Commercial real estate top '05 investment ** Click here for article

MIT group's data show 34% return for the category

Stark & knoll acquires Tipping Co.Law Firm

By SHAWN A. TURNER via Crain's Cleveland 9:06 am, February 27, 2006
Akron law firm Stark & Knoll Co. LPA has acquired fellow Rubber City law firm Tipping Co. LPA. One factor behind the deal for the three-attorney firm was that Tipping founder Harry A. Tipping was considering possible exit strategies, and ultimately decided the deal with Stark & Knoll was the best strategy, Stark & Knoll managing partner John Krajewski said. Stark & Knoll now employs about 20 attorneys and is on the lookout to acquire other small firms, Mr. Krajewski said.

"Get Real" Estate ** via Pike Net Dispatch

Humor and Real Estate... Do you remember the series of Dispatches several years ago about real estate company taglines (Sep 10, 17 and 26, 2002)? OK, they were not very memorable. Pretty uninspiring, actually. Nothing like Taco Bell's "Think outside the bun."
But they prompted real estate writer Lois Weiss to send me her favorite real estate tagline from a cartoon. It still gets me smiling. Here's how she described it.
A man is walking down a small town street looking at store windows. Their signs read in sequence: Real Estate, Unreal Estate, Surreal Estate, and "Get Real" Estate. Sounds like a Dr. Phil franchise. (Cartoonist: David Jacobson)
My own favorite real estate cartoon is by William Hamilton. Two thirty-something successful young blades are sharing a glass of wine at a bar. One says to the other, "So what drove you into real estate?" (Maybe I'm a little weird.)
We all enjoy humor and humorous people in the workplace. But you don't hear many real estate jokes like you hear jokes about other professions. Why is that?
Many years ago, I think I remember Sam Zell telling a joke apropos of a previous real estate Bubble. It was about the sale of a can of sardines. As the can is sold from buyer to buyer, the price escalates wildly -- $1, $2, $5, $10, $25. The final buyer opens the can. The sardines are bad. He complains and is told by the seller, "Hey, those sardines are for trading, not for eating."
I hope this makes you smile! If not, what real estate cartoon or joke makes you laugh?
-- Peter Pike

NAR Index Gauges Commercial Real Estate Activity ** Click Here

Rent, Occupancy Increases Seen for Cleveland Apts

The average asking monthly rent for Cleveland apartments will increase to $700/ month this year, a 1.7 percent gain from last year's average monthly rent of $688, according to a forecast from Marcus & Millichap. Cleveland's apartment vacancy rate is expected to drop two-tenths of a percentage point to 6.4 percent in 2006. The median sale price of Cleveland apartments rose 8 percent to $33,050/unit last year. Article via Loopnet News

Commercial Sales Update

It has come to our attention that the complex known as "King James Court" or "Rosemary Square Apartments" has been sold. The official sales price via County Records was $7,500,000 for 200-units or $37,500 per unit.

The building at 323 & 325 South Main St, across from Canal Park Stadium sold in Dec 2005 for $650,000. It appears via local news, that the bottom floors will be retail while the upper levels may be offerred as residential condominiums. We'll wait and see.

1221 Leeser St apartments (10-units) sold in 2005 through our office which represented the buyer. Contact Tia Stathopoulos for more details.

2186 15th St. SW sold through our office for $103,000. This property is a 5-unit apartment building.

More updates next month.

Apartment market to see boost in 2006 ** Click here for story

Housing Market Slows....Condos still desired ** Click Here

NE Ohio Real Estate Transactions Top $1.25 Billion ** 73% increase

NE Ohio Real Estate Transactions Top $1.25BCommercial real estate sales in Northeast Ohio totaled $1.25 billion last year, according to survey by Grubb & Ellis Co. and Real Capital Analytics, Inc. The sales total is a 73% increase from the 2004 total of $723 million. Much of this volume was fueled by the sale of trophy skyscrapers such as the Key Tower and 200 Public Square. Office sales in Northwest Ohio totaled $474 million in 2005, up 187% from $165 million in 2004. Industrial sales hit $245 million, a 259% increase from 2004's $68 million. Sales of retail properties climbed 17% to $373 million in 2005 from $318 million in 2004.

No housing bubble in Summit County - via Beacon Journal