Downtown Indianapolis is already feeling the impact of Salesforce.com Inc.’s recent decision to lease more than 220,000 square feet for a new regional headquarters in the state’s tallest office building, located at 111 Monument Circle. The firm’s $40 million investment over 10 years includes expansion plans for its regional headquarters as well as changing the name of the 48-story office tower from Chase Tower to Salesforce Tower Indianapolis. This will be one of only four towers in the world that bear the Salesforce name — the others are located in New York, London and San Francisco. Salesforce.com, a publicly traded company (NYSE: CRM), is a business software provider best known for applications that help salespeople track customer contacts and marketers plan campaigns, according to The Wall Street Journal. The San Francisco-based tech company currently has 1,400 employees in Indianapolis and plans to hire 800 new employees over the next five years. The company is expected to move into the tower in early 2017. The firm currently leases space in three other buildings downtown. This speaks volumes about Indianapolis’ efforts to become the Midwest hub for technology. While Salesforce is one of Indianapolis’ largest technology employers, nearly 100 tech companies are …
Growth in the Indianapolis downtown multifamily market is as dynamic as the city itself. Since 2013, 3,000 units have been delivered and leased up rapidly. The vacancy rate registers 4.5 percent in a submarket that historically has seen vacancy rates of around 8 percent. Demand is healthy and growth continues, with another 283 units scheduled for delivery by the end of this year. A unique contributor to this multifamily construction boom is the downtown campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), the IU Law School and the IU Medical School. A sudden building spree of more than $100 million of student-focused projects is occurring downtown near IUPUI. With more than 1,000 units currently under construction or in the works, these new deliveries signal a real change for IUPUI from a commuter orientation to that of a residential campus. These off-campus locations will likely appeal to young professionals as well, and savvy developers are making certain to provide conventional units as part of their mix. The largest such development currently under construction is Trinitas Ventures’ 193-unit, 669-bed project at the northeast corner of Michigan Street and Capitol Avenue. Known as Lux On Capitol, the student housing development is due to open …
The greater Indianapolis industrial market has experienced incredible growth over the past three years, and it continues to be one of the most sought-after industrial markets in the country. Supply and demand is the big story in early 2016. Because shovel-ready land is difficult to find, demand for land alternatives is pushing development further and further away from the beltway while simultaneously causing land prices to escalate. Local communities that figure out how to competitively bring shovel-ready land to the market will reap great rewards. There is strong demand for space across the industrial sector, with second-generation and medium-size distribution space outpacing the other industrial product types. Those seeking smaller, single-tenant buildings under 50,000 square feet are realizing how difficult they are to find. Additionally, the supply of available speculative space in the greater Indianapolis market has been on everyone’s radar for the past two years. Demand for spec space is catching up to the supply as evidenced by several new leases signed since the end of 2015. Currently, there is approximately 2.2 million square feet of industrial product under construction, including 1.4 million square feet of speculative development and 800,000 square feet of build-to-suit construction. Game changer The e-commerce …
The office sector in the northern suburbs of Indianapolis shows clear signs of solid growth and stability with new construction and deeper tenant demand for space, particularly in the Class A segment. A number of factors contribute to this trend, including job growth, availability of land for housing and favorable demographics. Decision-makers live in the northern suburbs along with families, empty nesters and educated workers. Nearly 90 percent of all suburban office space in greater Indianapolis is located north of 71st Street in five key submarkets: North/Carmel, Keystone, Northwest, the Fishers/I-69 Corridor and Northeast/Castleton. Five I-465 interchanges define these five northern suburban office submarkets of Indianapolis, providing workers efficient access to 17.5 million square feet of office space. Through the third quarter of this year, overall occupancy in these five suburban submarkets stood at nearly 85 percent. The occupancy rate for Class A space was considerably higher at 89 percent. There are only seven blocks of contiguous office space 100,000 square feet or greater available in the suburbs and downtown — four of which are located in the northern suburbs. These spaces include 133,000 square feet at Two Concourse, 10194 Crosspoint Blvd.; 113,000 square feet at the former Charles Schwab …
Consumers’ desire for shopping convenience and lower prices is driving online retail sales up, accounting for 7.2 percent of total U.S. retail sales so far in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And that percentage is expected to double by 2020. It’s no wonder that the popularity of online shopping also is spurring growth in the industrial segment of commercial real estate, particularly in central Indiana. Over the past three years, the growth of e-commerce has accounted for 55 percent of total industrial net absorption in the United States. In 2015 alone, e-commerce has been responsible for 31 percent of industrial net absorption year to date. During the current expansion, the Indianapolis industrial market ranks eighth among all U.S. industrial markets in terms of total net absorption, according to Cushman & Wakefield. In the second quarter of this year, net absorption for modern bulk space totaled 1.6 million square feet, more than any other industrial segment in the market. Since 2013, nearly 15 percent of industrial square footage leased in metro Indianapolis has been related to e-commerce. The FedEx Factor With a compound annual growth rate of 14 percent since 2008, e-commerce has driven retailers to establish dedicated dot-com …
The retail market as a whole is shifting to make shopping more experiential amid a recovering economy and the influence of millennials and their shopping demands and interests. Despite the buzz about the popularity of online shopping, less than 10 percent of all retail sales take place via the Internet. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), online retail sales in 2013 were nearly $263 billion, accounting for a mere 6 percent of total retail sales. In-store sales accounted for the remaining $4.3 trillion, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. It’s clear that while some consumers find online shopping convenient, the majority still prefer the shopping center experience. In particular, millennials, who are 74 million strong with a buying power of $174 billion, demand that experience. Last fall, Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group forecast that 89 percent of millennials would shop at a mall over the holidays. Surprisingly, millennials use technology to conduct research about products, but they generally prefer to visit stores to make purchases. Millennials will read product reviews online but they want to touch the merchandise, feel it, experience it and then tweet about it to friends. So, while the entire shopping process revolves around technology, …
The nickname for Indianapolis, “Naptown,” is quickly fading in the rearview mirror as the city receives an increasing amount of recognition as one of the best places to live and work in America. Thanks to a unique combination of Hoosier hospitality, pro-business environment and amenities such as the Cultural Trail, Indianapolis has been named “One of the best new boom towns in the U.S.” by Forbes magazine and the “No. 3 Downtown in the U.S.” by Livability.com. With $1 billion in new projects on the horizon, it’s no surprise that downtown Indianapolis is making headlines. Indygo’s $37 million Downtown Transit Center, in close proximity to the Cultural Trail and Bike Hub, will serve pedestrians, cyclists and bus riders. A $26 million investment in a new Science and Engineering Lab at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis will continue to encourage life sciences and technology careers. Plans also are in the works to revamp downtown’s iconic Monument Circle with space for events, an ice skating rink, sidewalk cafes and more. On the residential front, investments in excess of $400 million over the past five years have resulted in new housing for 4,000 additional residents. Downtown Residential Boom According to public/private partnership Downtown Indy, …
Indianapolis is experiencing explosive growth in the mid- and big-box grocery store sector. Capitalizing on the consumer trend of active and healthy lifestyles, the metro area has attracted new concepts to the market. Fresh Thyme Farmers Markets will soon join the already healthy and organic offerings of Whole Foods, The Fresh Market and Earth Fare. Although these brands have a smaller footprint than traditional grocers, these specialty gourmet grocers account for seven new stores consuming more than 160,000 square feet of retail space throughout Indianapolis and the suburban markets. This growth in the organic and health food concepts complements the well-care businesses that expanded their presence in the Indianapolis area last year, including Vision Works, Med Express, ATI Physical Therapy and Accelerated Physical Therapy. Consumer demand for convenient access to personal well-care services, such as medical spas, massage therapy, cosmetic dentistry and personal fitness is on the rise. These types of businesses account for a significant amount of absorption within several neighborhood shopping centers throughout the market. In that vein, consumers also are choosing healthier dining options such as grab-and-go prepared foods at their local grocer rather than hitting the fast food drive-thru or dining at a restaurant. This preference …
The big story in the Indianapolis office market is not the latest change in the occupancy rate or rents, but rather the desire by landlords and tenants to create a sense of place. Connectivity and collaboration, amenities and perks, as well as talent recruitment and retention have taken on a heightened importance. Interestingly, these buzzwords are used just as frequently when assessing corporate real estate as they are in the human resources department. Employees today look for their work experience to offer something more than a desktop. They look for connectivity to diverse and conveniently located amenities within walking distance. They want easy access to biking and walking trails and fitness facilities. They seek open collaborative workstations, game rooms, huddle rooms, bike storage, as well as showers and lockers. Their desires are influencing real estate development and the locations employers ultimately select. There is ample evidence of these trends in Indianapolis. Thanks to the wisdom of the city’s early founders and more recently key city officials, Indianapolis enjoys a condensed city core. Its downtown already has the framework to offer up an easy-to-connect experience, recently enhanced with a world-class urban bike and pedestrian path connecting neighborhoods, cultural districts and other …
The Indianapolis industrial market has experienced a significant amount of absorption during the past several quarters, driving down the multi-tenant vacancy rate to 3.3 percent and leading to a new round of speculative development, according to brokerage firm Cassidy Turley. The key engines driving growth are technology, housing, auto suppliers, and distribution centers related to Internet sales. Some 3.2 million square feet of speculative industrial space is under construction in the Indianapolis area. The city currently has 240.5 million square feet of inventory. When completed, the speculative product in the development pipeline is expected to result in the multi-tenant vacancy rate rising closer to the historical norm of approximately 4 percent. Michael Weishaar, senior vice president and principal at Cassidy Turley’s Indianapolis office, says the low industrial vacancy rate is partly the result of proper planning. “Our developers are intelligent about oversupply,” says Weishaar. “They saw a rough economy and thought we needed to re-look at our supply chain.” With so much speculative development under way, is there enough demand to absorb it all? Although vacancy rates will rise closer to their historical average in the short term when space comes available, in the long run this amount of space …