vacancy rates remained a concern.

St. Louis -
Commercial real estate and construction markets continued to struggle throughout the District. A contact in Memphis noted that commercial real estate foreclosures are likely to increase as a result of current credit conditions. A contact in St. Louis noted that, with the exception of institutional and health care-related projects, little construction is taking place. Industrial real estate and construction contacts throughout the District also continued to report a difficult environment. Contacts in the Louisville area expressed disappointment regarding the slow impact of the stimulus bill and the size of projects it has funded to date.

Minneapolis -
Commercial real estate markets were slow. A representative of a state bankers' association said the number of troubled commercial property loans has increased. Vacancies were particularly pronounced in retail and industrial markets throughout the District

Kansas City -
Commercial real estate weakened further with declines in completions and construction underway.

Few commercial real estate firms expected a recovery by the end of 2010, although some commercial builders noted increased competitive pressures from firms outside the region seeking opportunities in District markets. Further declines in commercial real estate prices and rents were expected. Commercial real estate firms said the market favored buyers and tenants, leaving them little negotiating leverage.

Dallas -
Commercial leasing activity continues to soften as businesses cut costs. Landlords are reportedly becoming more aggressive in lease negotiations by offering additional concessions.

Sales transactions of commercial real estate properties remain almost nonexistent, but there continue to be reports of interested investors for very good deals. Private nonresidential construction activity continues to decline
Outlooks remain uncertain, and many expect no significant pickup in nonresidential activity until late 2010 or 2011

San Francisco -
Demand for commercial real estate continued to erode.

Demand for commercial real estate fell further, and with rising vacancy rates
Construction activity for commercial properties also continued to fall, and contacts noted that a lack of available credit remained a constraint for construction activity and investment transactions in some areas.