Downtown Indianapolis is already feeling the impact of Salesforce.com Inc.’s recent decision to lease more than 220,000 square feet for a new regional headquarters in the state’s tallest office building, located at 111 Monument Circle. The firm’s $40 million investment over 10 years includes expansion plans for its regional headquarters as well as changing the name of the 48-story office tower from Chase Tower to Salesforce Tower Indianapolis. This will be one of only four towers in the world that bear the Salesforce name — the others are located in New York, London and San Francisco. Salesforce.com, a publicly traded company (NYSE: CRM), is a business software provider best known for applications that help salespeople track customer contacts and marketers plan campaigns, according to The Wall Street Journal. The San Francisco-based tech company currently has 1,400 employees in Indianapolis and plans to hire 800 new employees over the next five years. The company is expected to move into the tower in early 2017. The firm currently leases space in three other buildings downtown. This speaks volumes about Indianapolis’ efforts to become the Midwest hub for technology. While Salesforce is one of Indianapolis’ largest technology employers, nearly 100 tech companies are …
Denver’s economic growth, its reputation as a commercial hub in the Rockies and the growth in e-commerce sales are all factors contributing to the metro’s strong industrial property performance. Denver employers are on track to add 39,000 new workers to their headcounts by year end, expanding the local workforce by 2.8 percent, with the professional and business services and construction sectors driving employment gains. As household formation and retail spending has increased, demand for industrial space in Denver has followed suit. The city’s strategic position as a Western state commercial hub, along with the rapid rise in e-commerce sales, has attracted retailers and distributors, such as FedEx and Amazon, to the area. These large retailers and distributors are contributing to the high demand for industrial space, especially given the limited number of industrial property deliveries in 2015. The industrial construction pipeline is growing as a result of this demand. Spurred on by Denver’s positive economic performance, developers have expanded the industrial development pipeline, including higher levels of speculative development. About 3.7 million square feet of industrial space will have come online by the end of the year. About 1 million square feet of space was delivered in 2015. The breakneck …
As one project finishes, another one is soon to begin. The $2.3 billion Ohio River Bridges Project its nearing its December 2016 completion, and Louisville commuters are yearning for a return to normalcy and enhanced transportation options. The East End Crossing will link Louisville’s fast-growing suburban markets to Southern Indiana’s burgeoning distribution hub at River Ridge. The new Abraham Lincoln Bridge parallels the John F. Kennedy Bridge downtown and carries I-65 across the Ohio River. After three years of disrupting traffic in metro Louisville, both projects are entering their final phase of construction. Just as the Bridges Project nears completion, two major projects in Louisville’s central business district (CBD) may have an impact on the office market. The Kentucky International Convention Center closed in August for a two-year, $200 million renovation project. Sections of 3rd and 4th streets will close during the construction, which could have a drag on downtown commuter traffic. In addition, Louisville will welcome a 600-room, $289 million Omni Hotel in 2018, but not before the major project squeezes Liberty Street and Muhammad Ali Street traffic. Both significant projects will bring dividends to Louisville’s CBD when completed, but the market will have to endure some disruption in …
Detroit’s sustained employment growth, along with focused redevelopment and revitalization efforts, have brightened the metro area’s economic outlook and propelled the retail market this year. Six consecutive years of job gains have attracted new residents to the region and stemmed population outflow. Strong hiring trends have boosted household incomes, and retail sales are ascending as a result. The local economy is expected to create 38,000 new jobs in 2016, representing a 1.9 percent annual expansion. The local unemployment rate stood at 4.9 percent in August, the lowest rate since 2001 and just 10 basis points higher than the national level. The professional and business services sector led employment gains over the 12-month period that ended June 30 with nearly 12,000 additional workers hired. Ripple effect of jobs growth The abundance of job opportunities is also contributing to higher household incomes. Over the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30, roughly 7,500 households were created and the median household income climbed 3.1 percent. These improvements supported a 1.3 percent hike in retail spending over the same period. Encouraged by the positive economic trends in Detroit, retailers are expanding many existing storefronts, while companies such as Nike and restaurants such as Cheesecake Factory, …
Industrial activity in Louisville is growing at an exponential clip and doesn’t appear to be slowing anytime soon. As famously quoted in Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” And indeed they have. In Louisville and extending into southern Indiana, more than 3 million square feet of new construction has already been delivered this year. What’s more, the current pipeline of projects under construction — coupled with proposed construction — could deliver as much as 3 million square feet or more in the next nine to 12 months. The real estate landscape in Louisville is forever changed. Historically, institutional investors expressed interest in the region but were reluctant to take action. Now, with robust projects on the horizon, the pool of institutional owners making large-scale investments continues to grow. New players like The Opus Group, Dermody Properties Inc., Browning Investments LLC, Molto Properties LLC and VanTrust Real Estate LLC have all established projects in Louisville in the last two years. But why Louisville? Investors are setting sight on Kentucky for more than just new construction. Prime Locations Even during the economic downturn between 2008 and 2011, Louisville was never a victim of the extreme fallout experienced by …
Rochester’s story is similar to those of other cities with once prominent downtowns. Starting in the 1970s, businesses and families largely fled to the suburbs as newer and nicer suburban offices were built. Larger companies, including many staple downtown dwellers such as large law and accounting firms, left the downtown in search of free parking, shorter commutes and a suburban lifestyle for their employees. Yet Rochester was a small city with big businesses. Bausch & Lomb was founded in Rochester in 1853. Eastman Kodak started business there in 1888 and beginning in 1906, Xerox Corporation was formed. Kodak is still based in Rochester, though it is a much smaller entity than it was before the digital era, and Xerox moved to Norwalk, Connecticut, years ago. However, the core technology culture never left Rochester. Over the past few years the University of Rochester — the area’s largest employer — received more than $1.9 billion in research money, most of it from the federal government. Organizations like High Tech Rochester, Greater Rochester Enterprise and the Rochester Downtown Innovation Zone have played important roles in the region’s comeback. In 2015, the Rochester region won a nationwide competition and was named the site for …
San Francisco and San Mateo counties boast above average employment numbers and wages and have been strong all through the current business cycle. Over the past four quarters ending in June, organizations in these counties, along with Marin County, (henceforth referred to as “the metro,”) have created 30,750 new jobs. This expansion of the metro’s labor force by 2.9 percent far exceeds the national average over the same time period. Businesses are expected to create 40,000 new positions this year and employment growth will reach 3.7 percent. Hence, the metro’s economy has created substantial demand for housing and apartments are leading the way, as the high cost of single-family homes, rigorous regulation, and the infill nature within the metro has constrained deliveries during previous years in the cycle. There are multiple major projects that will boost the rate of completions significantly above previous years in the cycle. Builder activity will surge to a multi-decade high with 6,440 apartments slated for delivery, exceeding the 1,488 units brought to market in 2015. The majority of completions will target the South of Market (SoMA) and South San Mateo County submarkets. Vacancy rate in the metro will register a 110-basis-point increase in 2016, rising …
Orlando likely resides in the minds of children and children at heart as “The Happiest Place on Earth,” and those involved in its industrial market today couldn’t agree more. Over the past five years, the Central Florida industrial market has been transformed from its prior position as a spoke in the wheel of distribution to the hub. To service consumers located in the country’s third most populous state, companies are locating large distribution centers in Central Florida (hub) with smaller distribution centers in Tampa, South Florida and Jacksonville (spokes). From a distribution standpoint, Central Florida has become the statewide distribution center for Florida. Warehouse is the New Retail The world of e-commerce began with the birth of the internet in the early 90s, made a big milestone with the first secure online transaction in 1994, and today Amazon is no longer first thought of as a rainforest in South America. In fact, Amazon is so prolific that recent reports from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimate that Amazon Prime now reaches nearly half of U.S. households. That translates to 54 million people, just in the United States, who have paid $99 for an annual membership that enables each consumer access to …
San Antonio evokes many positive images: the River Walk, the Alamo, Fiesta, the Mission Trail, Texas Hill Country and more. All of these images have one thing in common: hospitality. San Antonio is known for its warmth and hospitality. It is a fun place to visit for the many conventioneers and tourists that are attracted to the city year after year. It is also a good place to do business and a great place to live. Strength of the Market San Antonio boasts a strong economy. Overall employment grew at 3.5 percent over the past year, including an above-average growth of 3.2 percent for hospitality, retail and healthcare employment. Unemployment declined to 3.6 percent in July 2016, with strong increases in the labor force, according to Moody’s Analytics. Tourism and convention activity drive the economy, strengthened by a large military and cybersecurity presence. Manufacturing, healthcare and energy round out San Antonio’s strong, stable economy. The San Antonio lodging industry has also maintained a strong and steady pattern. While other Texas markets are adding a lot of new supply, San Antonio has kept the number of new hotel rooms to a minimum, adding only about 1,000 rooms over the past five …
The Capital Region continues to experience low vacancy rates across the industrial sector. The region’s growth over the last decade has primarily been driven by multibillion-dollar investments by GlobalFoundries, a semiconductor foundry, and State University of New York Polytechnic Institute (known as SUNY Poly). With limited new construction and virtually no spec-built facilities, the rates on existing spaces have finally experienced some rental appreciation after remaining relatively flat over the decade from 2005 to 2015. For the most part, the region has seen existing tenants shifting to new locations within the marketplace as opposed to companies entering to the marketplace for the first time. Generally, new entrants to the market that have some technology component to their business are locating at the SUNY Poly campus or related facilities. One of the most notable recent transactions was the $57 million sale of The Beltrone Portfolio to The Rosenblum Companies. The portfolio totaled 23 buildings made up of a mix of office and industrial properties. The industrial assets included 10 buildings that would be classified as Class A and B product. Historically the entire portfolio maintained a low vacancy status and at the time of sale it was approximately 5 percent vacant. …