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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Trustees shouldn’t forget regular insurance audits

Trustees, picture this: You are at the table with the beneficiary children of one of your most successful clients. You are reviewing the estate of their deceased parent. You have the unpleasant task of explaining that the insurance policy that was purchased 15 years ago had lapsed several years prior to Dad’s passing. Result: nothing to lighten the tax bill. Most trustees do not adequately manage the life insurance policy assets held inside the trust. According to a 2003 survey…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Here’s another tax break you may have overlooked

Financial advisors counsel clients on income, estate and gift taxes among other things. But they often neglect residential property taxes. That could well be a mistake. Property taxes are a significant cost of owning real estate – typically 1 percent to 1.5 percent of market value. So, they must be considered in making financial decisions. They can also be a significant cash-flow consideration for someone in retirement who has a lot of illiquid wealth-not just for your primary residence, but…

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Crown Hill development showdown looming

Debate over a developer’s plan to buy 71 acres of woods and wetlands on Crown Hill Cemetery’s northern edge for a retail-and-residential
project will come to a head this week when the Metropolitan Development Commission votes on the proposal.

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INVESTING: Subprime lenders slammed as housing bubble bursts

Subprime is a funny term. The word prime connotes best of class, front row, all that stuff. Stick the word sub in front of it and it seems as if you are getting something a few rows back, but still better than average. Pertaining to the residential mortgage market, however, the word means something entirely different. Asset bubbles are created from something genuine (the Internet is indeed changing everything) and they are extended through the use of leverage. Now that…

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IU turns donated beach property into lesson

Indiana University Kelley School of Business students will market and sell five lots along a strip of white sandy beach on
secluded Dog Island, Fla., as a class project that likely will span
several semesters. Whatever the students get for the land will be all profit.

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BULLS & BEARS: Awareness of risk is back, and that’s not a bad thing

“I’m baaack!” yelled Mr. Risk at the top of his lungs on Feb. 27. “Welcome back, Mr. Risk. You have been gone a while,” responded a nervous Mr. Market. “Even though deep down we knew you were hanging around the neighborhood, we had forgotten all about you.” And thus ended the calm that had presided over the stock market, which had risen in regimented fashion the past seven months. With the 416-point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average that…

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St. Elmo spinoff, Harry & Izzy’s, could go national

Harry & Izzy’s, a spinoff to St. Elmo Steak House slated to open in mid-April at Circle Centre mall, is the city’s most anticipated
new restaurant in years–a casual cousin to St. Elmo,
with lunch service and a wider menu, including salads, pastas and pizzas, along with standbys like the famous shrimp cocktail.

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A whole new ballgame: More women stepping up to the plate in commercial real estate

Yogi Berra once said, “You give 100 percent in the first half of the game, and if that isn’t enough, in the second half you give what’s left.” Women are accepting his challenge with a chuckle, running onto the commercial real estate field and playing to win. They also are balancing home and family. Why not? The U.S. commercial real estate market is worth about $3.5 trillion, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York research firm. Bridget Farren, founder…

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Mansur lands $50M midfield airport hotel

The Indianapolis Airport Authority has tapped Mansur Real Estate Services Inc. to develop a $50 million-plus Westin hotel
at the new midfield terminal. But the hotel’s final design may be one submitted by a former competitor, White Lodging Corp.
of South Bend.

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BULLS & BEARS: Amid all the complaining, U.S. continues to prosper

A few weeks ago, I heard Ben Stein speak about politics and the economy. The noted lawyer, writer, actor and economist spouted off various positive statistics about the U.S. economy and then lamented that the public seemed morose about the financial sunshine. Even though our standard of living is at an all-time high, it seems as if Americans like to grovel and complain. Stein said, in his best Ferris Bueller drone, the American public was the most “unhappy happy society”…

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Sun Capital draining Marsh excess

Sun Capital Partners, Florida-based parent of Marsh Supermarkets, is unloading what it sees as excess real estate. Marsh put
19 properties on the market in late February for a total asking price of $10.6 million.

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Broker wants Lucas Oil to move HQ near airport

Marvin Miller is representing a landowner trying to sell 125 acres just north of Indianapolis International Airport. But Miller
wants him to give away some of the property to persuade California-based Lucas Oil to move its headquarters there, jump-starting
the stagnant area in the process.

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Lilly vacating 99,000 square feet in 30 S. Meridian building

Eli Lilly and Co. has decided to vacate 99,000 square feet of office space at 30 S. Meridian St. in yet another blow to the
struggling downtown market. Roughly 1.8 million square feet of space already is sitting idle downtown, putting downward pressure
on rents.

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: How consumers respond when paper profits vanish

Most market sages know it already, but there is always a new generation of investors that needs to relearn the lesson taught by this latest financial market volatility. Namely, that paper wealth is subject to change. Turning your financial wealth into something else of value-like a house, or a car, or even a bond-always contains an element of uncertainty. If you want to take it literally, more than a trillion dollars of wealth was wiped out in the first five…

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INVESTING: Market’s in decent shape, so don’t be too cautious

I love summer. Especially June, when you know you have months of great weather left. Of course, there always are people who complain. There is always the possibility of a few bad storms now and again, but with a slight perspective on the calendar, you know how much time you have left before the cold. Too bad the stock market is not like the seasons. But in a way, it can be looked at from a weatherman’s perspective. His record…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Duke Realty hits groove; stock rings up big returns

T h e m a n a g e – ment team at Duke Realty Corp. is proving itself adept at juggling these days. The Indianapolis-based industrial, office and retail developer wowed Wall Street with a 25-percent increase in fourth-quarter funds from operations, a key measure of performance for Duke and other real estate investment trusts. The company received a lift, in part, from a spate of property sales. But the solid results weren’t an aberration for the relatively low-profile…

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Meridian Street landmark gets new life

Buckingham Cos., the Indianapolis-based owner/manager of more than 60 apartment complexes in five states, has broadened its
development sphere to include three square blocks of downtown real estate.

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Guidelines target design of downtown development: New rules will protect urban character, supporters say

Downtown developments soon will come under extra scrutiny, once new design guidelines are approved in the spring. Known as Urban Design Indianapolis, the process of developing the criteria fell on the shoulders of several groups: the Department of Metropolitan Development, Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, Ball State University’s architectural school and the Urban Design Oversight Committee. The intent is not to mandate to developers that their buildings meet certain design standards, but rather that the cosmetics coalesce with the existing…

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Condo project sparks interest in Fletcher Place: Property values rising as Villaggio takes shape

Revitalization efforts had been plodding along for years in the triangleshaped historic neighborhood known as Fletcher Place. The slower pace of development gave the neighborhood just southeast of downtown a lower profile than places like Chatham Arch and Lockerbie Square. But Fletcher Place is under the radar no more, thanks to a massive eight-story condo project known as Villaggio at Page Pointe. The 64-unit building-now the neighborhood’s tallest structure-looks like it could be in Florida, except its panoramic views capitalize…

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Biz parks looking to regain cachet: Once-hot office spots Keystone, Precedent face more competition, see occupancy slip

The new owners of Keystone at the Crossing and Precedent Office Park-two prominent, but aging, business parks on the city’s north side-are undertaking major projects to stay competitive amid a rising glut of office space. Both office complexes became popular corporate addresses after their development in the 1980s and enjoyed near-maximum occupancy throughout much of their history. But vacancy rates at the high-profile parks have begun to climb in recent years. Indianapolis-based commercial real estate investment manager HDG Mansur, on…

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