This is very good for two or our holdings, GGP and HHC. From the article we can see GGP has had a flurry of new leasing activity (this will be at above current rates) and that the region in general has seen both a YOY decrease in vacancies and an increase in retail sales. While the effects on GGP are obvious and more immediate, the effect on HHC must also be noted. As the region recovers, housing there will along with it. Remember I have said I thought that since Vegas current house pricing is virtually the same as that for bank owned properties, I am thinking it will bottom/stabilize earlier than many are saying.
A general economic recovery of the region will expedite that process. HHC owns both retail and residential properties there both on and off the strip. While it may take some time to be realized, our the basis for owning shares in the company are that they are materially undervalued based on the potential of the properties they own and can develop, this kind of news bolster that view.
HT Reader Dave
From Las Vegas Business Press
General Growth Properties, owner of five major Las Vegas shopping malls, recently signed 20 new tenants combining for 62,561 square feet of store space. The news suggests a strengthening recovery for the company that emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November.
The leasing-activity uptick comes as the stock price for Chicago-based General Growth is climbing. Shares of General Growth, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GGP, closed Feb. 8 at $15.30. The price has risen 23.8 percent since July 6, when General Growth closed at $12.36.
“The last couple of years were pretty challenging for everybody, but retailers are investing dollars to be here,” said General Growth Senior Vice President Dan Sheridan, who oversees the six-state southwest region consisting of 45 shopping centers, with residential and office space. “Retail sales at our local properties were up 10 percent last year over 2009, and we remain optimistic the upward trend will continue in 2011.”
COURTESY OF GENERAL GROWTH PROPERTIES
General Growth Properties, owner of the Fashion Show mall, recently signed 20 new tenants combining for 62,561 square feet of retail space. The company shed bankruptcy in November.COURTESY OF CORE CONSTRUCTION
Core Construction completed a $526,641 photovoltaic rooftop installation atop the College of Southern Nevada’s Student Services building at 6375 W. Charleston Blvd.General Growth has 3 million square feet of shops, restaurants and entertainment space on the Strip that account for 60 percent of the company’s local retail portfolio. General Growth counts Fashion Show, the Shoppes at Palazzo and the Grand Canal Shoppes among its holdings. General Growth’s new additions reflect a mix of high- and low-end consumer goods, including Oakley and Levi, Ecco, Superdry and Zumiez.
“Leasing activity at all General Growth Property centers in Las Vegas, particularly Fashion Show,” General Growth Vice President Laurie Paquette said. “It is a direct reflection of increasing consumer confidence and retailers’ response to that improvement, with many first-to-the-market retailers to the city,”
Statewide sales climbed 2.2 percent in October, the most recent month available, from a year ago to $3.14 billion, the Nevada Department of Taxation reported. Clark County sales accelerated 2.6 percent to $2.3 billion. In Clark County, durable consumer goods — including furniture and furnishings store and electronics and appliance stores — surpassed sales from October a year ago.
The spending increase has also aided the valley’s local retail real estate market. Vacancies dropped to 10.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 or 0.3 percent less than a year earlier, Las Vegas-based business advisory firm Applied Analysis reported.
“While taxable retail sales remain lower than levels reported prior to the latest downturn, signs that a recovery among anchored-retail centers is taking shape,” Applied Analysis principal Brian Gordon said. “Despite job and economic concerns persisting, residents and visitors to southern Nevada are spending more than they have compared to a year ago, a ray of light in an otherwise difficult operating environment.”