Each Wednesday, The Wrap presents a compilation of recent noteworthy commercial real estate stories from a variety of publications. Here are five stories that caught our eyes in recent days:

In its bankruptcy filing, Grubb & Ellis listed $150 million in assets and $167 million in debts.

“We are confident this will be a seamless transition for our clients and that becoming part of BGC is an extremely attractive opportunity for our brokerage professionals and employees,” said Thomas P. D’Arcy, CEO of Grubb & Ellis, in a statement.

• “Banks Face Crisis in Bungled Commercial Mortgages” – By Constantine von Hoffman for CBSNews.com. A new report by Harbinger Analytics Group warns the “nation's banks are looking at a robo-signing problem with commercial real estate [that] may dwarf the one for home mortgages,” von Hoffman writes.

Many analysts say 2012 could be a record year for commercial real estate loan defaults but banks could be hampered in their foreclosure attempts by the “widespread use of inaccurate, fraudulent documents for land title underwriting of commercial real estate financing,” von Hoffman says.

• “Will Rollover Risk Sink the Office Recovery in 2012?” – By Victor Calanog, contributing columnist for National Real Estate Investor. The office market has shown some signs of improvement recently – the national vacancy rate dropped by 30 basis points last year – but lots of five-year rents signed in 2007 are coming due this year and that could spell trouble for some areas, Calanog says. Specifically, with effective rents still far from their 2007 levels, many office properties could be looking at a serious dip in revenue.

“The sky isn’t about to fall for office properties around the nation … ,” Calanog writes. “Still, some properties that have large tenants will find it challenging to renew leases at rent levels signed prior to the downturn.”

• “Commercial Real Estate Has and Will Outperform Other Asset Classes” – By Natalie Dolce of GlobeSt.com. Given the ever-present fluctuations in the stock market and dissatisfaction with bond returns, institutional investors continue to seek a safe haven in commercial real estate, Dolce reports. 2012 should therefore be a busy year for commercial real estate transactions.

“Limited new construction, signs of economic expansion and a low interest rate environment provide compelling justification for long-term aggressive rent growth,” Marc Renard, executive managing director of Cushman & Wakefield of California’s Capital Markets Group, told Dolce. “As a result, 2012 should prove to be an excellent, vintage year for strategic acquisitions.”

• “Generation Y Fuels Atlanta Rental Growth Boom” – By Douglas Sams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Two new apartment high-rise properties are in the works for Midtown Atlanta, and the developers of the projects say that 24- to 34-year-olds are a big reason why.

Known as “Generation Y” or “Echo Boomers,” the demographic frowns upon long commutes to work and embraces intown living, Sams writes. Not only that, they simply are not all that jazzed about buying a home.

“Home ownership is no longer the American Dream that it once was,” Mark Stewart, director of investments for Batson Cook Development, told Sams.

You just opened the first WellStreet Urgent Care site. When will you be opening others and where will they be?

By the end of 2012, we will have opened 12 of our urgent care centers. They will be all across the metro Atlanta area. In 2013, we will begin to explore other markets. We will look at secondary markets in Georgia, and we’re also open to looking at other metropolitan areas across the nation.

What is the operating philosophy and strategy of WellStreet?

Urgent care is an impulse decision: someone gets sick or gets injured – maybe Johnny breaks his leg sliding into second base – and all of a sudden you’re faced with, “Where do we go? What do we do?”

We want to be the brand that is people’s first thought in those situations. By locating in Class A real estate – properties that have high visibility and high traffic counts – we create a high profile in our communities and will be top of mind when those times come. We want to create an easy option and provide patients with the path of least resistance.

Once they are there, we will provide clinical care that is second to none. Our facilities foster an environment of care. They feature wide hallways, warm colors, spacious waiting rooms, coffee and tea. In an environment like this, patients feel more comfortable, and it becomes easier for them to talk with our doctors and to tell them more information, which in turns helps our physicians.

To ensure the best quality of care, we hire the best talent and put them through a 66-hour urgent-care training program.

You have long been at the forefront of improving the quality of urgent care throughout the country. Fill our readers in on your medical career and your background on the issue of urgent care.

I am board-certified in family medicine and an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. I have spent the past decade in various urgent-care leadership roles.

I’m the founder and president of the Institute of Urgent Care Medicine, which specializes in the development of continuing education programs for urgent-care medicine. I’m also a founding board member and the past president of the Urgent Care Association of America.

Additionally, I’m a founding board member of both the Urgent Care College of Physicians and the Urgent Care Foundation, and I serve as the editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine.

How do you enjoy spending your time when you’re not working?

When am I not working? (laughs) I really enjoy traveling with my family. My wife Stephanie and I have two children: a 13-year-old daughter named Paige and an 11-year-old son named Ian.

I’ve had speaking engagements all over the world, and I’ve usually been able to take my family with me, which has provided us with some wonderful opportunities to be together and experience places like New Zealand and Ireland. It’s been a lot of fun. 

Each Wednesday, The Wrap presents a compilation of recent noteworthy commercial real estate stories from a variety of publications. Here are five stories that caught our eyes in recent days:

• “Less Building Now, Higher Office Rents Later” – By Eliot Brown of The Wall Street Journal. A paucity of new office development – only 56 million square feet of construction began last year, the lowest in at least 50 years – is paving the way for a much-anticipated rise in office rents, Brown reports.

Gateway markets like San Francisco and New York – where demand is likely to jump quickly if the economic recovery picks up – would be the most likely areas to see rents increase, whereas cities harder hit by vacancies, such as Las Vegas and Atlanta, would probably take longer to experience rent growth.

• “Retail Sales Rebound as Consumers Step Up Spending” – By Christopher S. Rugaber of The Associated Press. Retail sales increased by 0.4 percent in January when compared with the month before, a positive sign after a sluggish holiday season, Rugaber reports.

“The positive data suggest that hiring gains have boosted confidence and are encouraging more people to spend,” he writes.

Pierre Ellis, an economist at Decision Economics told Rugaber, “The good news is that the strong January gain establishes that the consumer trend is not folding.”

• “National Industrial Vacancy Continues Steady Decline” – By Jacqueline Hlavenka of GlobeSt.com. The national industrial real estate market experienced a noticeable uptick in its fundamentals last year, this article reports. The vacancy rate dropped from 10.8 percent to 10.1 percent over the course of 2011, and 417 million square feet of industrial leasing was completed last year, a 20 percent increase from 2010.  

Speaking about about the vacancy rate decline, Jim Dieter of Cushman & Wakefield told Hlavenka, “It’s pretty dramatic. That doesn’t sound like much, but the [size of the market] is around 12 billion square feet. When you have a drop in vacancy rates of almost 1 percent, you can see that’s pretty dramatic.”

• “MBA Attendees Expect Continued Growth in 2012” – By David Bodamer of National Real Estate Investor. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is projecting commercial and multifamily mortgage originations to reach $230 billion – which would be an increase of 17 percent from last year’s total. By 2015, the figure should climb to $290 billion.

“We’re in a period of stability,” Tom Fish, executive managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Americas Real Estate Investment Banking division, told Bodamer. “Everyone is talking about increasing volume. Barring a major dislocation in capital markets, it should be a strong year.”

• “Construction Lenders Advise Caution on Apartment Construction Front” – By Liz Burlingame of ReBusinessOnline.com. The multifamily sector has been perhaps the only segment of commercial real estate to perform well during the Great Recession, but lenders warned during a recent panel discussion that the industry could be on the verge of becoming overbuilt, at least in certain markets.

Speaking at the MBA’s commercial/multifamily finance conference in Atlanta, Marc McAndrew of PNC Real Estate said Seattle, Houston and Dallas are markets in danger of having an oversupply problem.

According to Burlingame, fellow panelist Ken Broussard of KeyBank, “said the bank has internally discussed the possibility of too much apartment development and whether it may cause a bubble in the sector.”

“All of our regions are seeing a lot of requests for new construction and financing in multifamily,” Broussard added.

Below are four more positive real estate stats that caught our eyes in recent days:

• The national warehouse vacancy rate declined to 9.6 percent in fourth-quarter 2011, a decrease of 24 basis points from its third-quarter mark and an almost 80-basis-point drop from the same period in 2010, according to CoStar Group. Furthermore, net absorption for the U.S. warehouse sector was a positive 110 million square feet in 2011, the best showing since 2008.  

Still, asking rents for warehouses declined in 122 of the 210 markets tracked by CoStar during the fourth quarter. “Rents aren’t growing yet because the gap remains wide between the vacancy rate and the availability rate,” a CoStar report explained. “The former is based on space that is actually vacant, while availability is based on space being marketed by landlords who are anticipating vacancy. The availability rate remains above 14 percent.”

• Consumer spending for Valentine’s Day is expected to rise this year, which is good news for the nation’s retail sector. The average person celebrating the event will spend $126.03, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). The amount represents an 8.5 percent increase from last year’s $116.21 and is the highest mark in the history of NRF’s decade-old Valentine’s survey.

“As one of the biggest gift-giving holidays of the year, it’s encouraging that consumers are still exhibiting the desire to spend on discretionary gift items, a strong indication our economy continues to move in the right direction,” said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of NRF, in a statement.

• In the National Multi-Housing Council’s (NHMC) most recent quarterly survey of apartment market conditions – conducted at the end of January - the council’s Market Tightness Index rose to 60, up from 52 in October 2011.

NHMC defines a “tight” market as one in which vacancies are low and rents are high. A score above 50 means that apartment markets around the country are getting tighter, while a mark below 50 means that, on the whole, vacancies are increasing and rents are decreasing.

Indices measuring sales volume and the availability of debt and equity financing also showed positive trends.

“In the face of an unprecedented virtual shutdown of development, the apartment market continues its strong recovery as developers play catch-up to the growing demand for rental housing,” said NMHC Chief Economist Mark Obrinsky in a statement. “Investors continue to view apartments as a preferred asset class in today’s environment and long-term demographic changes favor rental housing. However, we expect the pace of improvement in transaction activity to ease somewhat moving into 2012.”

• Rents for prime office space in the world’s major cities increased by 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter when compared to the preceding three months, according to a new report by Jones Lang LaSalle. Even better: the rents for such space were 6 percent higher at the end of 2011 when compared with one year earlier.

“The rental outlook for 2012 has been tempered by ongoing economic uncertainty, although we continue to expect positive rental growth in most major prime office markets – the notable exceptions being Hong Kong and Singapore,” the report said. Beijing, Toronto and San Francisco are expected to perform particularly well in the year ahead and could experience double-digit rent growth, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

An eight-page PDF of the report can be downloaded here.

Today marks the debut of The Wednesday Wrap, a new weekly feature of the Hartman Simons Commercial Real Estate Blog. The Wrap will present a compilation of recent noteworthy commercial real estate stories from a variety of publications.

Today’s installment will focus exclusively on what was a historic day in Atlanta commercial real estate history. Yesterday, the 55-story Bank of America Plaza, the tallest building in the Southeast, was sold for $235 million at a foreclosure auction to LNR Partners, which held the note on the property. The price represented a breathtaking drop from the $436 million that BentleyForbes paid for the tower in 2006.

Our attorneys featured prominently in the abundant media coverage of the landmark transaction, and we enjoyed sharing our knowledge and industry perspective with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11 Alive and WSB-TV. Here are a few pieces with different takes on the news:

• “Bank of America Plaza Becomes Atlanta’s Priciest Repo” – By Scott Trubey of the AJC.

This article on the nuts and bolts of the deal included some perspective from Hartman Simons partner Gil Burstiner.

Burstiner told reporter Scott Trubey that “the ordeal will help reset market prices for real estate, and the eventual new owner will likely set rental rates at a new or near the bottom and improve the facilities to lure tenants.”

• “Bank of America Plaza: Why It’s Facing Foreclosure Today” – By Doug Sams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

This piece presents a detailed timeline showing when and how things went wrong for the tower after its purchase by BentleyForbes.

• “American Foreclosure Bottoms at Atlanta Tower Auction” – By Bloomberg Businessweek.

Looking for some broader context on how this deal may be representative of the Atlanta office market? Bloomberg presents sobering perspective, noting, Atlanta is “now squarely in the bust category with the highest rate of late payments for loans on offices bundled into bonds among the largest U.S. metropolitan areas, at 25.3 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's increased from 10.4 percent a year ago and is more than triple the 7 percent national rate.”

• “Bank of America’s Towering Symbol of Foreclosures” – By Dan Freed of The Street.com.

Freed also says the sale is emblematic of Atlanta’s woes during the Great Recession. He writes, “What may also be seen as fitting is that Bank of America is not the biggest loser in this story. That misfortune may go to the city of Atlanta, which was booming just a few years ago and is now one of the cities hardest hit by the crisis. Atlanta recently saw home prices hit a 13-year low and received the second-lowest ranking among 20 cities tracked in the Case-Shiller home price index - second only to Detroit.”

In only two days, seemingly the entire nation will gather in front of television sets for Super Bowl XLVI. With all of the talk about the mega-budget commercials, the halftime show and preparing the perfect chicken wings for the perfect watching party, it’s sometimes easy to forget there’s an actual game to be played.

This year’s contest pits Tom Brady and the New England Patriots against Eli Manning and the New York Giants. It’s a rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl, in which the Giants upset an undefeated Patriots team 17-14.

Vegas again has the Patriots as the favorite, but we decided to turn to five of our firm’s biggest sports fans to get their take on Sunday’s showdown. As you will see, some of them aren’t afraid to go against the grain.

*(Yes, this feature is usually called “Four on Friday,” but in honor of the big game, we’re bending the rules a bit and giving you five predictions.)

Just more than four years ago, the Dunwoody, Ga.-based World Chamber of Commerce (WCC) didn’t exist. Tonight, it’s hosting an impressive and sold-out “International Hero Awards and Networking Event” at the Woodruff Arts Center, with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young slated to appear. Hartman Simons partner Andy Litvak will be among the attendees.

We chatted with Solange Warner, founder of WCC, about the growing organization’s mission and tonight’s event. Here are a few highlights from that conversation:

HS: Tell us a little bit about the history of the World Chamber of Commerce (WCC). When did you found it, and for what purposes did you create it?

Warner: I founded the organization in 2008 to promote international trade in general as well as Atlanta’s and Georgia’s presence in international business. The organization also seeks to promote cultural and humanitarian issues on a global scale. For instance, in addition to helping members reach out to lucrative global business markets, we have promoted awareness of the human trafficking problem and undertaken efforts to provide assistance and relief to victims of the massive earthquakes that struck Haiti and Chile a couple of years ago.

WCC seeks to unify countries through common financial, cultural and humanitarian goals.

HS: What are the benefits of membership in WCC?

Warner: First of all, we help members establish new connections in international business. Members have many opportunities to meet with visiting dignitaries, members of the Consular Corps and international trade commissioners.

Our members also have access to mentor programs, networking and educational seminars. Over the years, our members have had opportunities to learn about topics ranging from what to expect from Georgia’s ports in the coming years to finding international opportunities in a tight economy to the problem of human trafficking. 

HS: Tonight, you are holding your annual membership meeting and awards event at the Woodruff Arts Center. What’s on tonight’s schedule?

We will hold elections for our new board of directors, its chairman and the new WCC president. Our candidates include three state senators, the mayor of Auburn, Ga., the consul general of the United Kingdom, the consul of Lithuania, and Charles Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela. It’s an impressive group.

We will also be honoring various dignitaries for their efforts in international trade and relations, including Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, whom we will be presenting with the Special International Hero Award. Civil rights icon and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, who also served as an ambassador to the United Nations and is currently the honorary chairman of WCC’s Board of Directors, will present Reed with his award, and he will also present awards to Alvaro Uribe, former President of Colombia, and others.

The evening also will include silent auctions for first-class Delta tickets for international travel, as well as Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chastain Park Amphitheater tickets. The festivities will conclude with a concert by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall.

HS: You obviously devote a good portion of your time to WCC matters. Tell us about the other facets of your career.

Warner: I’m the CEO, president and founder of Ashton International, which provides in-depth international trade consulting services. The U.S. Department of Commerce recently recognized Ashton for its work in exports.

I have more than 20 years of experience in international markets and previously worked as a senior manager of multinational accounts for American Express for seven years. I have managed Fortune 500 multinational corporations.

I also host and produce the “Global Matters” television show on Comcast Channel 25. The show promotes WCC initiatives.

I was born in Chile and have traveled extensively in more than 50 countries, so I truly am passionate about international issues.

By Andy Litvak, Hartmans Simons partner

Note: This post originally appeared on the Atlanta Business Chronicle's Real Talk blog.

The last several years have proven to be an extremely volatile period for investors and owners of commercial real estate properties.

While real estate investment has never been for the faint of heart, thoroughly vetted and calculated investment strategies have typically proven to produce strong yields (irrespective of asset class). Given the nature of these tumultuous times, I have observed many of my clients gravitate toward far ends of the investment spectrum.

By way of example, many have employed a "carpe diem" attitude and have attempted to seize the day by capturing perceived home run opportunities and returns in the distressed property arena. These distressed asset strategies have been the topic of much discussion of late, and there are certainly no shortage of hungry investors seeking to acquire REO or so-called "value" add properties, purchase notes at significant discounts or otherwise eager to recapitalize underfunded partnerships by injecting fresh equity.

On the other side of the spectrum, however, there are legions of investors seeking stable properties which produce consistent, low risk dividends. Many of these buyers are institutional players (REITS, life companies and pension funds), and their individual investors and annuitants are craving "coupon-clipper" deals producing reliable and consistent income streams. Along these lines, net-leased properties with corporate or other high credit tenants and grocery anchored retail centers have proven to be very attractive.

The strong demand for these stable properties has resulted in bidding wars and cap rate compression. Although, perhaps the new leading contenders in this category are "MOB's" - medical office buildings.

Long before the current real estate downturn, MOB's were viewed as recession resistant properties. The strength and credit of the physician practice group tenants, historically low turnover and consistent patient base requiring medical services lends to an inherently strong degree of stability. Now, fast forward and infuse equal doses of the ever-evolving world of health care legislation reform, new trends in practice group and hospital consolidation and other anticipated changes in health care delivery models — and you have all the ingredients to attract major interest in MOB investment by sophisticated investors.

Many professionals in the medical real estate community are predicting increased growth by the larger health care systems. As the big systems get bigger, the "on-campus" MOB's adjacent to the hospitals are destined to become more integrated within the overall operation of the hospitals.

For that reason, many hospitals are continuing to acquire physician practice groups who can see patients in close proximity to the hospital. In many cases, these practices also generate bed nights for the hospital. From a real estate investment standpoint, direct hospital "sponsorship" in a privately owned MOB is an extremely attractive feature.

It is also noteworthy that on-campus is not the only place to be these days. "Destination" MOB's are continuing to sprout-up in suburban areas, which effectively allow for ambulatory and other outpatient services to be conveniently delivered close to patients' homes. Developers and doctors alike are very in tune to creating a favorable "patient experience". Convenience is a key component, and it's certainly a benefit to the soccer moms if they do not have to drive downtown in their minivans to the campus based health system.

The bottom line is that there are currently many factors in play in the medical real estate development and investment world.

Hospitals have always been capital intensive operations and MOB development has likewise always been a strategic proposition. Growth has been, and will continue to be, carefully tailored to the key drivers and sources of health care services: physicians and the ultimate recipients (patients). Much uncertainty remains in this evolving healthcare landscape.

MOB owners and investors must maintain flexibility, as doctors continue to seek reduced occupancy costs and large up front economic leasing packages. Nonetheless, these are exciting times for all those involved in medical oriented commercial real estate. As has always been the case, it's best to follow your doctor's orders: these days, you would be well advised to listen very carefully to your doctor as to what lies ahead.

Irwin is vice president, development, at Green Street Properties – a Hartman Simons client – and is leading the effort to redevelop the property. Green Street is a subsidiary of Jamestown Properties, which recently purchased the building from the city of Atlanta. We recently caught up with Irwin and asked – you guessed it – four questions about his firm, its projects and his hobbies.

HS: Your most high-profile project in Atlanta is the Ponce City Market project. What’s the current timeline for development of the facility, and how will the space be divided up when it’s finished? 

Irwin: We are slated to open in the spring of 2014. Construction began last October. The first phase has largely been one of demolition, and will last a total of about six months. We will begin demolishing the old parking deck by the beginning of February.

We are not removing any historic structures, but there are a lot of layers to remove to get to the original structure.

These are rough numbers at this point, but the final building will have about 300,000 square feet of retail, 400,000 square feet of Class-A office space and 200 apartments, and maybe a boutique hotel.  All under one roof.

There’s really no other project like it in the market. There’s a dearth of loft Class-A office space in Atlanta. The building still has the original hardwood floors from the 1920s and all the associated character, but will be combined with all of the modern conveniences of a new office building.

HS: Explain Green Street’s development philosophy. Is the Ponce City Market project indicative of the kind of projects your firm undertakes? 

Irwin: It is. We focus on urban infill projects located in historic, character-driven buildings. Another recent example in Atlanta is the Westside Provision District, a 110,000-square-foot, mixed-use project that we developed out of an old meatpacking plant on Atlanta’s West Side. The development features retail, fine dining and high-end residential units. 

Also, sustainability is a fundamental part of what we do. Our development projects are part of the live-work-play movement, and our consulting team offers a range of LEED, Energy Star and overall energy efficiency services for both new and existing buildings.

Ponce City Market’s proximity to the Beltline is huge for the project and is an example of the way that our projects incorporate accessibility to rail, biking trails, etc.

HS: What demographics are most responsive to your projects?

Irwin: They particularly resonate with the “creative class.” But we’re finding companies of all stripes are interested in office space in these live-work-play environments. They are becoming very savvy about employee satisfaction and retention, and they know that their employees want to be in authentic places, buildings that have a lot of character and are unique.

People – whether it’s residents, office workers, shoppers – they want to be in places that aren’t sterile.

HS: How do you like to spend your free time?

Irwin: I like to spend time with my two sons: Drew, age 2, and James, age 4. I enjoy coaching them in sports. I also enjoy four-season gardening and have been fascinated lately with beekeeping.

The January 2012 issue of Southeast Real Estate Business examines the subject in its cover story, and Hartman Simons partner Lori E. Kilberg (pictured at left) is quoted extensively in the article.

A co-tenancy clause is a lease provision that gives a shopping-center tenant some sort of protection – perhaps reduced rent or the option to terminate its lease – if one of the center’s key tenants vacates its space. A retailer often selects a shopping center because it anticipates spillover traffic from a high-profile co-tenant. 

The brutal economic climate of the past few years has brought co-tenancy provisions to the forefront of retail lease negotiations: tenants, skittish about the financial well-being of their neighbors, want them more than ever, while property owners, desperate to hang on to other revenue streams in the event that an important tenant goes belly up, are more reluctant than ever to grant them.

“Landlords have seen what has happened with co-tenancies and centers emptying out because of the domino effect of a couple tenants leaving,” Kilberg told Southeast Real Estate Business.

A co-tenancy provision usually gives a property owner a certain amount of time to find a qualified replacement before another tenant’s relief takes effect. However, when it comes to replacing a Borders or a Circuit City, “the problem is, how many big-box tenants are still around to take those places?” Kilberg said in the article. “Depending on how stringent the qualified replacement tenant definition is, landlords can be really hard-pressed to find qualified tenants to take that space.”

For more from Kilberg and other experts on the subject, read “Clause and Effect: Co-Tenancy Provisions Pit Landlords against Retailers.”