It seems like politics watchers and the news media like to establish a veil of mystery around Cook County tax assessments. And although it sells papers and conjures an atmosphere of the unknown, the most important thing to know about tax relief in Cook County is the role of market value in assessments and how taxes are calculated. On June 13, taxing entities announced that tax rates in the City of Chicago would be going up approximately 10 percent. The second installment 2016 tax bills were scheduled to be published around July 1 with a very short payment deadline of Aug. 1, 2017. Those bills will reflect all changes to assessments, as well as the new tax rates. Tax increases make good headlines, but the increases were not a real surprise. The large anticipated property tax increases arise from a local ordinance designed to recapture a portion of the City of Chicago’s and Chicago Public Schools’ large budget deficits and pension plan deficits. This local real estate tax increase resulted from the absence any current resolution of the continuing budgetary stalemate between the general assembly and the governor’s office in Springfield, Illinois. The table below illustrates the potential real estate …
While recently visiting a local Starbucks, I noticed an employee behind the counter with a tattoo in the shape of California. I decided to ask the barista if she was from the Golden State, and indeed she was. I asked what brought her to Des Moines, thinking she would say family or a love interest, but I was wrong. She had read and heard so much positive press about the Des Moines area that she decided to give it a shot. She started applying for jobs online and landed one with Wells Fargo, the largest employer in Des Moines. Working at Starbucks was her second gig. I asked if she lived in the suburbs. She replied, “Nope, I live downtown and work in the suburbs.” Population surge This anecdotal story is pretty common these days. Young people are flocking to Des Moines like never before. I have lived in Des Moines nearly 40 years, and never have I seen the growth we are currently experiencing. Much of it has to do with the quality of life. We don’t yet have a rush hour — we call it rush minutes. The cost of living is reasonable, and young people stand a …
As Chicago has emerged as one of the country’s top tech capitals, large parcels of land across the city -— many set aside for manufacturers that no longer do business there — have remained stuck in the past, serving as roadblocks to billions of dollars in new real estate development. That’s about to change thanks to a yearlong effort spearheaded by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city’s Department of Planning and Development, which recently approved recommendations for modernizing the first of 26 industrial corridors across the city. The recommendations are the result of a community engagement process that solicited feedback from various stakeholders, including our firm and other real estate developers. The plan will pave the way for new residential and commercial projects throughout the North Branch Industrial Corridor, which stretches from Kinzie Street to just north of Fullerton Avenue along the Chicago River. These investments, which include much-needed infrastructure and open space initiatives, will engage the adjacent riverfront and create mixed-use environments. The early years In the 1980s, the city of Chicago designated a series of industrial corridors and Planned Manufacturing Districts (PMDs) — many along waterways and railways — to protect the city’s industrial base from encroachment by …
In spite of the ongoing fiscal woes of the State of Illinois and City of Chicago, the downtown office market in the Windy City continues to experience solid growth in demand for quality office space. The first quarter of 2017 saw net absorption of 374,000 square feet, a 54 percent increase from the 243,000 square feet of net absorption recorded during the first quarter of 2016. This comes on the heels of a spike in supply in the central business district (CBD) of Chicago, with the opening of two new Class A office towers during the past two quarters: 150 North Riverside Plaza and 444 West Lake Street, developed by Riverside Investment & Development Co. and Hines Interests, respectively. These trophy assets added 2.4 million square feet of office space to the CBD. With these additions, Chicago’s office inventory in the CBD expanded from 132.6 million square feet in the first quarter of 2016 to 135 million square feet in the first quarter of 2017. Two additional towers under construction now at 151 N. Franklin Street and 625 W. Adams Street will open in the next 12 months, adding an additional 1.3 million square feet to the supply and bringing …
In a major victory for subsidized housing developers and investors, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has reaffirmed longstanding principles governing the assessment of these properties. The Dec. 22, 2016 decision in Regency West Apartments LLC v. City of Racine confirms that the assessment of a subsidized housing project is a property-specific exercise that must take into account the type of federal program involved, specific restrictions on the property, and actual property income and expenses. The decision also affirms that the value of a subsidized property cannot be determined by comparison to conventional apartment properties that have no restrictions and can charge full market rents. Historical context The Wisconsin Supreme Court first upheld these principles in a 1993 case involving a Milwaukee apartment project subject to rental and other restrictions imposed by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The assessor had valued the property based on market rents at conventional apartments, ignoring the property owner’s inability to legally charge market rents. The Supreme Court nullified the assessment, stating that the assessor had illegally assessed the property by “pretend[ing]” that the HUD restrictions did not apply. The new decision In the December 2016 decision, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the …
The pace of retail construction remains brisk in Wichita with national retailers showing an increased interest in the market. In the first quarter, developers started construction on nine buildings totaling 112,961 square feet, reports brokerage firm NAI Martens. Completions during the first quarter totaled 117,300 square feet. Notable store openings included Sprouts Farmers Market at Central Avenue and Rock Road; Save-A-Lot grocery store at 1640 S. Broadway; Cavender’s western wear store in Greenwich Place at K-96 and Greenwich Road; Andy’s Frozen Custard at NewMarket Square along 21st Street; and a freestanding Starbucks at Wichita State University on the school’s innovation campus. In short, developers in Wichita appear to be making up for lost time. As a result of the Great Recession, the local economy shed 30,000 jobs between 2009 and 2011, many of them related to the aviation industry, according to the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce. Commercial real estate activity ground to a halt at that point. “Between 2008 and 2012 and maybe into 2014, we just didn’t have much development at all. There were some plans on the drawing boards, but nothing really reached fruition,” recalls Thomas Johnson, president of NAI Martens. But consumer confidence gradually began to …
A snapshot of Toledo’s industrial real estate market at the end of 2016 reveals a well-performing sector, maintaining the steady improvement recorded during the prior year. In fact, the vital signs of the property sector hit some of their best levels in a decade last year. By the end of the year, every key metric was up from midyear 2016 and year-end 2015. One bit of cloudiness trying to sneak in on the otherwise very sunny picture, however, is the limited supply of available space options. Demand clearly exists for additional space, but users are unable to find options that fit their needs. The dearth of adequate space alternatives is restraining potential transaction volume and, by extension, probable job growth. By Toledo standards, the market has been absorbing an impressive amount of space over the past several years. Overall, the 85 million-square-foot market absorbed 763,065 square feet in the second half of 2016. However, as strong as the absorption numbers have been, it is easy to speculate they would be much higher if more of the right kind and sizes of space existed in the market. There is a shortage among all building sizes, but the need is most acute …
No matter where you turn in the Indianapolis metro area, there is one common thread — change. From Mile Square to Downtown Fishers to Main Street in Speedway to Fletcher Place, all are nearly unrecognizable from a few years ago, and they are just a sampling of central Indiana commercial districts that are transforming at a rapid pace. Restaurants, retail and mixed-use developments are a big part of this rapid evolution, but the ripple effects on office real estate are taking hold. Tech jobs are catalyst Downtown Indy Inc. estimates the population in the central business district (CBD) will double from 2010 to 2020. According to the Indy Partnership, approximately 60 percent of the market’s 11,100 new jobs in 2016 came from the information technology and logistics fields. The downtown office market, where a majority of these jobs are landing, is evolving as a result of this technology job growth. In the past few years, large blocks of vacancy have plagued the Indianapolis CBD, specifically in high-rise office towers. In mid-2016, the largest of those availabilities became an asset. San Francisco-based Salesforce.com signed a new lease to consolidate operations into nearly 250,000 square feet on 11 floors in the tallest …
Strong job growth in the second half of 2016, robust tenant absorption of new apartment supply and falling vacancies throughout the Indianapolis metro area supported a markedly improved multifamily marketplace by the end of the year. This year, steady employment gains and rising home prices will continue to bolster apartment property performance metrowide. In the first half of 2016, hiring was sluggish due to a lack of available workers, but ramped up at midyear. By year’s end, area employers increased employee headcounts by 25,300, a 2.5 percent increase overall. Although employment gains were widespread, the education and health services sector led job creation followed by construction. With the opening of Cummins Inc.’s new distribution headquarters and tech sector growth most notably Salesforce’s significant expansion in the area hiring this year is expected to remain stable. The forecast calls for employers to add 20,000 new workers to payrolls this year, which will further elevate demand for multifamily rentals. Construction ramps up Developers delivered 2,500 rental units to the marketplace last year, the second largest annual supply increase in nine years, but tenants readily absorbed the new supply. Nearly half of the submarkets in the metro area received new supply in 2016, …
Similar to the past couple of years, it is difficult to identify one or two items to highlight about the Omaha industrial market. Although the most impressive improvement might be the amount of new construction starts in 2016, factors such as sales prices per square foot, number of overall transactions, average asking rents, vacancy rates, landlord concessions all trended in a favorable direction for owners of industrial properties. This has been a staggering year- over-year trend, which has led many industry professionals to ask the same question: Is the market becoming too hot? User-driven projects over 100,000 square feet were the highlight of 2016, with multiple large projects breaking ground. Those users included Thrasher Inc., a rapidly growing, Omaha-based basement waterproofing and foundation repair company, which broke ground on its 209,000-square-foot office and warehouse facility located near 120th Street and Valley Ridge Drive; and Oxbow Industries, a Murdock, Neb.-based manufacturer, that is working with a developer on a new 140,000-square-foot facility at 150th Street and Schram Road. However, new construction starts for large projects were not the only storyline. Companies including Rotella’s Italian Bakery (6949 S. 108th St.) and State Steel (13413 Centech Road) made notable expansions to their existing …