BlackSwan Zine

I know with the bad headlines about real estate, many investors are steering clear of real estate investment trusts, but the truth is, many REITs have performed solidly over the last few months. I pinpoint one in particular that’s caught my attention in the still weak recovery.

Two new subsidized assisted living facilities are expected to open in the Southland by the end of next year. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services recently announced that Chicago Heights and Blue Island will be among communities throughout the state getting the new facilities.

Construction at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor began last week on a new student housing project located south of the existing apartment complex on University Drive in Belton.

The niche market is still doing better than other sectors, experts say, and some developers are adapting projects to go condo. Physicians who bought medical office condos during the real estate boom should sit tight.

from the Wall Street Transcript
67 WALL STREET, New York – February 10, 2010 – The Wall Street Transcript has just published its REITs Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This 47 page feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and [...]

Adventist Health will finance, design and construct a new 25-bed community hospital in Willits, according to a letter of intent signed this week with the Frank R. Howard Foundation. The new hospital design is expected to be complete by fall.

After almost an hour discussing drainage, parking, and architectural designs, Palatine councilmen Monday night unanimously approved preliminary plans to construct a three-story, 75-unit, 105-bed assisted living facility on Quentin Road where the current Mia’s Nursery exists.

Health care real estate isn’t immune to the ravages of the recession, but it has survived the nation’s weak economy better than most sectors, and some owners and developers of commercial space think it’s positioned to thrive. Among them is Healthcare Trust of America, a Phoenix-based real estate investment trust that owns more than 960,000 square feet of health-care-related real estate in the Indianapolis market.

After leaving his Coney Island developments to the city, developer Joe Sitt has his eye on a new market: college student housing, the New York Post reported. “Student housing is one of the last real estate asset classes that still remains attractive to lenders,” Swan told the Post.

Mall giant Simon Properties Group Inc. on Tuesday announced it has offered $10 billion to acquire struggling rival General Growth Properties Inc., possibly creating the largest U.S. owner of high-end malls. General Growth also has been negotiating with Canadian real-estate concern Brookfield Asset Management Inc. about Brookfield providing General Growth billions of dollars in capital to emerge from bankruptcy-court protection.