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OUR ROUTINES AT HOME HAVE TAKEN a dramatic shift to welcome 'simpler times' through the integration of technology. It once seemed a daunting task to interact with the components that, [...]

An overview of Los Angeles, CA's real estate market is presented. Many analysts believe that the market is just beginning to recover from Southern California's prolonged recession and the Jan 17, 1994, earthquake. Trammell Crow Co's J. Scott Nesbit believes that the market is turning around but that growth will be slow. Koeppel Tener Real Estate Services' Paul Ostwald expects the recovery to remain slow in 1995., Recovery is the word of the day in Los Angeles -- recovery from the devastating Jan. 17 earthquake that caused more than $9 billion in property damage in the region [...]

The real estate market in Los Angeles, CA, remained slow during 1993 because of the recessionary climate in the nation. However, there were signs of improvement in the city's downtown district and some suburbs. The widely-publicized renovation of some office buildings has resulted in increased occupancy rates. In addition, the depressed prices in the market are prompting many investors to buy up property., Market in state of flux as companies reassess the area The Los Angeles marketplace continued to reflect the national recessionary climate during much of 1993, but significant signs of improved [...]

Overdevelopment and insufficient planning in the 1980s contributed to the prevailing 21.1% vacancy rate for business and office parks. To address the problem of low occupancy rates, owners and landlords are employing alternative strategies. In the Southwest, undeveloped sites are being turned into crop areas, while other owners cater to tenants' needs for amenities such as shopping and food establishments to raise occupancy. Aside from a rising preference for suburban areas over central business districts another significant trend is a preference for functional and practical sites., An abundance of space still exists from the 1980s rapid development of business and office parks. As a result, those that wish to survive in the market are having to [...]

Koll, a real estate management, investment and services firm based in Newport Beach, CA, is well on its way to becoming a major player in the market. The company is a descendant of the construction company started by Donald Koll, but it has now exited the real estate development and construction businesses that once formed the majority of operations. In Nov 1994, Koll went private and obtained a $50-million line of credit from investment banker Freeman Spogli & Co, which will be used to pay for Koll's aggressive portfolio-expansion plans. Koll reported 1994 net income of $2.9 million., After going private and gaining a $50 million line of credit, Koll is poised for the next step away from development and toward becoming a stronger property, corporate and facilities, [...]

The use of real estate swaps, known as 1031 exchanges, by investors has increased with the improvement of the economy. These transfers, defines by Section 1031 in the Internal Revenue Code, permit the exchange of 'like kind' property with capital gains tax exempted. The outcomes of a series of court cases beginning in the 1970s had by the early 1990s prompted the widespread use of 1031 transfers as investment instruments., Real estate swaps - the so-called 1031 transfers named for the section of the Internal Revenue Code that exempts them from recognition of taxable gain - are becoming increasingly popular [...]

The commercial real estate market in the Western states has been characterized by higher demand balanced by healthy vacancy rates due to a slowdown in construction activity starting 1991. Demand for commercial space has increased in size required per company. Furthermore, office space has turned into a generic commodity, skewing previous price categorizations based on usage. In some Western states, demand for office space centers on small, incubator-like spaces instead of high-tech, flexible office spaces., The impact of a moribund construction climate is beginning to make itself felt in the West, where space in office parks is becoming a premium commodity. 'We haven't had any [...]

CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc (CB Commercial) has benefitted considerably from its massive restructuring program implemented in the late 1980s. The restructuring program has allowed CB Commercial to achieve a 7.5% increase in revenues for the 1st half of 1993. In addition, the program has also allowed the company to focus on new services aside from its property sales and lease operations. Particularly, CB Commercial is now engaged in servicing and advisory functions., Receiving the news that your corporate parent wants to get rid of your company is not the stuff a CEO dreams of, but, for the management of Coldwell Banker Commercial [...]

Small-business owners have become unusually popular in recent months, particularly with online insurance brokers looking for a new marketing niche. Web sites such as ePolicy.com, InsureZone.com and eWausau.com are offering [...]

The OLifE software standard allows life insurers' operating systems to share information with other software packages and home offices to develop new applications. ACORD will launch Version 2.0 of the OLifE software program that includes information and policy data downloaded by insurance agents from life insurers. The OLifE software standard will also allow insurers to develop customized products., OLifE, the software standard that allows otherwise incompatible software packages to share data, is gaining a wide degree of acceptance among insurers and developers after little more than a year [...]

SCPIE officials still plan to appeal $18.2 million award Doing a favor in business rarely brings around a negative result. But for one Beverly Hills-based insurer, providing a courtesy defense [...]

Later this month a creditors committee will propose a re-organization plan that will effectively eliminate Tandon Corp. as a personal computer vendor. The plan, created by attorneys representing large creditors […]

The real estate upswing in the Western part of the US is largely concentrated in the secondary markets of Nevada and the northwest areas. Although net absorption rate has remained generally flat, vacancy rate has dropped to 6% from about 9% in 1991. Portland, OR, also showed positive improvements in its real estate industry with the vacancy rate dropping below 10%. Other areas, however, were not as upbeat because of negative absorption rates and vacancies ranging between 15% and 20%., There's a boom in the West but not in the primary markets. Instead, it is centered in Nevada and the Northwest. In Las Vegas, businesses relocating from California and eastern [...]

We're in a blocking and tackling business,' says Bill Rothe. 'The things we do are reasonably fundamental. What sets us apart is a willingness to execute better than other people.' [...]

Cautious optimism maybe the best description of attitudes in the Western states. Despite a shortage of financing and the prospect of defense industry cutbacks, most observers feel 1992 will continue [...]

A generation ago, people worked from 9 to 5, went home, had dinner with the family, and then settled down to a couple of hours in front of the tube [...]

Cash-strapped employers are getting a windfall this year, as the state's new workers' compensation laws allow insurers to compete aggressively on price for the first time. But insurance brokers are [...]

Nearly 15 months after the Northridge temblor, finding earthquake insurance still is the toughest ticket in town. While politicians and news media have focused most of their attentions on the [...]

"As I sat there and watched the television, all I could wonder was whether or not I'd have a job the next day," recalled Cary Cheldin, who had good reason [...]

Jessica P. Vistnes, PhD., a senior economist and co-author of the AHRQ report, recently told that "people who are in the 54 to 65 age group who have greater health problems than those who are younger also have more difficulty in trying to purchase coverage. Women are also in worse economic shape and have more difficulty buying insurance because they may be earning less and are more likely to be in poverty. The implications are that any time you ignore a problem like the uninsured and assume there will be no consequences, you're likely to be wrong