Market Reports

Origin-at-Symphony-Park_Las-Vegas

— By Megan Husic — For a long time, Las Vegas could not seem to attract major sports venues due to fear of sports gambling. But perceptions changed and opportunity skyrocketed when the supreme court struck down the federal law that prohibited sports gambling outside of Nevada in 2018, allowing other states to open sports books. Perception about major sports in Las Vegas seemed to change almost overnight.  Since 2017, Las Vegas has attracted successful NHL and WNBA franchises, lured the Raiders from Oakland, Calif., and hosted high-profile events like the NFL draft, Super Bowl, the NCAA men’s Final Four and a Formula 1 Grand Prix. Now, Major League Baseball is on deck as Vegas is currently making plans to develop a $1.5 billion stadium at a site that included the former Tropicana hotel, which is due to be demolished later this year in anticipation of the stadium.  Identifying Property with Potential Many sites along the Las Vegas Strip have been developed since the early 1960s. In some instances, these sites have been redeveloped several times over. In the environmental world, redevelopment sites typically occur on brownfields, defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a property, expansion, redevelopment or …

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John Ramous, Nevada region partner at Dermody Properties, discusses how the southern part of the state’s various regions have evolved into industrial hubs — and what the firm is doing to capitalize on this.   WREB: What is it about Las Vegas and its fundamentals that have made it an ideal place for industrial? Ramous: There are several key fundamentals driving Las Vegas’ — or Southern Nevada’s — growth as a comprehensive industrial and regional logistics hub. It’s strategically located near Southern California and other major West Coast markets, maintains a business and tax-friendly environment, has a supportive infrastructure, a streamlined permitting process, a focus on sustainability and a large, talented workforce with competitive labor costs. All these factors make this region an ideal place for industrial and logistics, as well as a very attractive location to work, live and conduct business. WREB: Can you tell me more about your Apex project?  Ramous: Apex Industrial Park is becoming a primary center for larger and scalable logistics facilities, advanced manufacturing, technology and other distribution uses. Located in North Las Vegas off Interstate 15, it is luring major companies to the region, benefiting the entire Southern Nevada market. Trucks are arriving full …

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Oasis-Commerce-Center-Las-Vegas-NV

— By Greg Tassi, vice chair, and Jason Griffis, senior director, Cushman & Wakefield — Southern Nevada continues to distinguish itself through economic diversity. Sports and entertainment, along with a robust industrial real estate market, play a key role in keeping Las Vegas relevant. Formula 1 Racing, the MSG Sphere, MLB’s Athletics and recent discussions around a potential NBA expansion team add to the local excitement. Meanwhile, a compelling industrial real estate market continues to attract and retain globally recognized businesses.  The industrial segment in the Las Vegas Valley remains a safe bet for national developers and institutional capital partners, many of which have a healthy appetite to either enter the market or expand their holdings. Land scarcity is the primary barrier to entry for new groups entering the market. Infill sites have become increasingly scarce with very few parcels of more than five acres suitable for industrial development.  The bulk of the new inventory will continue to push to the periphery of the Valley, including Sloan and Jean to the south, El Dorado Valley to the southeast and Apex to the north — home to Prologis’ recent 879-acre purchase. Henderson’s recently annexed El Dorado Valley attracted attention with a …

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By Ben Eisenberg of Transwestern In 2023 and continuing into 2024, Miami’s industrial sector experienced moderate growth due to reduced lease turnover and despite accelerating interest rates and economic uncertainty. However, the market’s strong industrial fundamentals and international connectivity via Miami International Airport and PortMiami continue to demonstrate its enduring strength and resilience.  Miami’s industrial market is powered by freight, logistics and e-commerce demand, along with traditional distribution, service and light assembly. The region continues to experience steady population growth that drives sustainable consumption of goods and services and, ultimately, the need for warehouse space. Accounting for nearly 27 percent of Florida’s overall population, Miami was home to more than 6.2 million people at the end of 2023 and is projected to grow to 6.3 million this year. The region’s population has expanded by nearly 7.6 percent over the past 10 years. Increased migration to the Sun Belt has boosted wealth, disposable income and consumption, making Miami one of the nation’s wealthiest metro areas, with some of the highest average home values.  In the first quarter of 2024, Miami’s unemployment rate reached a record low of 1.5 percent and has remained below 2 percent since the fourth-quarter 2022. The region’s …

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Intrigue-Apts-Las-Vegas-NV

— By Jason Dittenber, Senior Vice President, ABI Multifamily — Las Vegas has attracted residents and real estate investors from around the world with its legendary nightlife, favorable climate and affordable living. In the post-COVID era, the multifamily market in Las Vegas has undergone significant changes. The city has seen a resurgence in an economy heavily reliant on tourism, but challenges persist. They include the current lending environment, increasing operational and construction costs, increased vacancy rates and declining rental rates. These factors have influenced developers and investors in the multifamily sector, creating opportunities and obstacles. Developers like Matter, Southern Land Co.  and Grand Canyon Development Partners are helping to change the city’s multifamily dynamic by contributing to its economic and social advancements. Their innovation spans job creation, community development and sustainability initiatives. Moreover, their mixed-use properties foster business expansion, enhancing the city’s commercial landscape and key employment drivers. The Las Vegas MSA witnessed the delivery of 3,318 units in 2023, surpassing the five-year average of 3,069 units. The large number of new multifamily completions has created a more tenant-friendly market. Rental rates have softened but remain relatively high compared to average incomes. Over the past five years, rental rates surged …

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Todd Ostransky, vice president of development at Indicap, knew Metro Phoenix was a market the firm wanted to enter for industrial development. Though the area is a hotbed of industrial activity, Indicap’s attention immediately set on Mesa, less than 20 miles east of Phoenix, for its inaugural project.  “We identified the East Valley as an area of growth, along with the need for space for mid-bay industrial spec product,” he says. Indicap and joint venture partner AECOM-Canyon Partners chose a 65-acre space within the mixed-use, master-planned community of Eastmark. The JV purchased the site for $48 million in April 2022 during a period of “aggressive expansion,” which saw Indicap kick off 10 developments involving more than 13 million square feet of Class A industrial space across key Arizona corridors. The inaugural Phoenix-area project was Eastmark Center of Industry, which completed Phase I construction in April. This phase brought 978,837 rentable square feet of Class A industrial space to Mesa’s Gateway Airport submarket. The space spans five mid-bay and cross-dock buildings. It features concrete slab on grade, tilt-up exterior walls, and a hybrid wood roof system, ensuring durability and flexibility. Power was also a major amenity for a project of this …

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Miami’s multifamily sector was on fire from the end of 2020 through the beginning of 2023 as the market received a wave of newcomers, primarily from affluent Northeastern and Western states. During the height of the pandemic, roughly $1 out of every $6 in income that moved nationwide relocated to Florida, more than any other state. And Miami-Dade County saw the second highest inflows of any county in the country behind only Palm Beach, two counties to the north of Miami-Dade. This influx resulted in tremendous rent growth, booming new development and record-setting sales. The period also marked dozens of corporate expansions and relocations to the area and a consistent sub-3 percent unemployment rate dating back to August 2022, which is below today’s 3.8 percent national rate.  Since then, things have slowed down, though the epic in-migration of wealth has made a permanent impact. Miami’s multifamily fundamentals stand out as a beacon of resilience amid supply challenges across the Sun Belt. Infill rents have remained flat since 2022, notching slight increases in 2024, and occupancy has faltered only slightly. This is rarely celebrated, but in this case, it represents Miami’s unique strength. Demand also emerged for a higher caliber of …

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By Kirk Cypel, chief development officer, CBG Commercial Real Estate Misconceptions about the Rio Grande Valley’s (RGV) retail market abound, particularly among those who are unfamiliar with South Texas.  But those who are entrenched in shopping center ownership and development  in the area are baffled and frustrated by retailers allowing these misconceptions to deter them from actively exploring the RGV.  Questions like whether McAllen is an eight- or 10-hour drive from San Antonio, whether there’s an airport, if it’s safe — these are inquiries that simply make local retail owners and operators shake their heads. The same applies to brokers who inquire about securing endcap, freeway-visible spaces for under $10 per square foot.  The Valley Reality The RGV is less than a four-hour drive from San Antonio and is served by three commercial airports. It resembles a metropolitan area akin to California’s Inland Empire, where several interconnected cities form a cohesive economic unit.  Yet many are surprised to learn of the RGV’s considerable size, spanning 422,107 square miles — 60 percent larger than the Inland Empire and more comparable to San Diego County in size.  The Council for South Texas Economic Progress reports that the population is over 1.4 million, …

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By Taylor Williams If the whole mall redevelopment thing doesn’t work out, you can always become a marriage counselor. Perhaps some additional training and education would be needed for such a career transition to actually take place. But mall and shopping center owners who undertake high-risk redevelopments undoubtedly have firsthand appreciation of the importance of providing clear and courteous communication to the many different groups they deal with, from municipal leaders to longstanding tenants to onsite contract workers. That’s not to say that poor communication will necessarily kill a mall redevelopment. The inability to secure zoning overlay districts, civic partnerships for infrastructural improvements or feasibly priced construction loans in 2024 — these are variables over which mall owners have limited control and can actually sink these projects in their infancy. And those factors only come into play once the development team has done its due diligence and determined what uses and levels of density the project will feature.  “After you’ve considered the macro-level needs of the market and the asset itself, you enter a phase that we call ‘the minefield map,’” says Steve Plenge, CEO of Pacific Retail Capital Partners. “Reciprocal easement agreements [that regulate design or tenancy issues] by …

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2500-2550-Paseo-Verde-Pkwy-Las-Vegas-NV

— By Geoffrey West, Senior Vice President, Investment Property Sales and Acquisitions, MDL Group/CORFAC International — The Las Vegas retail market remains a tale of two cities with the tourism-driven Resort Corridor and surrounding MSA comprising two very different markets.  In the past, the stories of the “cities” were somewhat divergent with robust development, premium rents, and top-tier restaurant, bar, entertainment and retail tenants dominating in the Resort Corridor. In contrast, the primarily suburban MSA experienced decreasing rental growth rates, metered new development and fewer exciting new tenants.  However, looking at the past and current years, as well as into 2025, it appears the party isn’t just on the Las Vegas Strip anymore. Due in part to a statistical undersupply, the suburban Las Vegas retail market is poised to experience increasing rental growth rates over the next 12 to 18 months. The lack of new supply is expected to put continued upward pressure on retail leasing rates and downward pressure on vacancy rates, which are expected to be nearing record 2007 levels.  Economic Summary The Las Vegas market saw the completion of more than $8 billion in development in 2023. Among these are the $3.9 billion, 3,644-room Fontainebleau Las Vegas, …

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