Market Reports

In Delaware’s largest city, Wilmington, it is a tenant’s market when it comes to office leasing. There is much activity and redevelopment to attract new tenants downtown. Rental rates hover around $18 to $21 per square foot for Class B office space and $23-plus for Class A office space. Vacancy for Wilmington and its suburbs combined has decreased to around 13 percent. In the past year, nearly vacant office buildings have garnered activity from new investors looking to purchase at lower price points, freeing up excess capital for renovations or redevelopment. Some office buildings are being redeveloped into residential apartments due to the demand of millennials and professionals who desire a “live-work-play” lifestyle in downtown Wilmington, and who wish to reside near the city’s Amtrak station to take advantage of the easy access to larger cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore. The Buccini/Pollin Group has been putting hundreds of millions into the construction or redevelopment of residential, office, and hotel, as well as sports and entertainment properties on Market Street and in the Riverfront area. The company recently acquired a 13-story building comprising the former DuPont headquarters and the Hotel DuPont, which will be converted into a mixed-use complex …

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Recovery is continuing to occur in the Delaware retail market and forecasts show it will continue in the year to come. The retail sector has been strong in Class A locations, while secondary centers have experienced less demand. Land values on major corridors remain high and the limited supply is expected to further this trend. The area around Christiana Mall continues to be a strong draw for national retailers. Recent new retail activity includes the Christiana Fashion Center, which has been approved for buildings totaling in excess of 500,000 square feet. Current tenants include The Container Store, REI, Nordstrom Rack, DSW, Saks OFF Fifth, Ulta Cosmetics and Jared Jewelers. Allied Properties is developing the center. Also in the Christiana area, Kimco is planning to develop the Christiana Promenade which will encompass more than 400,000 square feet. Demolition of an existing structure is underway. The city of Wilmington will see a new $40 million redevelopment of a popular retail and office location on the 2000 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. Mayor Dennis Williams recently announced the project, which will redevelop the existing property into an attractive, high-quality mixed-use and pedestrian-oriented space that incorporates luxury residences above a first floor of quality retail …

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The New Castle County office market includes roughly 16 million square feet of total inventory with nearly 3 million square feet of that vacant. Vacancy in Class A space has improved somewhat as tenants take advantage of market conditions but these moves have not had much impact on overall vacancy rate. Jackson Cross Partners reports 2014 absorption of 80,000 square feet; although positive, this indicates we have years of recovery before a healthy overall vacancy rate is reached. We are seeing a number of projects that will have some impact on reducing inventory and improving vacancy rates as marginal office space is redeveloped for various non-office uses. These projects include: • A group of local investors purchased 1001 Jefferson Street in the city of Wilmington, which contains 170,000 square feet of office space on approximately 1.4 acres in May 2014, following a failed auction process. The building was recently demolished and the site is now being improved for surface parking, at least temporarily. Although a new office project is not being ruled out down the road, the site is being marketed for other uses, including residential and retail. • 1300 Market Street, also in the City of Wilmington, containing 62,000 …

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The biggest news about Delaware retail is the expansion of Christiana Mall in Newark, Del., and an equally ambitious redevelopment of The Colonnade at Christiana, which is adjacent to the mall. Everyone in the Mid-Atlantic knows that Delaware does not have retail sales tax, thus the driver of Christiana’s expansion and the new projects is simply shopping demand and a geographically dense population base that draws from more than 20 million people in nearby states including Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and even New York. It’s one thing to save $4 when you spend $50 but the money gets real when you can save $80 on a $1,000 shopping tab. (This example is based on 8 percent sales tax that you’d pay in Philadelphia, which is about 30 minutes from Wilmington and has more than 4 million people in its MSA). Christiana’s expansion to 1.1 million square feet and the adjacent 915,000-square-foot The Colonnade is made possible by construction improvements to the I-95 and Route 1 interchange that will give drivers and shoppers better access to the existing and refurbished retail centers. The Colonnade was previously called the Christiana Fashion Center and it is being redeveloped by Frank Acierno and his …

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The last quarter of 2012 indicated signs of overall market improvement including increased activity in the office sector, according to most New Castle County owners and leasing brokers. Most professionals anticipated a good start to 2013 based on this performance. Although there are a few bright spots, early reports for 2013 are not yet meeting the expectations that stemmed from the continuing improvement seen last year. It seems most activity so far this year represents smaller deals, which are not resulting in positive absorption. Most tenants are moving to take advantage of the opportunity to upgrade or resize their space. One favorable aspect of the market has been demand for medical office space. A new four-building medical office project that was started last year at Becks Woods on Route 40 in Bear, Del., is nearly fully leased or sold with the last building coming out of ground a few weeks ago. Additional medical projects are planned on Churchman’s Road near Christiana Hospital and on Lancaster Pike at Little Falls although groundbreaking has not yet occurred on either site. Christiana Hospital is nearing completion of its new Emergency Center at Route 1 in Middletown, Del., and we expect there will be …

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While the meltdown of the housing market originally benefited the multifamily sector — as more homeowners transitioned to renters — the current recession and its rising unemployment has started to affect activity. “Right now, it is all about the economy,” says Kevin Wolfgang, president of New Castle-based Evergreen Realty and recently elected president of the Delaware Apartment Association. “Our industry is directly affected by the job market, so the increased amount of unemployment has created significant operation challenges.” Multifamily owners in Delaware are weathering the storm by focusing on the operation of the properties — trying to find ways to make them as efficient as possible. This has slowed down sales considerably. Owners who are still receiving a steady cash flow are seeing no reason to sell for less money. “Most investors are very cautious right now,” Wolfgang says. “No one is chasing deals, and there is nothing that I have seen as having a major impact on the market right now.” Evergreen Realty’s main activity has been its purchase and upcoming redevelopment of Hampston Walk Apartments, a 370-unit community located in New Castle. The company purchased the blighted property in mid-2008 and is repositioning it with renovations to unit …

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Despite being just south of Philadelphia, Delaware continues to maintain its presence in the New England market and its own identity. After a very active period from 2005 to 2007, office development in Wilmington’s central business district (CBD) is now taking a breather. The last project finished, the Renaissance Center at 4th and King streets, still has significant vacancies. The suburban market has also slowed, and new developers are taking a wait-and-see approach before speculatively breaking ground on new projects. This current slowdown in market activity is attributable partly to the market and partly to the usual summer slump. The slowdown has brought overall vacancy rates to 17.1 percent for Class A and B office product, including sublease space. The Wilmington CBD comes in with the highest rate at 20.5 percent (Class A and B, including subleases), while western New Castle County posts a rate of 6.2 percent, an anomaly compared to the other submarkets that lean more towards the CBD’s rate. Currently, rents for Class A space in the CBD can run from the low $20s to low $30s per square foot. Suburban rents for Class A space are equivalent, ranging from the low to high $20s. Leasing may …

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