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2008
Sharper Image seeks bankruptcy protection
Sharper Image Corp., the iconic San Francisco retail chain known for selling R2-D2 interactive droids, vacuuming robots and air purifiers, has filed for bankruptcy protection, the nadir of a long descent sparked by a critical review of its hottest product. The company was a consumer phenomenon in its heyday. Customers would excitedly scan the latest Sharper Image catalog for the newest gee-whiz gizmos or flock to its stylized stores to test and tinker with thousand-dollar massage chairs or hundred-dollar headphones. The company's Ionic Breeze air purifier products, which promised a healthier atmosphere in one's home, all but jumped off shelves. But it was those same purifiers that led to the company's undoing...
...The slowing economy and growing fears of a recession are [also] contributing to Sharper Image's woes, as shoppers become increasingly cost conscious, said Nina Gruen, executive vice president and co-founder of San Francisco research firm Gruen Gruen + Associates. "They're not going out and spending frivolously right now," she said. "Impulse today is gasoline. They're not about to buy Sharper Image."
Excerpt From:
Justin Temple
San Francisco Chronicle
February 21, 2008
2008
Rebates: To spend, or not to spend?
Retailers saw dollar signs flash before their eyes when President Bush this week signed the economic stimulus package that will provide tax rebate checks of up to $600 for individuals.
No one is sure, however, whether consumers will put their cash in the bank or run to stores when the checks start arriving later this year...
...As far as merchants go, retail consultant Nina Gruen of San Francisco-based Gruen Gruen + Associates said that low-end and high-end shops will see the most benefit. "If people are very nervous about the economy when they get their rebates, then they will do what they did with gift cards after the holidays. They bought very basic commodities," she said.
Excerpt From:
Blanca Torres
Contra Costa Times
February 15, 2008
2007
The Real Estate Capital Scoreboard - December 2007
Chicago, Illinois – December 3, 2007 - ... Aaron Gruen, member of The Real Estate Capital Institute® Editorial Advisory Board comments, "The re-found recognition and re-pricing of risk will in the long run be healthy for market participants. In the short run, the heightened sensitivity to risk means borrowers will need to show the assumptions (fundamentals) underlying the transactions have a basis in the relevant space markets and can withstand predictable potential changes in market and operating conditions.” He adds, “As the de-leveraging process proceeds and markets become less volatile probably in the first half of 2008, additional liquidity and competition will return to the lending market."
Webwire
The Real Estate Capital Institute
December 3, 2007
Panel to Help Pave Way for Illinois 47 Project
An economic development advisory panel agreed Thursday to help Kane County officials obtain state funding for a tollway interchange project in northwest suburban Huntley.
A tentative construction deal is being negotiated with the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, Kane County and the other local governments affected by the proposed interchange improvement at Interstate Highway 90 and Illinois Highway 47, said Phil Bus, executive director of the Kane County Development and Resource Management Department. Under the plan, Kane and those governments would be responsible for reimbursing the authority for about half of the $64 million estimated construction cost, Bus said.
He said Kane officials are looking to the area's state legislative delegation, via the still-pending state capital budget, to help secure half the $32 million in matching funds needed for the project.
Bus received assurance from members of the Kane County Economic Development Advisory Board that they would join in the effort to lobby local legislators.
The I-90 interchange with Illinois 47 is one of three proposed access improvements included in Kane's "Troika Interchange Project," including I-90 at Brier Hill Road and I-90 and U.S. Highway 20, in Hampshire.
In a preview Thursday of three improved I-90 interchanges at Brier Hill, Illinois 47 and U.S. 20, consultant Aaron Gruen, of Gruen Gruen & Associates, of Deerfield told Kane advisory board members that enhancements could mean thousands more jobs and several hundred million additional dollars in labor income for the corridor. A draft of the paper based on Gruen's study is expected to be released in mid-December, said Chris Aiston, Kane's economic development director.
William Presecky
Chicago Tribune
November 9, 2007
Gap's Fisher's Proposal Would Add to S.F.'s Museum Galaxy
Donald Fisher's proposed contemporary art museum in the Presidio would add a bright star to San Francisco's growing and eclectic collection of museums - from the recently rebuilt M.H. de Young Memorial Museum to the new, scrappy Beat Museum in North Beach and everything in between. The city's museums have seen a raft of expansions, renovations and startups in the past decade and the investment in them is showing no sign of slowing.
It's paying off, say some observers who note that the expanding network of museums is replacing the more traditional venues that draw visitors to San Francisco. "San Francisco's museums have become its really strong icons," said Celeste DeWald, executive director of the California Association of Museums. "The museums have become a part of the personality of the city.... When people think of San Francisco, they think of the Golden Gate Bridge and the museums."
Fisher's museum could be one of the biggest attractions when it opens, perhaps in three years. Among the city's more than 60 museums, Fisher's proposal would be as unique as it is impressive.
"Adding the Fisher collection is on a very different scale than anything else; it's one of the best contemporary art collections in America," said Nina Gruen, an urban economic, real estate and marketing consultant, who studies museums' economic impact on cities.
Gruen said that while all of San Francisco's cultural facilities make unique and important contributions to the city, people will travel long distances and stay overnight to see something like the Fisher collection. Compared to other San Francisco museums, Fisher's would have a different personality.
Robert Selna
Excerpt from the San Francisco Chronicle
August 9, 2007
Antioch Big-Box Store Faces Hurdles
The developers of Antioch Marketplace, a proposed retail development that could bring Target, Lowe's and Kohl's to 75 acres on Route 173, have more steps to take before the 600,000-square-foot shopping center becomes reality.
The retail development is proposed by Antioch BB LLC, a group made up of a dozen companies formed by Chicago developer V-Land Corp. Recommended for approval by the combined planning and zoning board, the property will have to be annexed and rezoned before the village board takes final action. The developers had wanted to break ground this year and open the majority of the stores by spring or summer of 2009. Target, Lowe's and Kohl's are all signed tenants.
The development will also include Staples, Pet Smart and Shoe Carnival. "We have commitments for 75 percent of the space. That's phenomenal and reflects a pent up demand by retailers for a development like this," said development partner Andy Goodman. Goodman said the development will have huge economic benefits. The projected sales tax revenue three years after build out is $1.5 million to the village, and property tax revenue that goes primarily to the school districts will top $1.8 million.
Economist Aaron Gruen interviewed downtown merchants and prepared a report that predicts Antioch Marketplace will positively impact downtown Antioch if shoppers are directed to the downtown area. "Downtown specializes in eating, drinking and specialty items and shoppers from Antioch Marketplace will be attracted to that." He explained that the new development would draw shoppers and diners from other communities. It will also keep Antioch shoppers in Antioch, he said.
Diana Kuyper
The Chicago Sun Times
August 2, 2007
Our View: 'Old' is Not Always 'Historic'
HAVERHILL, MA - Haverhill, in the middle of a downtown renaissance, needs to take care not to confuse "old" with "historic". The city's Historic Commission is seeking a demolition delay ordinance that would make developers wait one year before demolishing a building deemed historic. During that time, the city would work with developers to see if they could find alternatives that would preserve the building. The City Council, which must approve the ordinance, has sent it to the Planning Board for review.
The ordinance contains no clear definition of what constitutes a "historic" building. It says only that the building must have economic, social, political or religious importance or have architectural significance. That's a broad enough definition to cover virtually any building preservationists deem fit...a structure even just a few years old could conveivably qualify.
Historic Commission members who advocate for the ordinance say they have no intention of stunting development in Haverhill. There is never such an intention behind these ordinances, but that is often the result.
Urban economist Aaron Gruen, who wrote the city's master plan for revitalizing the downtown, noted in a report that healthy cities maintain useful buildings while replacing obsolete structure - that is, a balance between the old and new is needed. Cities stagnate when "places are treated like historical museums," he said. Haverhill, under the leadership of Mayor James Fiorentini, is trying to attract investors to convert long empty mill buildings into shops and condominiums. The plan is showing some success and is key to developing new tax revenues.
Shawn Regan
The Eagle Tribune
August 2, 2007
Officials: DuPage Airport a Growth Engine
More than 20 years ago the DuPage Airport Authority's decision to purchase surrounding land sparked controversy. Some said the spending was unnecessary and excessive, but the airport, nevertheless, grew from 900 acres in 1985 to 2,800 acres by 1992. Airport officials now say the advanced planning paid off.
"The long-range planning in the 1980s led to the airport being well-positioned," said Michael Masciola, the DuPage Airport Authority's director of business and marketing. The airport sits on DuPage County's far western border near St. Charles in Kane County and wraps around the Pheasant Run Resort, located at the southeast corner of North Avenue and Kautz Road.
A 2006 economic and fiscal study projected that by the year 2011, the airport will generate $1.1 billion in economic activity for DuPage County's economy and $1.6 billion for surrounding counties such as Kane, Will, Cook, Lake and McHenry. Although DuPage Airport is adjacent to the city of St. Charles in Kane County, residents in Kane pay no property taxes for the airport, according to Masciola. By 2011, about 8,960 jobs are expected with 4,580 of those directly attributable to the airport such as pilots, mechanics, and other related aviation jobs, in addition to the jobs located at the airport's technology park.
The airport's 2800 acres (four and a half square miles), include 1,200 acres for the airfield itself. In 2006, the airport, a technology park and the 18-hole Prairie Landings Golf Course created $373 million in local spending and generated 2,960 jobs, according to the study commissioned by the airport authority. "Airports alter the actual economic bases of regions," said Aaron Gruen, a principal with Gruen Gruen + Associates, the firm that conducted the economic and fiscal study. "The fact that senior executives can get easily on their jets is one reason that they're still here," said Gruen.
Ashley Saluga
The Doings Hinsdale
June 28, 2007
The Plan to 'Brand' Downtown
HAVERHILL, MA - With 200 new downtown homes already occupied and hundreds more in the pipeline, planners are now looking to add to the city center more retail stores, restaurants and professional offices for all the new and future residents.
The official blueprint for the area's burgeoning revitalization will be presented to the public for the first time Wednesday by urban planning expert Aaron Gruen of Chicago and Mayor James Fiorentini's downtown task force.
"We want to hear from people who live, work and own businesses in the Downtown," said Economic Development Director William Pillsbury, who served as chairman of the mayor's task force. Pillsbury said the master plan is the start of the revitalization process and that the intention is to use it to attract and recruit specific kinds of businesses, such as book stores, clothing and shoe botiques, and specialty groceries and restaurants.
"The report looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the downtown, the supply in terms of what's already there and the demand for new services we believe the new residences are going to create," Pillsbury said. "The idea behind the plan is to create a new 'brand' for downtown as a lively place to visit, shop and eat".
Shawn Regan
The Eagle Tribunte
June 27, 2007
Man With the Plan Hired by Haverhill
HAVERHILL, MA - An expert on downtown revitalization is arriving from Chicago this week, and for $50,000 is going to create a master plan with a goal of making the city's center flourish. Aaron Gruen of Illinois was hired by Mayor James Florentini using $50,000 in private donations, some coming from developers building condos downtown. Florentini wants Gruen to provide answers to how Haverhill will finish the revitalization of downtown - which the mayor has called 'a renaissance'.
Millions of dollars have been invested downtown in private investment, from restaurants to new condominiums. A massive 450-spot parking garage is in the works, as well as plans for a boardwalk to tie Washington and Merrimack streets to the Merrimack River waterfront.
Gruen will provide retail suggestions and zoning-law proposals that attract development, among other tips, the mayor said. Gruen has worked on about 250 master plans in his career. He graduated from the University of Chicago and has a law degree from DePaul University.
The mayor said local consultants were interviewed, but Gruen won out. "We were just very impressed with this man," Fiorentini said.
Jason Tait
The Eagle Tribunte
April 9, 2007
The Real Estate Capital Scoredboard
Aaron Gruen, an Advisory Board Member of the Real Estate Capital Institute notes "Given the compression in cap rates is unlikely to continue, income growth will matter more for investors to achieve desired returns. Selecting markets with favorable demand-supply conditions and assets with potential for increase in income is increasingly important."
He adds, "San Francisco and Silicon Valley are examples of markets where employment and space demand increases are translating into increased occupancies and rents."
The Real Estate Capital Institute
March 2007
The Art of The Deal, With Strings Attached
Artist and newly minted developer Jonathon Keats sparked the new real estate boom by applying the string theory model of physics, which asserts that all matter is made up of vibrating strings, to the development business. A key component to string theory is that there are six or seven additional dimensions beyond the three dimensions of space...the result: a vast amount of space in these extra dimensions that, theoretically speaking, could be the foundation for a new wave of speculative development.
Turning string theory into a real estate opportunity, Keats tied up the rights to the extra dimensions above six San Francisco Bay Area properties...within the first three hours, 32 buyers ranging from art dealers and curators to business executives and lawyers plunked down a total of $410.51 for 172 lots.
Among the buyers were Nina and Claude Gruen, co-founders of San Francisco-based Gruen Gruen + Associates, a real estate consulting firm that specializes in urban economics, market strategy and land use/public policy analysis. Moreover, the couple was among the property owners who originally sold their extra dimensions to Keats. As Nina J. Gruen, the firm's principal sociologist tells it, several months ago the artist came over and said he wanted to buy the sixth and above dimensions of the Gruen's building on Howard Street in San Francisco.
"It's just a spoof of the real estate market.", Gruen said. "The three dimensions we all know about, which are height, width and [depth], those didn't count, so basically I was quite willing to sell the dimensions above six."
Keats paid $8 plus change for those higher dimensions. But Gruen, an avid art collector, said she would never cash the check because its real value is as an art piece. In line with that, the Gruens bought back a small percent of their dimensions at Keats' opening. Of course, the Gruens' developer clients are more accustomed to dealing with the lower dimensions. What would they make of all this?
"I think they'd think it's funny, if they understood conceptual art", Gruen replied.
Julie Nakashima
California Real Estate Journal
February 2007
Beyond Zoning
Replacing zoning means offering something better in its place, such as state, county, or municipal comprehensive plans. But as economist and attorney Aaron Gruen of Gruen Gruen + Associates in Deerfield, Ill., points out, those plans can go wrong if they're based on opinion and not hard research.
"Everywhere we work, between Chicago and Southern California," he says, "we've seen a tendency for comprehensive plans to be based on individual rather than community-wide concerns."
Gruen notes that simply replacing zoning with a comprehensive plan many not improve the environment for construcion, unless builder incentives are part of the picture.
"In many cases, the builder faces the same obstacles working on an infill site as he does on a greenfield," Gruen says. "But if your plan permits four-story homes instead of three on the infill site, all of a sudden the numbers work."
"Another thing that's not done enough is to give people trade-offs when developing the comprehensive plan rather than visual preference surveys," Gruen adds. "Most planners show a picture of Paris, then a weed-strewn field, and ask which type of place people like best."
Offering various trade-offs as part of the comprehensive plan, by contrast, lowers expectations, he says, and makes projects far more likely to get off the ground.
Matthew Power
Housing Giants
February 2007
DuPage Airport Authority Board Chairman Says Report a 'Milestone'
WEST CHICAGO - A study released Monday said that the DuPage Airport Authority would have a projected $1.63-billion impact on the metropolitan area's economy in 2011, compared to the 2006 figure of $373 million. The airport and its facilities - including the new DuPage National Technology Park and Prairie Landing Golf Course - also are expected to increase the area's employment by 5,910, said consultants Gruen Gruen + Associates and the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory of the University of Illinois in the report.
[Gruen Gruen + Associates] said the 2011 projections are based on forecasted growth within operations at each of the entities that make up the DuPage Airport Authority...One of the consultants, Debra L. Jeans of Gruen Gruen + Associates, said that the DuPage Airport Authority economic-impact figures - in both the 2006 calculations and the 2011 projections - also rely on what are known as economic multipliers...she called the multipliers used by the consultants "very reasonable."
"We certainly feel very comfortable that we can defend this report," Jeans said at the news conference. "In 2011, due mainly to the development of the technology park and additional hangar space, property-tax revenue [alone] is estimated to increase by 470 percent or [by] $3.4 million to nearly $4.1 million," the report said.
Roald Haase
Kane County Chronicle
February 13, 2007
2006
City Gets Ideas on Projects for Former Railroad Land Along Downtown Trench
"As for retailing, the city should concentrate on its emerging riverfront and build up shopping there", said Aaron Gruen, an economic consultant hired by Freedman. "The biggest challenge is to concentrate it, not scatter it."
Susan Voyles
Reno Gazette
December 2, 2006
Fremont Looking to Score Status Points if A's head down 880 /
Economic Impact not big bonus for major-league cities
"By and large, the deals made to retain or attract sports teams are rarely beneficial to a municipality", says Claude Gruen of Gruen Gruen + Associates, a San Francisco firm that specializes in urban economic analysis. "Oakland's done well the past few years. If it loses traction, it wont be because the city 'lost' the A's."
John King
San Francisco Chronicle
November 7, 2006
Westfield San Francisco Centre Fashionable Expansion - Bringing the Shoppers
Back to Downtowns
...Although Los Angeles, Chicago and New York have successful urban malls, not all cities are equipped to handle them. Nina Gruen said there are a number of factors that play into a customer's willingness to shop downtown. For instance, there must be a perception that the area is safe. There must also be other activities to hold the customer's interest.
"If the city is in pretty good shape, it'll be a good place for an urban center, but if it's in (bad) shape, it's not going to save a city," she said.
Pia Sarkar
San Francisco Chronicle
September 26, 2006
H&M Brings its Stylish Affordability to Sunvalley
..."There's something different in the window every day," said Nina Gruen, a retail and consumer behavior consultant with San Francisco-based Gruen Gruen + Associates. "They train their customers that if they don't buy it right then and there and you wait a week, then you won't find it."
Blanca Torres
Contra Costa Times
May 12, 2006
2005
Mervyns to Shut 62 Stores to Focus on Core Market
..."They get really hurt in this type of consumer environment," said Nina Gruen of Gruen Gruen + Associates, a San Francisco-based economic consulting firm. "It's very hard. The problem is demographically, the American middle-class keeps shrinking."
..."It may be too late for Mervyns to turn its business around," Gruen said.
"What (Mervyns) did well was serve the middle," she said. "The only thing they can do is locate their stores in the places where they have the right demographic."
Blanca Torres
Contra Costa Times
September 8, 2005
Study: Colleges Pack Punch
...Until the Lea County Community Improvement Corporation recently engaged Gruen Gruen + Associates to execute a study on College of the Southwest and New Mexico Junior College's economic benefits, no one knew for sure whether these claims (that they have a far-reaching economic impact) were accurate.
...Deerfield, Ill.-based Gruen Gruen + Associates did the study from March through June, according to analyst Avi Nagel. While this is one of the first times the firm has examined the impact of educational institutions, Nagel said it's often examined the effects of shopping centers, museums and new subdivisions.
The report's purpose, he said, is to show the benefits the area receives from having the colleges.
"Public institutions such as colleges or airports take tax dollars, and community members might be concerned the tax dollars might be going to waste," Nagel said. "But I think it's clear from the report these are two of the more important institutions in Lea County."
CSW president Gary Dill said the study provides validation of administrators' claims regarding the value of the colleges.
"Gruen and Gruen, with their reputation, provides reliable data for people to read and draw conclusions for themselves," he said.
Richard Trout
Hobbs News-Sun
September 4, 2005
Gas prices soar in wake of hurricane
Hurricane Katrina's upward pressure on California gasoline prices will only exacerbate a cost trend that has far outpaced, and increasingly drawn money from, other consumer expenses for the past half-decade.
...After hitting an inflation-adjusted low in 1999, the price of regular unleaded in California has surged 38.4 percent in the 10-county Bay Area, well above overall inflation of 12.3 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the same time period, the cost of apparel declined 9.4 percent, groceries grew 12.1 percent, rent increased 16.3 percent, and medical care jumped 25.5 percent.
The increased cost of gasoline -- which with oil constitutes 12 percent of driving costs per mile, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics' 2004 annual report -- has already cut into retail spending.
"They're not going to move out of their homes, if they have a medical problem eventually they have to do something about it, so obviously it comes out of vacations, services and other forms of retail," said Nina Gruen, a retail consultant at San Francisco-based Gruen Gruen + Associates.
James Temple & Blanca Torres
Contra Costa Times
September 1, 2005
Fashion Outlets Say Bling-Bling's the Thing
...Accessories have always been big business. It's why Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus pack their ground floors with purses, jewelry, shoes, cosmetics and other items likely to trigger an impulse purchase. But retail experts say demand for accessories is surging as well as shifting upscale -- and stores are taking notice.
..."Retailers love it," said Nina Gruen, a retail consultant at San Francisco-based Gruen Gruen + Associates. "They're going to get a much higher mark-up on a purse, pair of shoes or jewelry than they will on a clothing item."
James Temple
Contra Costa Times
May 1, 2005
Planners Think Hinsdale Can Promote Assets
...Hinsdale officials should promote such village advantages as location and abundance of high-end housing to potential developers of office space, said Aaron Gruen, principal of Gruen Gruen + Associates. The authentic Main Street look and pedestrian-friendly quality of the downtown area should be selling points for commercial developers.
Trustees also should complete a parking survey to decide on valet service or a garage with first-floor retail space, Gruen said.
"They need to do some parking studies and figure out what the best options are," he added.
Grant and Gateway Squares benefit from being close to a residential area. Grant Square profits from being near the downtown area as well and having plenty of parking. Gateway Square, while also having convenient parking and a high volume of traffic because of its proximity to Ogden Avenue, lacks visibility and good accessibility for drivers, Gruen said.
Other ideas included attracting more restaurants, a home furnishing store, grocery stores and other shops geared toward baby boomers. Kramer Foods should expand, and a signature restaurant should be added to Grant Square, Gruen suggested.
..."When you have a relatively small share of large groups, it's a good idea to find out what they're doing," Gruen said in an interview after the meeting.
Testimonials from successful businesses could be used in a marketing effort, which can come from a part-time economic coordinator, Gruen said. Both Gruen and Twitchell believe Hinsdale could benefit from hiring a coordinator. They said village staff doesn't have the time or specific expertise to achieve the type of economic growth Hinsdale could have.
"A coordinator could help staff with that so they're using their time more productively," Gruen said.
Jennifer Cassell
The Doings
February 24, 2005