Chris Stephens

I wrote my first column in September 1984 and this is my last. I am adjusting my real estate brokerage practice to selected projects to have more time for family, travel and other activities.

In all the uproar over the Affordable Care Act -- also known as Obamacare -- you may have heard about a sales tax or transfer tax on real estate that will be used to help fund the law. This is not exactly correct. More specifically, the act includes a 3.8 percent real estate tax that applies to a limited group of taxpayers. This tax will help fund Medicare.

A complete lease is essential for both landlords and tenants.

Midtown Anchorage faces challenges to remaining a major retail center. It's seeing competition from retail development in South and north Anchorage, and has strong impediments to attracting new development.

After 12 years, four mayors and thousands of hours of work, Anchorage's new land use code, called Title 21, will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2014. Title 21 is dense with new regulations that cover all aspects of land use and development.

A broker, according to Wikipedia, is an individual or party that arranges transactions between buyer and seller, then gets a commission when the deal is executed. The word is derived from the Old French broceur, "small trader," possibly from brocheor, meaning "wine retailer," which comes from the verb brochier, "to broach."

I started my commercial real estate brokerage in Anchorage in 1981. In the 32 years since, I have seen everything a market can do -- from boom to bust, recovery and steady growth.

All around us we see the changes wrought by technology, whether in the shift away from "brick and mortar" stores, "smart" appliances or retailers mining data from our Web browsing. The examples go on and on. We're also seeing the effects of technology in a decrease in the amount of office space required per worker. Experts predict future demand for office space will be 20 percent less than we otherwise would have expected.

Next time you're driving around town, take a moment to notice all the commercial buildings. Commercial real estate is a huge piece of the local economy.

Sometimes you hear familiar "truths" you know are dead wrong. For example, I was recently reminded that the saying "Nice guys finish last" is actually backwards. Nice guys finish first.