Philadelphia’s office and industrial markets have been on a hot streak for the past year, with lower vacancy rates and greater rent growth than the national average. Office vacancies are enjoying far lower vacancy rates than regional and national averages for both Class A and Class B properties in the central business district and the suburbs. Flex and industrial vacancy rates are below 7 percent overall, well below regional and national averages, with average asking rents at about $5 per square foot. We see this upswing continuing in 2018 as demand keeps pace with or exceeds new development. Philadelphia has experienced seven years of uninterrupted job growth across all sectors, with 1.8 percent growth between August 2016 and August 2017 — outpacing the national average of about 1.5 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We saw job growth across the board, including the education, health, and leisure and hospitality sectors. But the biggest gain was in business and professional services, where Philadelphia added 16,700 jobs over 12 months. That represents a 3.6 percent year-over-year growth rate in high-end office jobs, compared to a national average of 3 percent. Manufacturing employment declined over the past 12 months, despite …
Suburban Philadelphia Update The suburban Philadelphia apartment market had a very successful 2017, with no slow down anticipated for 2018. Fundamentals remain strong with low interest rates and increased demand from outside buyers, which is compressing cap rates even further than historical lows. Some highlighted sales include Willowyck Apartments in Montgomery County, which sold at a sub-5 percent cap rate on trailing 12-month numbers, and Declan House in Ardmore, which recently sold at a pro forma cap rate of 5 percent. These are two of numerous transactions that have sold at historically low cap rates over the last 12 months in suburban Philadelphia. We are also seeing more newly constructed Class A, highly amenitized properties in suburban Philadelphia that are targeting rents at north of $2.75 per square foot. Some successes have included the Maybrook, a 250-unit newly constructed property in Narberth/Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. The complex opened for leasing in late 2017 and they have been achieving rents in the $2.75- to $3-per-square-foot range. Another new construction success story is the influx of more than 800 apartments located in close proximity to Towne Center in King of Prussia. The properties include Indigo 301 and Hanover Valley Forge, among others. Both properties …
In Southern Maine, we have an inventory problem. An inventory shortage, that is. During the recovery, there has been a steady flight to quality in all sectors including office, retail and, most strikingly, the industrial market. For the seventh consecutive year, the Greater Portland industrial market vacancy rate has dropped. We are now hovering close to a 2 percent total vacancy, which is grossly inhibiting end-users and growth. Throughout 2017, we worked with buyers and tenants that struggle to find suitable relocation and growth opportunities. Multiple offers and off-market sales have become commonplace, which frustrates end-users. We are coaching our clients to remain patient, flexible and communicative in this fluid and competitive market. Accordingly, the limited inventory drastically increased both lease rates and sales pricing for industrial style space. Sale price trends, in particular, deserve a closer look. In 2011, at the tail end of the recession, Class A and B industrial buildings were selling in the $40-per-square-foot range. Sales were almost exclusively going to owner-user businesses who were bullish enough to bet the economy would turn. Today, those businesses are competing with a smaller inventory pool, and against investors looking to diversify their portfolios. Quality industrial buildings are now …
As 2018 begins, it appears that the Greater Portland office market has continued to hold on to low vacancy rates as supply remains low across both Class A and Class B buildings throughout the market. CBRE/The Boulos Co is conducting its annual market outlook; it will be exciting to see the results, which we release in January. I anticipate the numbers to show a steady or slight decrease in vacancy rates across all submarkets but also show a much lower absorption rate, as momentum has appeared to slow down over the last 18 months. Transaction volume is trending far lower than in previous years and could possibly be the lowest number of transactions in the last seven years. However, there were a number a relatively large transactions completed over the last six months that will have a larger impact on the overall vacancy rate than simple transact ion volume. And we must consider that the small number of leases signed could also be due in part to limited supply. The Downtown Portland Class A office market, in particular, continues to operate at historically low vacancy rates. Over the last five years, there has been a steady decline in Class A …
Retail inventory in Southern New Hampshire totaled 29.8 million square feet in 2017, a modest decline of 59,400 square feet, or 0.2 percent, largely due to retail demolitions and conversions to non-retail space, including auto dealerships, office, and residential. Some former retailer spaces that have been demolished include the 17,800-square-foot Grenon Trading Co. in Bedford, the 10,700-square-foot New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet in Salem, and the 8,400-square-foot Weathervane Restaurant in Salem. The big story in the market is the notable decline in vacancy. Several retailers absorbed large vacancies, reducing unoccupied space by more than 400,000 square feet, and cutting the vacancy rate from 10.5 percent in 2016 to the current level of 9.1 percent. Larger retailers who filled vacant space include Chunky’s Cinema in Manchester, which opened in a portion of the former Lowe’s store; Hobby Lobby in Nashua, filling a vacant Market Basket at Somerset Plaza; and Ocean State Job Lot in Seabrook, which opened in the former Walmart at Southgate Shopping Center. As a result of relatively stable inventory and considerable decline in vacancy, the region finished the year with positive net absorption of 352,400 square feet. There’s been no change in the top 10 largest regional …
With a statewide unemployment rate of 2.7 percent, New Hampshire has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, and is well below the national unemployment rate of 4.4 percent. The New Hampshire labor market has continued to tighten, with unemployment having dropped 0.2 percentage points since third quarter of last year. Employment gains have not been seen in two traditionally industrial sectors: trade, transportation & utilities or manufacturing. Employment in these sectors has remained relatively flat year-over-year, at -0.4 percent and 0.6 percent growth respectively. Year-to-date industrial absorption was pushed up to 623,485 square feet by continued positive absorption in the third quarter. The three largest submarkets — Nashua, Manchester, and Portsmouth —made up the majority of that absorption, while two of the smaller submarkets — Concord and Bedford — are the only ones experiencing negative year-to-date absorption. The largest new lease of the fourth quarter of 2017 was Bensonwood Woodworking’s lease of more than 100,000 square feet of space at 25 Production Avenue in Keene. The space will be used mainly for manufacturing purposes. On the capital markets front, the largest transaction of the quarter was the purchase of 55 and 85 Mechanic Street, a 119,000-square-foot multi-tenant …
The retail market in Connecticut is alive and well. Sure it’s changing but what industry doesn’t experience change? There are numerous retail categories that continue to post healthy sales while also keeping their new store counts in a growth trajectory. Other categories will adapt to consumer trends and stay relevant in the world of brick and mortar. As we close 2017, we see that traditional shopping centers, especially grocery-anchored centers, are the solid performers in the sector. The “services” or “daily needs” category of retail continue to flock to these centers mainly because of consumer routine. The “services/daily needs” category includes health/fitness, traditional sit-down restaurants, quick-service restaurants, pharmacies, pet supply retailers, wireless communications, medical (walk-ins) and banking. Traditional neighborhood centers are becoming more conscious about merchandising with this specific category while trying to avoid deals with the more risky retail categories, such as off-priced apparel. The big-box power centers and the centers with large chunks of vacancy are another story, and there will be winners and losers. Geography plays a big role here and it’s not the dead-end road that some suggest. Over the past 18 months, my team’s exclusive leasing portfolio has had two Kmart closures in two separate …
Connecticut’s Fairfield County ranks among America’s 40 wealthiest counties with a median household income of $81,268 in 2010. And while some of its current office market data stand at low levels, many indicators point to a bright future. Year-to-date office leasing activity reached 1.7 million square feet as of the third quarter. This amounts to a 21 percent increase relative to the same period one year ago. While this figure stands 3.1 percent below the five-year historical average, overall leasing volume does not take into account a 500,000-square-foot, build-to-suit lease undertaken by Charter Communications at Gateway Harbor Point in Stamford. For the quarter, aggregate office leasing in the county totaled 555,629 square feet. Stamford and Greenwich accounted for more than 77 percent of the total. Major transactions included Bank of America’s 166,000-square-foot lease at 600 Washington Boulevard in Stamford and AQR Capital’s 90,000-square-foot expansion at One Greenwich Plaza. In August, Stamford scored its most impactful corporate attraction of the year when the German-based multinational Henkel moved its North American headquarters from Scottsdale, Arizona, to 155,000 square feet within the BLT Financial Centre at 200 Elm Street. The consumer products firm said its laundry, beauty and home-care divisions are employing approximately …
Over the past decade, urbanization has emerged as one of the most impactful trends to hit the real estate industry. This trend, embodied by the live-work-play concept, has been embraced by all demographic cohorts, from millennials to baby boomers and even retirees. While the impact has been most visible in the urban core, Boston’s suburbs are also being transformed, and the inclusion of pedestrian-oriented retail into new and existing projects is playing the integral role. Modernized, high-traffic retail concepts now provide the coveted ability to work, shop, dine and entertain with the same convenience of downtown while being proximate to the region’s top bedroom communities. The Polaroid Site, Waltham Waltham is Boston’s top suburban office market; however, its biggest drawback had been a lack of real amenities. Sam Park & Company acquired Polaroid’s former headquarters and planned a 1.5 million-square-foot, mixed-use development, which includes Market Basket, Not Your Average Joe’s, Flank, Starbucks and Jake n Joes Sports Grille. The existing and improving amenity package at 1265 Main immediately drew the attention of Clarks, which moved its American headquarters to a new 120,000-square-foot building on the site. MarketStreet Lynnfield Once the Colonial Country Club, MarketStreet Lynnfield is now a mixed-use development …
The commercial real estate market in the Greater Boston area continued its torrid pace in the first half of 2017. All sections of the commercial real estate market inside Route 128 are white hot, especially after the announcement that General Electric will move its corporate headquarters to the Seaport District. Recent data indicates that Boston has one of the hottest economies in the United States and ranks as one of the top economies in the world. The 2017 Investment Intensity Index ranks Boston as the fourth market in the U.S. and 14th in the world for commercial real estate investment. In the industrial sector, which includes warehouse/distribution and flex/R&D product, vacancies are at the lowest point seen in decades. At the end of the first quarter the vacancy rate decreased to 5.7 percent. Net absorption totaled 2.24 million square feet for the quarter. The fact that the urban industrial market is continually shrinking as aging industrial properties are redeveloped into “higher and better uses” has caused a tremendous displacement of companies from inside Route 128 to areas outside the coveted Route 95 corridor. A dearth of available institutional-quality industrial product exists in today’s market with just over 13 percent of …