PowerBuyer Upgrade Increases Valuation

PowerBuyer Delivers... Renee Kohlman of GE Capital Real Estate's PowerBuyer Service reports on a success that one of her clients recently achieved. "A building in downtown San Francisco that is managed by a PowerBuyer customer, Prentiss Properties.com, recently underwent a lighting retrofit/upgrade. The building is 180 Montgomery Street, a 280,000 Square foot building (211,000 square feet actually underwent the upgrade).

"The project cost before a utility rebate was $256,000 (approx $1.20 per sq. ft.), with a combined annual savings of $90,000 (approx. $.43 per sq. ft.). A utility rebate of $49,000 from PG&E adds an additional one-time savings of $.23 per sq. ft.! The $90,000 savings is repeated annually, so do the math -- this is a 2.3 year payback with an ROI of 43%! Add a 10% cap, and the value added to this property is approximately a million bucks! The utility rebates are cash payments paid directly to the customer, and are paid over a 2-year period. These rebates are available in many states around the country, not just California. Dallas and Seattle have very attractive rebate programs right now."

--Peter