Property owners are aware of the appeal process for taxes on their real estate, but many do not realize the appeal process for business personal property. Here are some things you need to know for BPP in Texas.

The current era of inordinately low interest rates is entering its fifth year. The casual observer (e.g., the homebuyer) may be pleased with this phenomenon. However, I am concerned that such financial engineering by the Federal Reserve is contributing to the mispricing of assets, including commercial real estate.

Commercial real estate financing is finally bouncing back. There was an upbeat mood in San Diego last month at the Mortgage Banking Association Conference. After years of malaise, the CMBS market is poised for a comeback.

HFF has worked on behalf of Billingsley Co. to obtain $49 million in financing for Gramercy On The Park. The funds are being used to pay off an existing construction loan.

With three real estate loans totaling $26.75 million, Hall Structured Finance is on its way toward its goal of originating more than $100 million in new loans during the next 12 months. The three deals include a 128-room hotel in Long Island City, N.Y., a 118-room hotel in Charlotte, N.C., and a 14,600-square-foot retail center in Durham, N.C.

Someday, Hollywood could make a film about how Dallas came together to produce one of the most successful examples of a public-private partnership to date. After all, the story of Klyde Warren Park in downtown Dallas has all the trappings of a feel-good flick sprinkled with suspense and drama.

Michael W. Davis has Behringer Harvard as institutional sales director. In his new role, he’s responsible for developing institutional channel distribution strategies for the firm’s existing and expanding product portfolio, including sales of alternative and direct investments.

For those of us dealing with special servicers it’s a bit of a Catch 22. The recovery has not occurred as fast as we were hoping, investors are still uncertain, borrowers and servicers are more educated, capital is abundant, and the process is proving to have some advantages and disadvantages for all.

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler has secured $4 million to refinance Hulen Square, an 83,402-square-foot retail center in Fort Worth owned by Cencor Realty Services.

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler has arranged $43 million in financing for Hilton DFW Lakes in Grapevine. The firm secured the adjustable-rate loan through Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, exclusively representing the borrower, a joint venture led by Somera Capital Management LLC.

The Farmers Branch City Council has authorized the refinancing of combination bonds it used to build a Dr Pepper StarCenter in 2004. Savings from the refi could total more than $1.6 million, according to city officials.

With real estate financing markets remaining tight, and the ongoing U.S. debt crisis leading to continuing uncertain credit availability, developers are scrambling for alternative sources of funding. One potential source of funding could be through an EB-5 foreign visa investment program.

If you’re holding onto land at the corner of an intersection, thinking that you’ll one day sell it to a bank, Charles Gummer has some advice for you: “Give In-N-Out Burger a call.” Gummer, Texas market chairman of Comercia Bank, spoke yesterday at a Success North Dallas event on the future of banking. More banks and more branches, he said, won’t be a part of it.

Throughout his career, Bill Rafkin has worked in leasing on the landlord side, leasing on the tenant side), investment sales, and financing, and has been both an investor and a developer. Now he’s talking that wealth of experience—gleaned at leading commercial real estate firms like Trammell Crow Co., KDC, and Panattoni—to lead his own firm, Rafkin Lending.

Behringer Harvard is spinning off a new company to pursue debt investments. BH Capital LLC will target small-balance debt instruments sold on the secondary market via individual transactions or secondary sales.

With banks holding on to distressed real estate, and billions in special servicing and early CMBS maturities coming due, it could take years to rebalance assets through restructures or foreclosures. As a result, a massive amount of real estate will eventually flood the market—or trickle out through a prolonged period of economic stagnation.

Every developer that expects to survive in this current economy will need to learn how to reinvent itself. That includes being creative in negotiating extensions and new terms with your lender base, as well as bringing in new partners.

Given the rising debt and budget constraints of many municipalities these days, cities are looking at any and all creative ways of attracting developers to commit to new projects. The public-private partnership approach is going to be the way of the future—especially for those communities that want to create large, mixed-use developments.

When seeking capital, one needs to be creative, flexible, and responsive. Risk mitigation through better due diligence, more information, more alignment between sponsors and capital, more equity in deals, and greater transparency are all the rules of the day.

Many REO properties currently on the market are priced much, much higher than their current market values. Some of these properties will never be valued as high as the current loan amount. And the longer they sit vacant, the lower the value goes.

Corporate America has its swagger back because consumers are spending again. That was the upbeat message delivered in Dallas the other day by Joe Quinlan, the chief market strategist, Investment Strategy Group, for U.S. Trust.