OUR GEOGRAPHY, OUR FOOTPRINT, OUR OUTREACH
“Under certain conditions, a place becomes a part of us; we own it. We absorb it into our lives.
It cannot be taken from us. It is ours, and without title or deed. We are associated with a
certain spot of earth, we have our lives shaped by it, or, if that be not the case, we
stamp the place with our individuality. THIS PLACE IS MINE,“”
-Alfred Lambourne
C&Z GLOBAL Advisors may assist its clients, both in the public and private sectors, in conceptualizing, promoting and developing economic development projects in all of North America, as well as on a global scale. Notwithstanding our full nationwide and international reach, C&Z GLOBAL Advisors has developed a solid focus on, and a unique footprint in the “American Megapolitans,” defined as an area “characterized by interlocking economic systems, shared natural resources and ecosystems, and common transportation and other infrastructure systems, and containing most of the nation’s major ports and international airports; these assets provide a powerful presence in world trade”, specifically in the Intermountain West, the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest (including Alaska), as opposed to “more mature locations, like primary coastal markets, that have experienced -in the last decade- over-deployment of capital and, accordingly raising prices and higher cost of debt”.
Our preferred focus on “American Megapolitans” is in line with a tangible global competitive trend in Asia and Europe, where Global Integration Zones have been created by “linking specialized economic functions across vast geographic areas and national boundaries with high-speed rail and dedicated goods movement systems”, and give us a front row seat, a solid footprint, and a competitive track-record in ‘dynamic secondary markets across the United States'.’ Such new “American Growth Corridors” are not only leading America’s Recovery and Projected Population Growth by 2050, but also highlight a Higher Demand of Infrastructural and Logistics Investments, and show, according to the most recent statistics on the geographic breakout of GDP released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, among the Highest Real GDP by State Growth and Highest Personal Income by State Growth. See also below, PART IV Attachments Schedule 1. Preferred Investment Geography: State/Province Profile Excerpt
These markets, defined indeed as “Secondary Markets” have accordingly raised the ranking of institutional investors appetite, as opposed to more mature markets, like primary coastal markets, known also as “Primary Markets” (i.e. cities such as New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Silicon Valley), which have experienced a concentration and over-deployment of capital, including Foreign Direct Investments in these last decade, lifting commercial and residential real estate prices more than rising rents.
The relevance of the eco-system and investment opportunities of this investment Geography (i.e. the “American Growth Corridors” of the the Intermountain West, the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest (including Alaska)) is confirmed on multiple fronts: the Intermountain West, the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest, along with California, lead the country in being home to a) five of the 15 Top Research & Technology Revenue-Generating Universities and License Technology Offices, (LTOs), in America (University of Utah, California Institute of Technology, University of Washington, University of Colorado, and University of Arizona), b) most of the top US. Technology Companies and e-Retailers, and c) most of the U.S. “unicorns” (i.e. private companies valued at + $1 billion, that, combined, have raised just over $67 billion, as well as generating more high-tech Startups in the country, offering significant opportunities to synergize with the Financial and Tech industries to originate CRE investment opportunities.
Over the past ten years, the Western United States have become leaders in growth in the financial services industry. Apart from the well known financial and tech mecca of the Bay Area and Silicon Valley in California, from traditional financial institutions to emerging fin-tech-companies, Utah leads the nation in industrial banks by being one of only seven States that can charter an industrial bank, with eight of the top ten banks nationally by asset value. Companies such as Goldman Sachs expanded operations in Utah. Goldman Sachs’ original office in Utah opened in 2000 with 100 employees. Today, there are around 2,350 employees in tow buildings, making it Goldman Sachs' second-largest office in the Americas and growing. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Salt Lake City leads the nation with 20.89 percent growth in the financial services industry since 2007. Financial trends indicate this growth will only improve in upcoming years for Utah.
- All segments of the Energy Industry, Renewable and Non-Renewable, as well as Energy Transmission & Distribution, point to the proposed Investment Geography as the most attractive region in the next decade, further highlighting the dominance of this market for the future growth of American Infrastructure Investments.
- New water management strategies and new interstate Water Pipelines and inter-basin transfer projects will boom in in the Western United States.
- The upcoming Salt Lake City Inland Port will link the West with the East, reclaiming Utah’s Historical role of Crossroads of the West.
As recently validated also by a survey of the Urban Land Institute, “secondary markets in the U.S. have outpaced the primary cities, at least leading analysts to suggest there’s a lot more staying power here than years past”. The reasons are varied: “Investors are better educated, secondary markets haven’t become as overbuilt as they were in previous cycles, foreign capital has grown and seeks a safe home, and the growth in many of these cities seems much more sustainable and long-lasting”.
And when it came to predicting where investment and growth are headed, analysts favored so-called second cities, that not only
- excel in the Smart Cities ranking and lead the national standing of U.S. “Top Tech-Cities” with a double-digit growth, but are also accordingly
- poised for growth and continued appreciation, given the tech industry greater stability and a wide economic base, making it a good time to invest.
The Urban Land Institute report’s predictions for the hottest markets of 2018 favored in fact many secondary markets, with Seattle surging on Amazon-backed growth to a top ranking, with Austin and Salt Lake City second and third, respectively (while Denver slipped just out of the top 20). Primary markets took a beating, with only LA and Boston in the top 10, and both San Francisco (27), Washington, DC (35), Chicago (42) and New York–Manhattan (46), Houston (60) taking steep drops.
U.S. CRE Markets to Watch in 2018
The latest available data continue to show record levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the U.S. commercial real estate market, topping out around $91.1 billion in 2015, according to Real Capital Analytics, and way over $82 billion in 2016, according to the Department of Commerce, throughout all CRE asset classes. 2016 saw major shifts vs. 2015 in the sources of foreign capital as China surged past Canada to outpace all other countries. Chinese entities bought an estimated $13.8 billion of U.S. commercial real estate during 2016, more than double their 2015 investment and representing a fifth of all foreign property investment. Meanwhile, Canadian purchases dropped to $13.4 billion, about half of the country’s 2015 U.S. investment total. Germany moved up to third place despite a 14% drop in acquisitions. South Korea jumped from eighth place to fourth as investments rose 17%, while Singapore fell from second to fifth as their acquisitions plunged 77%.
Of all the equity capital sources, cross-border investors are viewed the most likely to be active in the market in 2018, uniformly reporting inflows from around the world: especially from Europe, from Canada, from Asia, from the Middle East.
With 58% of the private equity “dry powder” oriented to North America, and 66% dedicated to value-add and opportunistic investment, according to Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2018, the outlook for private equity real estate continues to be very optimistic.
Forward-Looking Statements: This Website may contain forward-looking statements, as regards various industry clusters, or the Infrastructure and Commercial Real Estate sectors and projects. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they include statements about beliefs and expectations and the assumptions underlying them. These statements are based on plans, estimates and projections as they are currently available to the management of sources we have cited herein, and are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, likelihood and degree of occurrence. C&Z GLOBAL Advisors undertakes no obligation as to the merit and correctness of the same, and/or to update publicly or privately any of them in light of new information or future events. Furthermore, C&Z GLOBAL undertakes no obligation to update, amend or clarify forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could therefore cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Such factors include the conditions in the financial markets internationally and in the United States, the development of asset prices and market volatility. Furthermore, past performance is not indicative of future result.