Market Reports

Retailers Get Creative as Miami is Hot, But Available Space is Not

by John Nelson June 4, 2018

The Miami retail market is healthy, expanding and not showing signs of a slowdown. At more than 2.8 million people with an average household income of nearly $70,000, demand for more retail continues throughout Miami-Dade County. The submarkets of Aventura, North Miami, Coconut Grove, Kendall and Pinecrest, as well as the urban core submarkets of Brickell, Midtown and Wynwood, reflect this with low vacancy rates and increasing rents. Most of the new construction projects underway or recently delivered are in the form of mixed-use projects, both within Miami’s urban core and in well-established submarkets such as Coral Gables, Doral and the Design District. The bad news? Miami is landlocked between the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades, limiting space for traditional retail development and retailer footprints. But here’s where it gets interesting, and promising — instead of abandoning the market, developers and retailers in Miami-Dade County are simply getting creative with the limited dirt available. Building Density Because of the scarcity of land and its high price per-acre, density is the top priority, resulting in a surge of vertical, mixed-use developments with structured parking. For instance, Brickell City Centre demonstrates that if developers want critical mass, sometimes the only way to …

June 4, 2018

Industrial Market Reports Texas Texas Market Reports

Heightened Border Activity Drives Down Industrial Vacancy in Rio Grande Valley

by Taylor Williams June 1, 2018

The industrial market of the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) is off to a blistering start in 2018, thanks to a combination of increased commercial activity around the U.S.-Mexico border and renewed political and military interest in the region. We use the tri-city area of McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, now the fifth-largest MSA in Texas, as a yardstick for our regional analysis. According to CBRE, industrial vacancy in this market registered an all-time low of 3 percent during the first quarter. In addition, the market posted positive net absorption of approximately 79,000 square feet during the first quarter, a year-over-year increase of 24,000 square feet. Average asking rents for industrial space are also up 40 cents from the first quarter of 2017. Demand for industrial space in the RGV has always been a factor of the region’s proximity to Mexico. The Mexican border city of Reynosa absorbed more than 2 million square feet of industrial space in 2017. More than 1 million square feet of industrial product is under construction in Reynosa, and the pipeline includes everything from heavy manufacturing plants to rail-served distribution centers. This aspect of the RGV’s location has always played a pivotal role in generating demand for warehousing — for …

June 1, 2018

Industrial Market Reports Midwest Midwest Market Reports Missouri

Kansas City Industrial Market Ranks in Top 10 for Speculative Construction Growth

by Kristin Harlow May 31, 2018

“If you build it, he will come.” Yes, you’ve heard the Field of Dreams reference before, but never has it rang truer than with the Kansas City industrial market. The construction of 500,000-square-foot buildings suddenly ignited tenants’ interest in that space size, so much so that in the past two years Kansas City has experienced a tremendous surge in growth. In fact, Kansas City is now ranked No. 6 on the list of the top 10 U.S. industrial markets for speculative construction deliveries, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Coming off a record 5.5 million square feet of positive net absorption in 2016, the market exceeded that number by 65.7 percent in 2017 with a staggering year-end total of 9.2 million square feet of absorption. Putting that kind of tenant demand into perspective is challenging. The consensus is that while Kansas City has enjoyed a boom period for the past few years, 2018 will prove to be the best year yet. For the past six years, the vacancy rate held steady, never going above 8.3 percent and never dropping below 7.1 percent. To better understand just how fast this market is growing, let’s examine some of the largest industrial markets in …

May 31, 2018

Florida Market Reports Office Property Type Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Tampa Bay’s Office Market is Evolving with New Spec Construction on the Horizon

by John Nelson May 28, 2018

Economic growth in Tampa Bay continues at an impressive pace, driven by strong population and employment growth over the past several years. The unemployment rate has steadily declined, dropping 110 basis points from December 2016 to a current 3.4 percent, and the strong pace of job growth continues with a rise in non-farm employment of 35,000 new jobs during the trailing 12-month period ending December 2017. As a result, leasing activity has increased, rental rates continue to show incremental growth and there is a strong likelihood of new speculative office construction in the coming year. Major corporations continue to reaffirm their confidence in Tampa with significant announcements of planned corporate expansions by MetLife, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), AAA and USAA during the second half of 2017. In fact, the Tampa Bay metropolitan area ranked as one of the top 20 “U.S. Markets to Watch” for overall real estate prospects in the Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2018 report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute. Investment Activity Many investors who in years past were seeking opportunities in gateway markets are now turning their attention to secondary markets like the Tampa Bay area in search of higher yields. There were several …

May 28, 2018

Market Reports Office Texas Texas Market Reports

Fate of NAFTA, Foreign Trade to Shape Rio Grande Valley Office Market in 2018

by Taylor Williams May 25, 2018

The economy of the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) has always been closely linked to foreign trade. The region’s numerous port markets and its proximity to Mexico — in particular, the robust industrial market of the Mexican border city of Reynosa — have always ensured that international commerce plays a key role in the economic success of the RGV. Manufacturing and distribution have always been major drivers of growth in the RGV. We often analyze the performances of these sectors when gauging the health of the region’s office market, as the performance of the office market tends to trail the performance of the industrial sector, usually by a period of 12 to 18 months. The office market of the RGV consists mostly of small, Class B properties developed in the 1980s and 1990s. There are no true skyscrapers or trophy assets in this region, as office users in the RGV simply don’t demand the level of amenities and quality of space as their counterparts in major markets. Small and steady as the office market may be, it is not immune to the influence of larger political movements. Everyone with a vested interest in RGV commercial real estate is keeping a close …

May 25, 2018

Industrial Kansas Market Reports Midwest Midwest Market Reports

Led by Aerospace, Wichita’s Industrial Market Shows No Signs of Slowing Down

by Kristin Harlow May 24, 2018

The industrial sector remains the prime beneficiary of the numerous technological shifts occurring throughout the economy. E-commerce continues to fuel demand for distribution and warehouse space in the national industrial sector. The Wichita market remains focused on the aerospace cluster, advanced manufacturing and the growing advanced materials sector to sustain and grow the industrial segment. The current supply pipeline is to remain about the same as it has over the past couple of years, with over 726,000 square feet under construction at the end of the first quarter and many new large developments announced. Net absorption is expected to occur at a steady pace, resulting in lower vacancies around 6 to 7 percent. Average asking rental rates grew to $4.38 per square foot for general industrial space and $10.26 per square foot for flex space as of the end of the first quarter. This growth will accelerate further as the market continues to tighten through 2018. Employment growth has not been reflective of renewed vigor in the industrial sector, however, highlighting the influence of other industries such as technology. The industrial sector’s outlook is bright since increased emphasis on aerospace production and advance manufacturing shows no sign of abating. Of …

May 24, 2018

Market Reports Property Type Restaurant Retail Southeast Market Reports

Diverse Population, UAB Help Retail, Restaurants Expand in Birmingham

by John Nelson May 21, 2018

It wasn’t until the last five to seven years that college graduates started looking at Birmingham as a place to live and work. Cities like Nashville and Atlanta were getting too expensive and too congested. Upon discovering how progressive Birmingham has become with the revitalization of the downtown area, it became the new hot place to live, play and work. So what was once an untapped market has started to grow with new retailers and restaurants to meet the growing demand. The addition of Topgolf to downtown Birmingham, for example, would not have happened without the influx of new multifamily projects in the downtown/southside area. Birmingham has also seen a growth of new restaurants to the area because of the diversity of population. The number of medical and undergraduates students studying at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) Medical complex has contributed to the diversity. As such, restaurants and retailers that cater to this diversity have begun to open in the area. The Pizitz Food Hall is a prime example as it includes two restaurants and 12 food stalls serving cuisines from all over the world, including Italian, Israeli, Ethiopian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian and traditional Southern soul food like fried chicken …

May 21, 2018

Market Reports Multifamily Texas Texas Market Reports

Rio Grande Valley Multifamily Market Playing Catch-Up on Class A Product

by Taylor Williams May 18, 2018

Commercial real estate sectors in secondary and tertiary markets often suffer from a lack of current, comprehensive data and metrics. Until a few years ago, the multifamily market of the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) was no exception. Much of the region’s multifamily product consists of “clusters” of fourplexes. In many cases, different investors own different units within these properties, which generally do not have management and leasing offices with hard data. Consequently, for years multifamily developers and brokers in Hidalgo and Cameron counties operated without reliable information on their market, generally ceding to the ideas that it was overbuilt. Turns out they were incorrect. Year-over-year rent growth in this market tends to be flat. Fluctuations are short-lived and back-and-forth in nature. But beginning in 2015 and carrying over into 2016, multifamily players in the RGV began to realize that their market was not overbuilt and that in fact, demand for better product was rising. Volatile Vacancy To better grasp the ebbs and flows of this market, we revert to 2008 and pre-recession data. To simplify our analysis, we use the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission MSA as a proxy for the region. In 2008, multifamily vacancy stood at approximately 6 percent. By 2011, when …

May 18, 2018

Market Reports Michigan Midwest Midwest Market Reports Retail

In Detroit, the Retail Market Continues Upward Trajectory on Several Fronts

by Kristin Harlow May 17, 2018

Detroit’s economy is reinventing itself and slowly gaining its footing after the Great Recession and the city’s bankruptcy. Low interest rates supported record auto sales in 2016 and another strong showing last year, adding some stability to the metro area’s bellwether industry. A rejuvenated downtown and new, growing industries are invigorating the retail market. The story of retail in Detroit closely follows the overall narrative of the market — out with the old and in with the new. Because of this, well-known national retailers such as John Varvatos and Lululemon have made their way into downtown, while international retailer Zara established a presence in Troy, reiterating the market’s strengthened retail sector. Job growth is closely aligned with retail sales, and payrolls in the Motor City have been expanding, on and off, since mid-2009. At times, the snail’s pace of growth has proven frustrating for a market that bore an above- average burden due to population declines and the auto industry’s collapse. The outlook is positive, however, and total nonfarm payroll employment in metro Detroit eclipsed the 2 million mark last year for the first time since 2006. Manufacturing and professional and business services have provided the foundation for the local …

May 17, 2018

Alabama Market Reports Multifamily Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Birmingham’s Multifamily Market Sees a Turnaround in Highway 280 Corridor

by John Nelson May 14, 2018

Birmingham’s multifamily market closed out 2017 with an average 7 percent vacancy rate and effective rents that flirted with the $900 per unit ceiling. On the investment side, multifamily assets in the market demonstrated some notable pricing trends through year-end 2017. The market outperformed the region and the nation in terms of value appreciation on a per unit basis. The average price per unit in Birmingham increased by more than 20 percent from fourth-quarter 2016 to fourth-quarter 2017. And, among these assets, garden-style properties stood out with a 36 percent increase in average price per unit. One explanation for this trend is the combination of value-add upgrades to garden-style properties in the market, as well as new construction that is lifting values in the market. To that end, Birmingham’s Highway 280 Corridor makes for a great case study. Stabilization of 280 Corridor What was a soft submarket in 2017, the Highway 280 Corridor in Birmingham has now rapidly tightened up in the first quarter of 2018. This one corridor spans various Birmingham submarkets ranging from urban Central City and Southside to Birmingham’s southeastern suburbs of Meadowbrook and Lake Purdy. According to Alabama Traffic Data (ATD), the average annual daily traffic …

May 14, 2018

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