Digging into development

It’s not what you know, it’s whom you know.

And if there’s one single business beat that epitomizes that old saw, it’s the commercial development realm.

Stagnant strip malls, overbuilt office complexes, failed factories - they seem to be lurking everywhere. And they’re not just an aesthetic blight, they’re a constant reminder of moribund local economies.

Now – when things are quiet, to say the least – is a good time to pave your path into the commercial real estate beat. Don’t wait until development’s eventual rebound to start forging relationships in this fruitful arena.

A few gallons of coffee downed this fall over vacancy-rate chitchat can determine whether you have next year’s 1A scoop about a new Fortune 500 firm coming to town, or whether you hear about it on the radio en route to the office.

As with residential real estate stories, a good place to start is the National Association of Realtors. Their site’s commercial channel offers e-newsletter sign-up, Twitter sign-up and other resources for keeping tabs on overarching trends.

The NAR’s affiliate CommercialSource.com is a great tool for searching commercial listings by market, with links to a variety of other organizations and data providers.

On a regional scale, some of the Federal Reserve banks track commercial occupancy rates and trends; here’s a link to a previous tipsheet about how to find the FRB that oversees your territory. Some local listing services also do periodic analyses of commercial space; the commercial lending divisions of your hometown banks can give guidance there.

Better yet, get in your car and drive around. Those giant “For Lease” signs in key business districts, on landmark buildings and at stalled malls will give you quite a list of names and numbers with which to start.

Take it slow. People sitting on millions of square feet of costly, idle space don’t need us to rub it in. Set up a lunchtime backgrounder and ask about challenges unique to your market, key pending projects, what’s on hold, etc. Do this a few times and slowly but surely you’ll become attuned to the big plays in office and industrial real estate.

Bone up ahead of time by visiting the Web portal of Site Selection magazine, the bible of the real estate and development sector. In addition to timely analysis on topics ranging from public policy to real estate finance, Site Selection produces tools like annual state and market rankings that can add context and texture to your local reports.

Come back to Your Daily Tipsheet each morning for advice on where to find sources, background and creative ways to make financial news and trends relevant to your audience.