Georgia

Atlanta’s Disciplined Retail Market Ready to Face Headwinds from REITs, Amazon

by John Nelson November 20, 2017

A decade ago, the Atlanta retail market was a house of cards. It was clear to see this if you were in the industry at the time, and possibly even if you weren’t. Based on the intense overbuilding that had taken place, it wouldn’t have taken a worldwide economic meltdown to wreck it, though that didn’t help. Literally hundreds of unanchored retail centers had cropped up all over suburbia, fitting directly into everything that people consider to be negative about shopping centers. The formula for developers was to scrape every tree from a piece of land, cover it with asphalt and an inexpensively constructed building, then fill it with whatever tenants they could find. The result was largely a glut of properties with poor intrinsic values: mid-block sites, odd shaped layouts, challenging access, uninspired, non-credit tenants with high rents. This would, of course, turn out to be unsustainable. To be fair, not every property was developed in this fashion. Atlanta was and still is home to many excellent retail developers that know how to create amazing projects. But many look back to the 2000s in Atlanta as a time of cookie cutter development with inexperienced builders playing a game of …

November 20, 2017

Georgia Multifamily Southeast Top Stories

Independence Realty Trust to Acquire Nine-Property Multifamily Portfolio for $228.1M

by Nellie Day September 6, 2017

PHILADELPHIA — Independence Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: IRT) has agreed to acquire a nine-property multifamily portfolio for $228.1 million. The portfolio contains 2,353 units across the U.S. The seller was not disclosed. This acquisition will allow IRT to further develop its presence in core markets like Atlanta, Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio. It will also allow the REIT to enter two new markets, though further information regarding the assets’ locations was not disclosed. IRT maintains a large multifamily portfolio in the South and Midwest, particularly in Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Rents range from $455 per month at Raindance Apartments in Oklahoma City to more than $1,265 per month at Sabal Key in Naples, Fla. The communities within the new portfolio were built or renovated between 2000 and 2011 and feature an average occupancy of 95 percent. Average effective rent per unit was $884 for the three months that ended July 31, 2017. “This acquisition represents another key milestone for IRT, bolstering our current portfolio with a collection of high-quality communities located in amenity-rich, non-gateway markets that are core to our investment thesis,” says Scott Schaeffer, chairman and CEO of IRT. “This is a tremendous …

September 6, 2017

Georgia Market Reports Multifamily Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Atlanta Multifamily Market Continues Strong Performance in All Asset Classes

by John Nelson July 24, 2017

In 2016 and the first quarter of this year, Atlanta’s economy boomed, showing several positive signs that point to another banner year for the multifamily market. From December 2016 through February 2017, Atlanta added 96,700 total non-farm jobs, an increase of 3.7 percent over the same time the previous year. Additionally, in 2016 the city experienced 3 percent wage growth overall. This translates to a robust multifamily market with solid fundamentals. According to Axiometrics, Atlanta’s average effective rent broke the $1,000 ceiling in second-quarter 2016 and has not stopped climbing since, reaching $1,068 as of first-quarter 2017. Rents are projected to increase by just under 5 percent in 2017. While the market’s rent growth rate is slowing, we cannot forget that Atlanta is breaking historical rent records while maintaining an occupancy rate in the 94 percent range for the last 11 consecutive quarters. Throughout the city, all asset classes — from Class C suburban properties to trophy Class A properties in the urban core — are posting strong performances. One trend we are keeping an eye on is single-family development, which is starting to come back as rental rates continue to rise and renters look to make a more permanent …

July 24, 2017

Georgia Market Reports Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Atlanta’s Office Market Continues to Thrive, Though a Test Looms on the Horizon

by John Nelson July 17, 2017

It is no secret that Atlanta has been a booming market in the post-recession era. Metro Atlanta added more than 85,000 jobs in 2016, while the unemployment rate has dropped to 4.9 percent, back to a prerecession level (2007). Atlanta has ranked near the top of the largest 10 office markets in annual job growth, outpacing the likes of New York, Los Angles and Chicago. There was 3.3 percent job growth in 2016, outpaced by only one large metropolitan peer, Dallas-Fort Worth. Rent Growth The Atlanta office market has shared this success as rents have continued to climb to record levels and vacancy levels have dropped. Since the end of 2012, overall gross asking rents have risen 22.1 percent, or $4.41 per square foot. Thanks to major relocations by companies such as Honeywell, GE Digital and Synovus, and major expansions by Kaiser Permanente, Sage, Anthem and Kabbage, among others, Atlanta’s overall office vacancy rate has plummeted 540 basis points from the end of 2012 (from 22.3 percent to 16.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017). Construction With market fundamentals in a stronger state than at any other time in recent history, the introduction of new product presents a litmus …

July 17, 2017

Georgia Industrial Market Reports Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Atlanta Industrial Market’s Record Performance Drives Investment Demand

by John Nelson July 10, 2017

The Atlanta industrial market continues to grow in popularity when it comes to real estate investors’ appetite. Industrial assets are “hot items” in current investment sales transactions as the region’s economic momentum continues to position Atlanta as one of the healthiest industrial markets in the Southeast. Some of the major local and macro-economic trends affecting the industrial market include the ongoing growth of infrastructure, logistics and manufacturing industries. Furthermore, the Port of Savannah’s new Post Panamax facilities, its ongoing investment and expansion plans and its increasing activity are also beneficial to the Atlanta industrial market. Investment sales professionals, especially individual investors, remain attracted to Atlanta’s industrial market as e-commerce continues to transform how and where products are stored and shipped, not to mention the simplicity of owning and managing industrial properties, compared to retail and office. In 2016, the Atlanta industrial market experienced over 17 million square feet of net absorption. The forecasted absorption for 2017 ranges between 12 and 14 million square feet, with approximately 12 million square feet of new product being delivered this year. Over 90 percent of the new product comprises warehouse/distribution product, and less than 10 percent consists of new flex and shallow-bay buildings. Most …

July 10, 2017

Georgia Market Reports Retail Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Retailers are Seizing the Opportunity to Backfill Shuttered Stores in Atlanta

by John Nelson July 3, 2017

It’s long been known that Atlanta, along with many other markets in the United States, is over-retailed. However, not all retailers are “overstored.” With the recent number of store closings announced (Sports Authority, hhgregg, Kmart, Sears, JC Penney, to name a few), it’s understandable that some have concerns over the current state of retail. That said, for many retailers, these closures become opportunities to enter certain markets or grab better positions within an existing market. As some retailers forfeit locations, these Atlanta vacancies will be absorbed. Burlington Stores recently backfilled the former Sports Authority adjacent to the Mall of Georgia in Buford, and will do the same with the former Best Buy adjacent to The Mall at Stonecrest in Lithonia. Ashley HomeStore will backfill the former Staples in Snellville. In Alpharetta, American Signature Furniture opened in the former Sports Authority box, and entertainment destination Dave & Buster’s is set to open in a former AMC Theatres. The retail industry is undergoing a shift as a result of the emergence of e-commerce and morphing consumer habits. It’s the retailers that are able to adapt and evolve along with changes in technology and consumer attitudes that will thrive, as very few are …

July 3, 2017

Georgia Market Reports Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Atlanta’s Office Market Experiencing Positively Boring, Safe Growth

by John Nelson January 16, 2017

The Atlanta office market has continued down a path of steady recovery and absorption, although the pace remains somewhat muted from prior recovery cycles. As outside investors have warmed up to the city of Atlanta, they have been comforted by a safe and positively boring period of growth. For the last couple of years, investors have been committed strongly to value-add opportunities throughout metropolitan Atlanta, including areas that have historically been out of favor like Alpharetta and Peachtree Corners. The fundamental improvements in the market rents and occupancy continue to support bullish forecasts for office space in Atlanta with significantly low vacancy and steady rent growth. Atlanta’s office market sits at 12.1 percent vacancy, 6 percent rent growth and 3.6 million square feet of positive net absorption after several years of consistent absorption and falling vacancy. With value-add being a buzz word throughout the Southeast, many investment sales brokers have taken core assets and found ways to present them as opportunities for value-add in an effort to reach a larger pool of investors. Investor appetite continues to be measured and very focused on downside risk versus upside potential. This has inflated the return expectations for very solid real estate, making …

January 16, 2017

Georgia Market Reports Retail Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Retailers Try to Keep Up With Atlanta’s Dynamic Consumer Population

by John Nelson January 9, 2017

To understand the state of retail in Atlanta in 2005, you first looked at where and what developers were building, then to where retailers were locating and lastly to how consumers were shopping. Simply put, if a developer built it and a retailer occupied it, the consumer was sure to shop there, but that’s no longer the case. To understand the state of retail in Atlanta today, you need to start with the Atlanta consumer. Go Big or Go Home From 2000 to 2010, the Atlanta Regional Commission reports metro Atlanta added over 1 million residents with an additional 2.5 million people projected to be added between 2015 and 2040. Further, according to a study by the University of Georgia, half the state’s population growth is concentrated in just three Atlanta metro counties — Fulton, Gwinnett and Forsyth. A big driver for the growth is jobs, especially those in high-paying sectors like information, professional services, science and technology. EMSI reports that two of the counties making up Atlanta’s metropolitan area, Forsyth and Coweta, are in the top eight of large counties for skilled job growth. Additionally, Forbes claims Atlanta is now growing its business service sector faster than New York, …

January 9, 2017

Georgia Multifamily Southeast Tennessee Top Stories

Mid-America Apartment Communities to Acquire Post Properties in $4B Multifamily REIT Merger

by Nellie Day August 15, 2016

MEMPHIS, TENN., AND ATLANTA — Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE: MAA) has agreed to acquire Post Properties (NYSE: PPS) in an all-stock deal that values Post, a developer and operator of upscale multifamily communities, at nearly $4 billion. The merger will create a Sunbelt-focused, publicly traded multifamily REIT. The acquisition brings together two multifamily portfolios totaling approximately 105,000 multifamily units in 317 properties. The combined company plans to focus on urban and suburban locations in large and secondary markets within the Sunbelt region, which stretches from coast to coast along the southern United States. The combined company’s 10 largest markets by unit count will be Atlanta; Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and Houston, Texas; Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C.; Orlando and Tampa, Fla.; and Washington, DC. Each share of Post common stock will be converted into 0.71 shares of newly issued MAA common stock, per the agreement. Former MAA equity holders will maintain about 67.7 percent of the combined company’s equity, while former Post equity holders will hold the remaining 32.3 percent on a pro-forma basis. The all-stock merger is intended to be a tax-deferred transaction. The combined company is expected to have a pro-forma equity market capitalization of about $12 billion, as …

August 15, 2016

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Georgia Industrial Southeast Top Stories

Adidas to Open Shoe Factory in Metro Atlanta, Move Production from Asia

by Haisten Willis August 10, 2016

ATLANTA — German sportswear brand Adidas has announced plans to open a new footwear production site in the Atlanta area in 2017, eventually bringing part of the company’s manufacturing from Asia to the United States. The facility, which will be known as adidas Speedfactory, is designed to allow the company to create products more quickly and closer to U.S. consumers using a highly automated process. The 74,000-square-foot facility will be located in Cherokee County, a suburban area roughly 30 miles northwest of Atlanta. It is scheduled to open in the second half of 2017 and will produce 50,000 pairs of shoes a year while employing 160. The U.S. factory will complement another Speedfactory facility operating in Germany. Adidas’ strategic partner Oechsler will operate both the U.S. and German facilities. Adidas is headquartered in a small town in Bavaria. The company is publicly traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol ADS. Its parent company, Adidas Group, includes several other sports-goods brands such as Reebok and TaylorMade. — Haisten Willis

August 10, 2016

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