Brief Description: This article was written following the “overheating” of the property market in the 1980s and the subsequent downturn in 1989-92. It shows how a knowledge of general economic cycles and how property cycles relate to them, can help Valuers better account for future market conditions when assessing property values, rather than relying solely on past (historical) evidence, projected forward, which serves to magnify the “boom and bust “ of each cycle and deepen the pain of transition from one to the other.

Brief Description: This article laid the foundation for the definition of ‘current market rent’ that was adopted in 2000 by the International Valuation Standards Committee. It explores how critical business ratios in a tenant’s business – including occupancy cost, revenue, gross profit and profit – can be used to understand what level of rent might be appropriate for each tenancy. It also explains how this understanding can improve the accuracy of market valuations and enhance the relationship between shopping centre tenants and their landlords.

Brief Description: This 30-page document is an absolute “must have” for any Tenant who is negotiating a retail lease. It is designed to help you overcome the substantial negotiation and information disadvantage that ordinary SME business people face when dealing with most large retail Landlords/Lessors.

The document provides practical information in the form of a typical Landlord ‘Lease Offer’ with recommended responses and detailed explanations as to why each item is important. It also provides definitions of key lease terms and terminology and sample letters that you can use to communicate with your Landlord to ensure that you get the best possible result, even if that means walking away from a lease offer and keeping your valuable capital intact.

Brief Description: Updates and reviews the status of the retail property industry, including the valuation expert’s role and responsibilities and changes in legislation and case law. Includes detailed information on Australian shopping centre occupancy cost levels, an in-depth discussion of market rent/lease valuation, and an analysis of the risk/reward profiles of both tenants and landlords. It is critical of the rental assessments done by some agency-based Valuerswho work for organisations that also employ retail leasing agents and property management agents, and who therefore have an inherent conflict of interest.

Brief Description: This paper examines the pitfalls and practices of determining ‘current market rent’ and how to avoid errors and omissions during the process. It includes information about initial appointment, acceptance of appointment, terms of engagement, and completion of the determination or valuation assignment. It also demonstrates how leases can add value to, or devalue, a Tenant’s business assets on their Balance Sheet. Won “Best Research Paper” recognition at the conference.

Brief Description: A pragmatic and very detailed analysis of the Shopping Centre Industry in Australia using both “Top Down” and “Bottom Up” analysis techniques. It begins with the evolution and development of the industry and its unique characteristics and evaluates the motivations and behaviour of all of its major players, from retailers and landlords to investors, politicians and professional valuers. Includes Detailed Tables & Graphs.

Brief Description: Post-mortem analysis of the A-REIT collapse weighted towards the retail property sector. Reinforces previous articles and modelling by investigating what causes “asset bubbles” and exploring ways to reduce their magnitude or prevent them from occurring in the future. Includes Detailed Tables & Graphs.

Brief Description: Introduces the “Gilbert Evaluation Method” or GEM MethodTM a step-by-step process used to assess the “value” of an individual lease. The GEM MethodTM is designed to help professional valuers and industry stakeholders to more accurately and consistently determine the ‘current market rent’ for a single lease. It incorporates a unique blend of property economics, business economics and general economics along with accountancy and valuation principles and concepts. Includes Graphs.

Brief Description: Looks at the pre-GFC conditions that prevailed in the Australian Real Estate Investment Trust (A-REIT) sector, including low interest rates and gearing levels, and considers whether or not conditions for some A-REITs are currently the same, if not worse, than they were pre-GFC. Includes modelling/graphs.

Brief Description: This article sets out the basic limitations and pitfalls of assessing retail rents on a “$/M2” basis. It is an extract of Part One of a 3-part series written for publication in journals for valuation professionals. The complete version of Part One will be made available as soon as publication has taken place.

Brief Description: Newspaper headlines are designed to grab your attention (“Queen Street Mall Rents $5,000 Per Square Metre!”) but they are often misleading and sensationalist. This article debunks these headlines and explains the factors that influence variations in rent between one location and another and how some people “lie with statistics”. It also takes to task industry members who should know better than to make these claims.

Brief Description: If you have ever wondered how the practice of assessing rents on a ‘$/M2’ basis came about, this short article is for you. It also includes five real-life examples of how $/M2 rental rates can distort annual rents, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

Brief Description: Since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) there has been a significant reduction in the money supply for the SME sector. Many businesses have failed but Business Capital is very fluid and has sought out and found more efficient ways to distribute goods and services, e.g. via internet-based sales. Property Capital, on the other hand, has found itself with an oversupply of retail space; those landlords not meeting the market are faced with vacancies and no income to cover their property operating expenses.

Brief Description: This article explains what is meant by “structuring a lease” and why it is important. A lease that achieves a balance between the interests of the landlord and those of the tenant adds “value” to the assets of both parties.