Amid slowing growth in an increasingly crowded market, Starbucks announced it will close 150 under-performing, company-operated U.S stores in 2019. Historically, the Seattle-based chain has closed about 50 stores per year. The upcoming store closings will occur primarily in urban markets saturated with Starbucks locations. However, Starbucks’ sales are also slowing, as the company expects just 1% growth in same-store sales for the third quarter of 2018—the worst performance in about nine years.  One ... Read more

Chinese investors are dumping their commercial real estate investments, under pressure from the Chinese government as a result of the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China.  According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Chinese investors sold $1.29 billion of U.S. CRE in the second quarter of 2018, while purchasing less than 1/10th of that amount. This is the first time the Chinese have been net sellers in 10 years.  Just ... Read more

The University of San Diego‘s latest economic forecast showed the second monthly decline in a row, raising concerns about a slowdown in the local economy.  The Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators for San Diego County, released last week, fell 0.2 percent in May following a decline of equal magnitude in April.  A decrease in help-wanted advertising, higher initial claims for unemployment insurance and a decline in residential building permits ... Read more