Market Reports

Denver’s Industrial Market Is Still Going Strong

by Taylor Williams November 1, 2019

Denver’s industrial real estate market continues to fire on all cylinders with 37 consecutive quarters of positive net absorption, record amounts of new supply and record-low cap rates for investment properties. The region’s industrial product has benefitted greatly from a strong and diversified economy, significant population growth both locally and regionally and the continued trend by companies to modify their supply chain to accommodate same-day deliveries. Demand has come from existing businesses that have grown organically and are now serving a larger market and carrying increased inventories. It has also come from new companies that hadn’t previously had distribution centers here but now need to serve the Colorado Front Range and the Rocky Mountain region. A new phenomenon that impacted the market recently is increased demand by tenants and users seeking build-to-suits rather than leasing or purchasing speculative buildings. One reason has been affordability, as some new developers and their capital partners have accepted significantly lower yields on cost in order to “build into” the market, compared to existing local developers that have historically commanded higher yields for speculative product. An example of this was a project built by Becknell/UBS that contained a 541,000-square-foot, cross-dock building. Haier (GE) Appliances pre-leased …

November 1, 2019

Market Reports Multifamily Texas Texas Market Reports

Austin, San Antonio Apartment Markets Perform Similarly As Fourth Quarter Unfolds

by Taylor Williams November 1, 2019

In both Austin and San Antonio, consistent job creation and in-migration contributed to solid household formation and rental demand over the 12-month period ending in June. Many of these new households comprise younger professionals that favor the renter lifestyle. Following stretches of rampant construction, solid apartment demand from this demographic was met with fewer project deliveries in both markets over the past year. The decline in supply additions, coupled with strong absorption, reduced vacancy to near cycle-low levels in both metros during the second quarter. Robust leasing activity across all classes of apartments allowed the average effective rent to rise by more than 5 percent in each locale. These market conditions, paired with projected economic expansion and above-average first-year returns, boosted out-of-state buyer interest in Austin and San Antonio over the past four quarters, equating to notable spikes in transaction velocity. Austin: Class A Demand Austin’s reputation as a tech hub with a well-educated workforce has influenced many professional and business services-related companies to expand in the area, increasing the number of higher-earning residents in the metro. This has strengthened demand for luxury apartments, lowering Class A vacancy by 90 basis points over the 12-month period ending in June amid …

November 1, 2019

Affordable Housing Market Reports Multifamily Northeast Northeast Market Reports

Making Up for Lost Time Can Be Costly for Affordable Housing Developers

by Taylor Williams October 30, 2019

Despite evidence of their own experience, developers of affordable housing can still minimize the incidence of unforeseen delays and underestimate their costs. Capital One has 75 such developments under construction, and more than half are in some way behind schedule. This is neither unusual nor a comment on our partners’ skills as developers of much-needed affordable housing. The point is that making up for lost time can be particularly costly. While unforeseen delays are no more common in affordable housing than in other building types, developers of this product type run the unique risk of losing crucial tax credits when they miss a place-in-service deadline. Loss of tax credits as a funding source, which can account for as much as half the capital funding project costs in some cases, upends the carefully crafted funding structure of the development. Other developers might be content to pay an extra month’s interest on their construction loan while addressing the source of delay, as this constitutes a less-significant sacrifice at today’s rates than in the past. But affordable housing developers must incur extra expenses and do whatever is necessary to get the project back on track. Unforeseen Bedrock A case in point is the …

October 30, 2019

Colorado Market Reports Office Western Western Market Reports

Innovative Solutions Continue to Push the Office Market in Denver

by Taylor Williams October 25, 2019

Denver was one of the top major metros targeted by commercial real estate investors in 2018. This year is proving to be no different as the third quarter closes out with a flood of office deals. Office investors are being forced to look for deals outside Denver’s urban core. Value-add acquisitions are mainly redevelopments driven by tenant demand for “cool” workspace and talent wars. There is no arguing Denver’s office market is maturing, but there appears to be no threats of an impending plateau or decline. The headlines this year have been dominated by large office lease transactions, including WeWork tying up 220,000 square feet at McGregor Square in LoDo. WeWork has taken a commanding stance with 2 million square feet in Denver and counting. Much of that space is dedicated to enterprise office space solutions and headquarters locations. This year has also marked the notable expansion of coworking outside of Denver’s urban core into Midtown, Cherry Creek and Southeast Denver. Occupancy levels within WeWork locations historically ebb and flow with direct vacancy rates per submarket performance. For example, WeWork at Civic Center Plaza in Upper Downtown Denver has been slow to fill with memberships and term. A WeWork desk …

October 25, 2019

Market Reports Office Texas Texas Market Reports

Austin, San Antonio Office Markets Move Closer While Retaining Distinct Drivers

by Taylor Williams October 25, 2019

The phenomenal growth taking place in Austin and San Antonio has shown little sign of slowing over the past several years. These two mid-size Texas cities are developing quickly and continue to undergo rapid change. Both are ranked in the top 10 fastest-growing metro areas in the country and both have unemployment levels at near-record lows. Tenant Profiles The industries driving the economy in these two central Texas cities are quite different. Each has strong tourism sectors, but that is where the similarities end. In Austin, the tech industry, government, life sciences and creative arts are keeping the market extremely active. Defense, healthcare, oil and gas and the burgeoning markets of cybersecurity and biotech are driving absorption in San Antonio. New tenants are coming to San Antonio to take advantage of lower costs and an abundant workforce — a positive trend that reflects strong fundamentals and viability. As for Austin, Fortune 500 companies continue to pour into the city not only to capitalize on the lower cost of doing business in Texas, but also to recruit and lure a highly educated workforce. Austin’s third-consecutive gold medal ranking as the “Best Place to Live” by U.S. News & World Report makes …

October 25, 2019

Market Reports Midwest Midwest Market Reports Office Ohio

New Construction, Mixed-Use Drive Columbus Office Market Activity

by Kristin Harlow October 24, 2019

As a whole, commercial real estate in Columbus has experienced high levels of activity in recent years, and the office market has been no exception. The amount of new office space hitting the market has kept vacancy and average rental rates relatively flat, pacing the economic growth of the region. The vacancy rate has hovered around 6 to 7 percent, and the average rental rates are around $18 to $19 per square foot on a gross basis. Developers in the region are anticipating continued growth, so there is an additional 830,000 square feet of office space currently under construction. With that amount of new construction, we don’t expect the vacancy or rental rates to change dramatically in the coming year. Let’s look at the trends driving these numbers. Population, economic growth Columbus continues to grow quickly. Columbus offers residents a low cost of living, great drivability, plenty of amenities and economic opportunity. Since 2010, the metro area has grown by 10.8 percent, adding over 200,000 people, which makes Columbus the 14th-largest city in the United States with over 2 million total residents. The population growth hasn’t slowed down; from 2017 to 2018, the area grew 1.2 percent, and forecasts expect …

October 24, 2019

Market Reports New Jersey Northeast Northeast Market Reports Office

New Jersey Office Market in Good Shape Heading into Final Quarter of 2019

by Taylor Williams October 23, 2019

Employment growth in New Jersey continues to trend higher. Since the low point of the last recession in 2010, the state’s private sector has seen almost 409,000 new jobs added (through July). Of the office-using industries, professional and business services have shown healthy annual job growth — up 13,900 jobs — while financial services jobs have recorded declines over the past year. Meanwhile, the state’s unemployment rate continued to tick lower to 3.3 percent (as of July), the lowest in its recorded history. Within this context, the fundamentals of the New Jersey office market remain healthy as we enter the final quarter of 2019, with absorption totals remaining in the black, vacancies sinking lower and asking rents trending upward. Regional Discrepancies Northern New Jersey’s vacancy rate had dropped to 18.3 percent by the middle of 2019, the lowest point since the end of 2012, while central New Jersey checked in at 15.5 percent, marking four consecutive quarterly decreases. Space has tightened in some key submarkets, making landlords increasingly bullish. As a result, asking rents in Northern New Jersey have risen to $31.62 per square foot — an all-time high and a jump of 17.8 percent over the last four years. …

October 23, 2019

Market Reports Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports Tennessee

Cranes Inhabit Nashville Skies as Office Market Booms With New Projects

by John Nelson October 22, 2019

With more than 30 cranes in Nashville’s skies, it’s safe to say the Music City commercial real estate market is humming along. In fact, Davidson County approved $4.2 billion of commercial and residential construction permits in the 2018-2019 fiscal year, according to the Nashville Business Journal. Over the last three fiscal years, the county approved $11.4 billion in permits. While that’s an outstanding level of capital investment in a county with under 900,000 residents, it should be noted that Nashville’s MSA comprises 1.9 million residents encompassing 13 counties — all of which are experiencing record levels of construction permits. New companies coming to the city are driving the office market and construction demand, with several large announcements in the last year including Amazon, AllianceBernstein and Mitsubishi, and the city is continues to rapidly attract companies in the financial services, tech and healthcare industries. With a limited number of buildings available for adaptive reuse, most development taking place in the market is new construction. In fact, more than 460,000 square feet of Class A space was delivered in the third quarter of 2019. The majority of that figure was in Midtown and the Cool Springs/Franklin submarkets, with Aetna and Ramsey Solution’s …

October 22, 2019

Florida Market Reports Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Office-Using Employment Growth Reaches Record Levels in Orlando

by Alex Tostado October 21, 2019

The end of the second quarter of 2019 marked 120 consecutive months of U.S. economic growth, the longest on record. The steady climb in investment sales over the past few years has been fueled by record amounts of institutional capital and private equity, and office-using employment has reached an all-time high. By the end of March of this year, Florida’s private sector businesses had created over 208,000 jobs over the trailing 12-month period, and Orlando had reached 48 straight months as the state’s top location for job growth. Additionally, the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest figures indicate that three of the top 10 fastest growing cities in Florida are in the Orlando area (Kissimmee, St. Cloud and the city of Orlando itself). Altogether, there is $3.6 billion in multifamily construction underway or planned in metro Orlando, and all of this growth is fueling the need for improved transportation and logistics networks, as well as the corresponding commercial development taking place throughout the market. Finally, world-famous as a vacation destination, Orlando’s $70 billion tourism and travel industry continues to thrive with 75 million visitors during 2018 alone. Urban core grows Downtown Orlando’s renaissance continues, with a total of $2 billion in new …

October 21, 2019

Industrial Market Reports Oregon Western Western Market Reports

Portland Industrial’s Market Experiences Steady Growth

by Taylor Williams October 18, 2019

The Portland industrial market continues to be strong despite softening from a few leading indicators. The overall market vacancy rate is 4.3 percent, which is up from 3.4 percent in the third quarter of 2018, while absorption during this period was 832,000 square feet. Historical absorption during the current cycle has averaged 3.8 million square feet. Almost 5 million square feet came on line in 2018, 2 million of which was speculative space that was 85 percent available in July 2019. This impressive amount of growth expanded the existing overall market size by 2.2 percent. Top tenants have been Amazon’s fulfillment centers, which occupy 918,000 square feet in the Rivergate Industrial Park in North Portland and 857,000 square feet in Troutdale. Both facilities were developed by Trammell Crow. Amazon also signed a lease in Hillsboro in 2016 for 303,000 square feet of space that was developed by Majestic. A United States Postal Service processing and distribution facility moved from a confined, central city location into 818,000 square feet in the Airport Way industrial area in Northeast Portland. Other large users include third party logistics, retailers/wholesalers and local market distributors. Intel announced an additional 1.5-million-square-foot expansion of its existing 2.2 million …

October 18, 2019

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