CBPA Weekly eUPDATE 

Another benefit of CBPA membership

 Friday June 25, 2010 

·         CBPA ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS

·         CA COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE SUMMIT 2010 – SUCCESS!

·         HIGH PRIORITY INDUSTRY BILLS

·         STATE TAX REPORT SHOWS DETAILS OF RECESSION

·         ARE YOU READY FOR CALGREEN?

·         CBPA 2010 CALENDAR

 CBPA ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS

 At its 2010 annual meeting in Sacramento, the California Business Properties Association’s (CBPA) Board of Directors elected the following Officers and Board Members to lead the organization:

 CBPA OFFICERS
Chairman:  Greg McWilliams, Newhall Land

Vice Chairman: Thomas Engberg, Loja Group

Vice Chairman: Fran Inman, Majestic Realty

Secretary/Treasurer: Doug Wiele, Foothill Partners

Legal Counsel: Jo Anne Bernhard, Jo Anne Bernhard Law Offices

 BOARD MEMBERS

Eric Berger, Wal-Mart

Rob Cord, Kennedy Wilson

Stan Lamport, Cox Castle Nicholson

Eileen Reynolds, Tejon Ranch

Doug Wiele, Foothill Partners

Jim Provost, The Provost Group

AFFILIATE MEMBERS BOARD REPRESENTATIVES

Sandra Boyle, BOMA California

Jim Camp, NAIOP State Council

Stephen Haase, NAIOP State Council

Stan Johnson, IREM Chapters

Cindi Langendoen, BOMA California

Rachel McGreevy, International Council of Shopping Centers

Ray Magnussen, BOMA California

Phillip Wang, NAIOP State Council

 CBPA represents over 12,000 companies and is the recognized voice of the commercial, retail, and industrial real estate industry in California. We are the designated legislative advocate for the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the California Chapters of the Commercial Real Estate Developers Association (NAIOP), Building Owners and Managers Association of California (BOMA California), Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), California Downtown Association (CDA), Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), the Association of Commercial Real Estate – Southern California (ACRE) and the Certified Commercial Investment Members Institute (CCIM).

 CA COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE SUMMIT 2010 – SUCCESS! 

The 2010 California Commercial Real Estate Summit (CCRES) held in Sacramento this week brought together more than eighty industry leaders, representing commercial, industrial, and retail real estate, to strategize on how to defeat split-roll property tax, meet with legislators, Governor’s staff, and Constitutional Officers, and to learn more about issues impacting commercial real estate in California. The event can best be summed-up in the following “thank you” message sent to the participants.

Industry Colleagues: 

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend the 2010 California Commercial Real Estate Summit (CCRES). Interacting with the Legislature is like giving a speech to a parade, so your presence in Sacramento over the past two days is an essential part of the year-round advocacy effort that is needed to assure the commercial, industrial, and retail real estate industry has a place at the table and is effective at influencing public policy with an impact on our businesses. 

You efforts help establish a connection between the Sacramento process and real live people providing jobs, services, and growing the economy. You helped educate legislators about issues impacting our industry, from sustainable building mandates to the impact of international trade. You fought on your own behalf against bills that would do great harm to the industry and supported a few that might actually provide some benefit. 

One of the purposes of the CCRES is to present a unified front between all the sectors of our industry. For the most part, legislators and staff do not distinguish between the various types of projects within our industry – a shopping center and an office building is all commercial development to most folks under the gilded dome. So, combining/consolidating efforts under the CBPA umbrella of all the major industry associations (ICSC, BOMA, NAIOP, IREM, RILA, and CDA) and individual member companies, is an effective way to assure that we use that to our advantage and act as a cohesive whole, while taking the opportunity to explain the unique characteristics of each sector of the industry, which ultimately increases our effectiveness on the wide range of issues and bills. 

Finally, we hope you had the chance to network with colleagues and meet some new ones and personally interact with legislators from your area and beyond. We know this relationship building will help us represent you and the industry better in the coming months – we hope you found it valuable, too. 

On a housekeeping note, please pass along any relevant information you picked up while meeting with legislators, any follow-up we should do, and/or any feedback you may have on the CCRES to help strengthen the event for next year. It is also recommended that you send just a quick “thank you note” to those offices you met with.

 Respectfully,

The California Business Properties Team – Your everyday advocates in Sacramento 

HIGH PRIORITY INDUSTRY BILLS

 Here is a look at some of the priority bills that industry representatives lobbied in the Capitol.  This is a partial list of the bills that our industry cares about and are actively working on.  Feel free to contact CBPA if you want the full list: 

AB 1693 (Ma; D – San Francisco) Measure will modify the code adoption cycle and extend it to an 18 months process, adding 3 month to the interim update process.  This will allow more time to write consider new code impacts before adoption, and provide additional time for education and training.

POSITION:  SUPPORT.  Status:  In Senate Appropriations Committee

 SB 476 (Correa; D – Santa Ana) Measure will help move forward construction and redevelopment projects by updating and clarifying procedures in the environmental permit process.  Protects a previously occupied retail structure and associated parking lot when an alteration or reuse will improve the energy efficiency or reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the existing structure and associated parking lot, provided the alterations will not result in a material increase of the footprint or floor area ratio of the existing retail structure and associated parking lot.

POSITION:  SUPPORT.  Status:  In Assembly Natural Resources Committee 

AB 737 (Chesbro; D – Eureka) Mandatory Commercial Recycling.  Although our industry supports commercial recycling, this measure in redundant and unnecessary in that the new CalRecycle department is finalizing regulations that will enact such a requirement.  Furthermore, this measure will require the department , to ensure that 75% of all solid waste generated is source reduced, recycled, or composted. This high rate of mandated diversion is a concern.

POSITION:  OPPOSE; IN LIEU OF ONGOING CalRecycle REGUALATROY PROCESS.  Status:  In Senate Appropriations Committee

 AB 2492 (Ammiano; D – San Francisco) Split Roll Property Tax.  Measure will instead specify that when 100% of the ownership interests in a legal entity, as defined, are sold or transferred in a single transaction, as specified, the real property owned by that legal entity has changed ownership, whether or not any one legal entity or person that is a party to the transaction acquires more than 50% of the ownership interests. The bill would require the State Board of Equalization to notify assessors when a change in ownership as so described occurs.  This bill is at best redundant of current law – at worst, it is a fundamental change in commercial protections afforded under Proposition 13.

POSITION:  OPPOSE.  Status:  In Assembly Appropriations Committee 

SB 1316 (Romero; D – Los Angeles) Takes California out of conformity with federal law for 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges.  Measure will exclude any exchange of out-of-state real property that is purchased in exchange for real property located in California.  Measure provides a disincentive for new investment in California property, puts current property owners at a disadvantage for using a common tax practice, would generate retaliation from other states, and most likely violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. 

POSITION:  OPPOSE.  Status:  In Senate Revenue & Taxation Committee

 Lots of bills are still being amended, heard next week, and moving forward – we remain vigilant and working many many issues on your behalf. 

 STATE TAX REPORT SHOWS DETAILS OF RECESSION

 The State Board of Equalization said it collected $48.4 billion in revenue in the 2008-2009 fiscal year, about $4.7 billion less than last fiscal year.  BOE’s annual report said the 8.9% decline was due to several factors including a $68 billion (12.4%) decrease from taxable sales in 2007-08, and a $106.6 billion fall in county-assessed property values.  See the BOE report by clicking here.

 ARE YOU READY FOR CALGREEN?

 California’s green building code becomes mandatory on January 1, 2011, and will affect all new commercial construction.  New mandatory measures address planning and design in the areas of site development; water efficiency and conservation for both indoor and outdoor water use; energy efficiency; material conservation and resource efficiency including water resistance and moisture management; construction waste reduction, disposal and recycling; building maintenance and operation; pollutant control; indoor moisture control; indoor and outdoor air quality; and environmental comfort. 

The California Building Standards Commission is offering a series of regional half-day workshops to help you prepare.  Workshops will provide an overview of the new mandatory standards, voluntary tier structure, compliance checklists and code publication dates. In addition, speakers will provide answers to your specific code questions. 

CALGreen classes are being offered up and down the state from San Diego to Redding.  Make sure you are prepared. Click here for more information and to register for CALGreen Workshops.

 CBPA 2010 CALENDAR

 October 21, 2010

Industry Awards Dinner & CBPA Board Meeting

The Fairmont Hotel, Newport Beach