Investor Watch: October 16, 2023

RARE EARTH OPERATIONS

Rare earth mineral exploration and mining reaches record-breaking new heights globally.

MID-ATLANTIC

Just ask the great-grandson of Fisher’s Popcorn of Delaware Founder Everett Fisher.

Photo: Getty Images

Coverage of rare earth minerals siting and sourcing issues is not rare in Site Selection’s archives. Ron Starner last year asked, “Can Nevada Become the Lithium Capital of America?” Gary Daughters examined the lithium race in South America. And Mark Arend talked to USA Rare Earth President Thayer Smith about the company’s $100 million investment in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

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Vertical farming is one alternative use that international real estate investors are considering for office space in their portfolios, says a new AFIRE survey.

Photo courtesy of GoodLeaf

AFIRE, the association for international real estate investors focused on commercial property in the United States, last week released its latest International Investor Survey Report, underwritten by Holland Partner Group. “The survey, conducted in late summer 2023, captures the view of global institutional investors on a range of topics,” said the organization, “including a large majority forecasting a decline in office values; a large uptick in office conversions over the next five years (to residential and other purposes); and the notable impact of rising or limited insurance premia affecting investment decisions into certain U.S. regions.

Nine in 10 investors forecast converting existing office properties to residential in the next five years, the survey found. “In addition, survey respondents believe that more than a third of office assets within their U.S. portfolios will require upgrading to meet future occupancy demands for enhanced health, sustainability, and work style amenities. Investors are also increasingly considering a variety of office transitions to other uses, including industrial storage/data center (72%), hospitality/leisure (69%), and vertical farming (33%).”

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Photo by Tom Arban courtesy of Figurr Architects Collective

Caivan and subsidiary Advanced Building Innovation Company have moved into this new headquarters and manufacturing plant located on the site of an old quarry in Barrhaven, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario. A release from Figurr Architects Collective explains that the 50,000-sq.-ft. office is the second phase of a multi-phase construction project that began with a 100,000-sq.-ft. “fast-tracked fabrication facility that houses innovative robotic fabrication systems” that build prefabricated residential home panels for Caivan’s home-building business. The site’s “town hall atrium” links sales, a design center, fabrication and administration.