Archive for October, 2010
Pat McQuiston discusses Target Corp’s Field Offices
At NAIOP Minnesota’s Oct 13 program on corporate real estate, Target Corporation’s Senior Group Manager of Corporate Real Estate Pat McQuiston discusses Target’s field office square footage and movement of stand-alone office workstations into some stores, in some instances moving 3,000-5,000 sf into 750 sf areas. [1 min 32 sec] Don’t miss the Nov 18 office market program – get registered at www.NAIOPMN.org
We’ve dug ourselves into a really big hole
That’s Legislative Auditor James Nobles’ take on the state’s pension system. How did it happen? And how long a ladder might taxpayers need to provide?
Read article from Twin Cities Business, November 2010 edition.
Thanks to the ground work laid by the Nexus Task Force, NAIOP was able to arrange for this article to be written and placed in Twin Cities Business.
U.S. Bank’s Corp Real Estate VP on workspace.
At NAIOP Minnesota’s Oct 13 program on corporate real estate, U.S. Bank Corporate Real Estate vice president David Wright discusses employee workspace issues and allocation of space. [3 min 01 sec] Don’t miss the Nov 18 office market program – get registered at www.NAIOPMN.org
Dave Sellergren hangs up his jersey as chair of the Land Use Subcommittee….
Dave Sellergren, Fredrikson & Byron, has played the role of smart policy analyst and wise advisor to a succession of chapter presidents and public policy committee chairs. According to one past president, “Dave was able to take complex legislative language, think it through, eliminate the junk, and fluff, and tell us how it might affect us in the commercial real estate development industry.”
….while Brian McCool and Greg Munson step up to fill the big shoes he left behind.
Brian McCool, Fredrikson & Byron, is particularly concerned about what he describes as the unpredictable “fallout” from the state’s fiscal crisis, which would have an impact on land use. “We can expect a variety of new or increased regulatory costs, like impact fees, storm water fees, the costs of new infrastructure, as well as new approaches to ‘smart growth’ to be imposed directly on developers and their projects.”
According to Greg Munson, McGough Development, continuing issues must be monitored closely—particularly the planning of infrastructure by the Met council and new sources and levels of transportation funding, “because of the close way in which transportation and land use are intertwined.”
NAIOP commentaries in Star Tribune and Finance & Commerce
We were successful in placing two commentaries authored by Mark Haveman, Minnesota Taxpayers Association.
- Local Government Aid: There’s a Catch. “It creates perverse incentives. It goes to the wrong places and pays for the wrong things. And we can’t afford it.” Star Tribune, Wednesday, October 6, 2010 Read article.
- Redesigning State Government Isn’t Easy. “Will our legislators and our next governor have the political courage to take on the serious public administration reforms needed to allow government redesign to thrive and prosper?” Finance and Commerce, Wednesday, October 6, 2010 Read article.
Supreme Court Ruling on Variances is Confusing to Developers
As if the terrible state of the economy were not enough, a recent decree on the granting of variances has heaped additional fuel on the already stressed state of commercial and residential real estate development in Minnesota.
Linda Fisher, Larkin Hoffman, has agreed to represent NAIOP members in the coalition assembled by the League of Minnesota Cities to “fix the situation.”
From the League of Minnesota Cities:
- Description of the Supreme Court and its implications: http://www.lmc.org/page/1/varianceruling.jsp
- League response to the Supreme Court case: http://www.lmc.org/page/1/variancepolicy.jsp
- Frequently asked questions about variances: http://www.lmc.org/page/1/LandUseFrequentlyAskedQuestions.jsp
Is it true that Grandma will have to pay a 3.8% tax when she sells her house?
This rumor is floating around concerning one of the provisions of the recently passed Health Care bill. Grandma will not have to pay a 3.8% tax when she sells her home. However, the new 3.8% tax does apply to “unearned income” for individuals making $200,000 plus or couples making $250,000.
- Read the technical explanation of the unearned income provision of the bill, prepared by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation.
- Read the actual language from the bill, CHAPTER 2A, UNEARNED INCOME MEDICARE CONTIRBUTION
According to Toby Burke, NAIOP Corporate, “The implications of this new tax as part of the health care bill are still being reviewed.”
The NAIOP Survivor
The NAIOP 2010 Survivor’s Party in September at Kieran’s Irish Pub was the first survivor’s event after a five year hiatus. About 100 members gathered for this free-for-members get-together in the aptly named Titanic Room. Attendees commiserated about the state of the economy and swapped market stories while being treated to free drinks and appetizers. While other pub patrons watched the Vikings lose to New Orleans, party-goers observed an entertaining pictorial review of NAIOP events and gatherings over the last twenty years. This event was sponsored by Lawn Ranger, Fluid Interiors, Art Partners Group, Cassidy Turley, CB Richard Ellis, Commercial Real Estate Services, CoStar Group, and HARVARD Maintenance.
Click ‘more’ link below for photos.
The Changing of the Guard
Thank you Pat Mascia, Senior Vice President, Twin Cities Operation, Duke Realty, for chairing the public policy committee for a two-year term. “We have been focusing our attention, over the past two years, on positioning ourselves for the battle ahead. We’ve launched the Nexus Project, a big step toward broadening the availability of information available to taxpayers, have proactively created new partnerships, built broader coalitions, and worked hard to make more friends among key legislators.”
Stepping in to chair the committee for the next two years is Eric Anderson, Director of Development, Ryan Companies, US, Inc. Anderson agrees that NAIOP should continue to develop “more active partnerships with key legislators. We need to help them begin looking at government differently, focusing on the cost side, on the high degree of duplication of services and bureaucracies at every level–literally turning government on its head.”
Replacing Eric Anderson as chair of the Nexus Task Force is Paul Reinke, Senior Director of Development for the Haugland Company. Reinke sees his role as the new leader of the landmark Nexus project as one of “significantly increasing the level of understanding of our members, taxpayers, and policy makers of the realities that drive local government spending decisions.”
