Fredericksburg.com - Blogs: Bill Freehling

Here are some recent leases brokered by Thalhimer/Cushman & Wakefield's Fredericksburg office:

Tactical Micro Inc. has leased 8,000 sq.ft. of industrial space at 3509 Shannon Park Drive in Fredericksburg.

City on a Hill Church Inc. has leased 3,937 sq.ft. at 1751 North Main Street in Culpeper.

Commercial Protection Systems Inc. has leased 3,000 sq.ft. of industrial space at 3508 Shannon Park Drive in Fredericksburg.

Civil War Life Inc. has leased 2,180 sq.ft. of retail space at 829 Caroline Street in Fredericksburg.

Verizon Wireless has leased 2,050 sq.ft. of retail space at 1998 William Street in Fredericksburg.

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Tags: Commercial real estate

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Parent company of Giant Food looking to expand

Nov. 16, 2009 3:33 pm

The international supermarket-chain operator that owns Giant Food is interested in expanding through acquisitions and internal growth, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

Giant is owned by Holland-based Ahold. The WSJ article notes that Ahold has about $3.7 billion in cash and that it's interested in putting the money to work on acquisitions to boost a lagging share price.

This article caught my attention because Ahold, along with Harris Teeter and Supervalu, has been mentioned as a possible suitor for Ukrop's Super Markets.

Ukrop's hasn't much commented on any of these rumors, and neither has any of the alleged suitors.

Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=22&p=1258403598

Tags: Ukrop's

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Warning: Employment can be hazardous to your health

Nov. 15, 2009 11:02 am

LOOKING for a silver lining to the current state of the U.S. economy? Here's one. Death rates decline and people get healthier when economic conditions get worse. When the economy booms, health gets worse.

That's true both in the U.S. and abroad, Christopher J. Ruhm has shown with extensive research. Ruhm is an economics professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I read about Ruhm's research in a recent column that Geoff Colvin wrote for Fortune magazine. Ruhm sent me a couple of his recent research papers, and the findings were interesting.

Click here for the full Business Browser column.

Also, on an unrelated note, I wrote a book review today of Jon Krakauer's "Where Men Win Glory" about the combat death of former NFL star Pat Tillman in Afghanistan. I highly recommend the book. Click the link below to read more about it on Amazon.

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

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Tags: Browser columns

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The writings of Judy Shelton

Nov. 11, 2009 4:45 pm

I am doing an article for Saturday's FLS Business section about Judy Shelton, a well-known conservative economist who lives at Caroline County's Moss Neck Manor with her husband, Gilbert. Shelton has been writing regular opinion pieces for The Wall Street Journal that decry the federal government's fiscal irresponsibility and inflationary monetary policy.

Click here for the article.

Click here to read some of Shelton's recent opinion columns in the WSJ.

Click on the links below to see the Amazon.com listings of Shelton's two books: "The Coming Soviet Crash" (1989) and "Money Meltdown" (1994).

Money Meltdown

The Coming Soviet Crash: Gorbachev's Desperate Pursuit of Credit in Western Financial Markets

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Tags: Economics

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it boils down to this by larryg

October housing numbers and negative equity

Nov. 10, 2009 1:08 pm

I'll have two housing-related articles in the FLS over the next two days:

Tomorrow in the business section we'll look at the October housing data for the area, which Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. released this morning. The area's median sales price was $205,000, about where it's been all year but the 35th-straight month in which prices have fallen year-over-year. There will be lots more data in the article tomorrow, but you can also check out this spreadsheet I keep that shows area housing data.

On Thursday I'll have an article that looks at the percentage of homes in the Washington area that are under water -- those whose values are less than the mortgage total. About 30 percent of single-family mortgage holders in the Washington area -- which includes Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Stafford and Fauquier -- were under water as of Sept. 30. The data come from Zillow, which also made available this spreadsheet showing negative equity rates by metropolitan statistical area.

Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=22&p=1257876531

Tags: Housing

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The eye can lie when we're trying to spot trends

Nov. 8, 2009 3:47 pm

THE NAKED EYE has a hard time determining business trends.

That's a thought I had during a recent conversation with a local banker. He noted that a Richmond shopping center he'd been at seemed pretty crowded, and perhaps that was a sign the economy was improving.

That's possible, and certainly hopeful. But let's take a look at what the eye can tell you about shopping trends.

Let's say that two years ago at the same time there were 1,000 people out at that Richmond shopping center. If the number dropped just 3 percent, there would still be 970 people. The naked eye isn't going to pick up that subtle difference, but a 3 percent decline isn't positive news for retailers.

Click here to read this week's full Business Browser column.

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Tags: Browser columns

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Congress extends life of $8,000 tax credit for homebuyers

Nov. 5, 2009 3:44 pm

The U.S. House of Representatives today voted to extend the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers. It had been scheduled to end Nov. 30, but now any first-time buyer (defined as anyone who hasn't owned a home in at least three years) has until April 30, 2010, to sign a ratified contract on a home. The deal must close before July 1, 2010. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the measure yesterday, and President Obama is expected to sign it soon.

The new tax credit raises the income limits on who can qualify. It also adds a $6,500 tax credit for existing homeowners who decide to buy a new principal residence (the new home doesn't have to be more expensive than the current one). To qualify, existing homeowners must have lived in the home as a primary residence for at least five consecutive years out of the last eight years.

Click here to read how the new tax credit differs from the old one, and here to read an FAQ about the new credit.

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Tags: Housing

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Managing the Nightlife

Nov. 5, 2009 9:39 am

The Fredericksburg Police Department is running a seminar next week for employees at city bars called "Managing the Nightlife." The seminar will be taught by representatives from the city's police department, commonwealth's attorney's office and fire department, as well as a regional agent from the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Topics will include fire codes and occupancy limits, state alcohol laws, fake IDs, dealing with intoxicated people and various legal issues. The seminars are deliberately scheduled in advance of the holidays. Last year more than 80 people attended the sessions. I'll be attending one of the seminars next week and will have an article in the FLS.

Fredericksburg police officer Ron Swaney and Sgt. Jim Kuebler created five fliers that will be handed out to people attending the seminars and hung at city bars during the holiday season. They feature employees and family members of the Fredericksburg PD, including Chief David Nye's youngest daughter, Caroline, who plays the designated driver elf. Below are the posters.

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Tags: police

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Good work by Fredtastic

Thalhimer leases

Nov. 3, 2009 3:17 pm

Thalhimer/Cushman & Wakefield Alliance just sent me the following lease details:

Mid-American Printing, Inc. has leased an additional 2,000 sq.ft. of industrial space at 101 Juliad Court in Stafford. Mid-American Printing, Inc. currently occupies 14,000 sq.ft. in this building.

Shaolin Kungfu Center has leased 1,400 sq.ft. of commercial space at 11047 Pierson Drive in Fredericksburg.

Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=22&p=1257279453

Tags: Commercial real estate

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New vehicle registrations sag in October

Nov. 3, 2009 12:38 pm

The number of new vehicles registered in the Fredericksburg area fell to 988 in October from 1,402 in September, reflecting weakened demand following the end of the "Cash for Clunkers" program. The 988 registrations were flat from the same period in 2008. About 75 percent of new car registrations in October were imports. See Sunday's FLS Business section for more.

The data come from the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association and are based on DMV registrations.

I've compiled a spreadsheet for registrations of new vehicles dating back to 2008 in the area. It breaks registrations down by locality and also shows the percentage that imported cars, domestic cars and trucks make up of the total. Click here for the spreadsheet.

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Tags: Automotive

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Did third quarter raise false hopes?

Nov. 2, 2009 10:57 am

THIRD-QUARTER corporate earnings have by and large pleased investors, which has pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the 10,000-point mark.

But investors shouldn't be too giddy, warns Barron's columnist (and longtime market bear) Alan Abelson in last weekend's edition.

Most of the positive earnings have resulted from slashed expenses rather than revenue gains, Abelson notes in the column. That has largely been the result of employee layoffs and reduced benefits.

Companies have cut labor costs by $327 billion over the past year, or more than 25 percent. Yet during that time corporate earnings fell $177 billion.

There comes a point when companies can't cut any more labor costs and still get the job done well. At that point only revenue gains can prop up earnings, and Abelson points out that that will be tough in the face of 10 percent unemployment.

His conclusion: "Third-quarter corporate earnings are as good as it gets."

Click here to read this week's full Business Browser column.

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Tags: Browser columns

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Which business segments held up best?

Oct. 30, 2009 11:00 am

Continuing on the research that I did on area taxable sales for Wednesday's article, I looked at sales data for each retail business segment between the second quarters of 2006 and 2009 in Fredericksburg and Stafford and Spotsylvania counties. Overall sales for those three localities declined 12.2 percent during that time, with city sales going down 25 percent. Click here to see the results by business segment.

As the data show, some segments held up better than others. Among the losers were businesses tied to the housing market. Among the winners were electronics, food and beverage, bars and restaurants, and sporting goods and leisure-focused stores. Hotels and motels were about flat.

The data all came from the Virginia Department of Taxation. Look for a feature on this topic in an upcoming edition of the FLS.

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Tags: Taxable sales

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