Market Reports

Cedar Rapids Real Estate Market Stays Hot As Flood Recovery Efforts Wind Down

by Christina Cannon August 24, 2016

The historic flood of June 2008 is becoming a distant memory as the city of Cedar Rapids prepares for the dedication of the new Northwest Recreation Center, the last public facility to be completed as part of the flood recovery project. The dedication ceremony is slated for Thursday, Aug. 25. The recovery has led to a revitalization of many flood-impacted areas in the city, ranging from residential neighborhoods to the downtown business district. Now the momentum is turning toward several new projects: • This month, tenants will begin moving into the 11-story CRST tower downtown, which features 300 feet of the new flood protection system. • A 28-story, mixed-use tower is being proposed on city-owned property downtown. The development may contain retail, office, hotel and residential space led by Allen Development, an Iowa City developer. • Over 10 downtown housing projects are under construction that will create almost 400 new condo and apartment units, which will bring our core closer to a live-work-play environment. These projects are also putting vacant retail and office buildings to new uses. • The Czech Village-New Bohemia neighborhood continues to grow with historic buildings being renovated and repurposed while augmenting exciting new construction featuring retail, …

August 24, 2016

Florida Market Reports Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Miami’s Office Rents Continue to Rise, Create New Opportunities for Investment

by John Nelson August 22, 2016

Miami’s four major office submarkets — Brickell, Downtown, Coral Gables, and Airport West Dade — are enjoying record growth in Class A asking rental rates, an emerging trend that is further strengthening the city’s positioning as a highly desirable market for local, national and foreign investors. In the city’s Brickell/Downtown business district, Class A office rents have skyrocketed more than an average of 14 percent per square foot during the past year — a significant difference from the historic average annual increases of 2 to 3 percent per square foot. In fact, the disparity in Class A and B rents in the urban core, where Class A rents range from 40 to 70 percent higher per square foot than Class B rents, is much greater than in submarkets, where Class A rents are approximately 24 percent higher than Class B rents. This creates further incentive for Class B buildings in the urban core to raise asking rental rates and stay apace with Class A, making it a strong business case for investors who are looking for a long-term play with maximum ROI. The rent growth is attributed to several factors. While we have seen strong net absorption by local companies …

August 22, 2016

Market Reports Midwest Midwest Market Reports Office Uncategorized Wisconsin

Late to the Economic Recovery, Madison’s Office Sector is Now in a Growth Mode

by Christina Cannon August 18, 2016

The Madison office market finally emerged from its post-recession stupor in 2015 and chalked up its best performance since the early 2000s. The 430,000 square feet of positive net absorption recorded last year exceeded the combined total of the previous three years. This strong trend continues in 2016. Nearly 150,000 square feet of office space was leased during the first quarter, driving the vacancy rate down to 10.2 percent. The Madison office market was slow to recover from the Great Recession. As recently as 2014, office vacancies increased, and only 67,000 square feet of net positive absorption was tallied that year. As the state capital and home to the University of Wisconsin, the local economy depends on government and education as base industries — sectors where employment and spending had been retreating until recently. Insurance, financial services, medical services, research, information technology and software development are also important and growing sectors in Madison, accounting for a lot of new office leasing activity. Who’s taking space? Among the large lease deals in recent months: Arrowhead Research inked a deal to occupy 68,000 square feet in University Research Park; M3 Insurance completed and moved into its building at 828 John Nolen Drive; …

August 18, 2016

Maine Market Reports Northeast Northeast Market Reports Office

Availability Continues to Tighten in Greater Portland, Maine, Office Market

by Jaime Lackey August 17, 2016

The real estate environment in the Greater Portland region has been incredibly strong this year. On top of the favorable vacancy rates in the industrial, retail, and multifamily sectors, the office market vacancy in the region continues to dwindle, following the trend we’ve seen over the last five years. In a state with a geographic footprint that could nearly fit the rest of New England, the bulk of office inventory is concentrated in the southern region. Specifically, the supply is in the Greater Portland area, which comprises seven cities and towns. This region features just over 10.5 million square feet of Class A and Class B office space, with an additional 1.25 million square feet of medical space. Of that, 40 percent is located in downtown Portland. Portland is in the midst of a renaissance of sorts. Demand and desirability to live and work here, especially downtown, has grown significantly in recent years. We’ve become a “foodie” destination with a surge of new high-end restaurants and hotels. This coupled with beautiful water views and a unique way of life has attracted a younger demographic. Baby boomers and empty nesters are also relocating to this area from the suburbs. The movement …

August 17, 2016

Florida Market Reports Retail Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Miami’s Overall Growth Fuels Major Retail Projects in City’s Development Pipeline

by John Nelson August 15, 2016

Miami is coming into its own as an increasingly international city that continues to attract new residents, visitors and investment and development activity. The city’s urban core is flourishing, with residents gravitating toward a downtown area that allows them to live, work and play in the same neighborhood. The Miami retail market is experiencing a development surge to accommodate the city’s growth. Through the end of the first quarter of 2016, about 2.3 million square feet of retail space was under construction, according to CoStar. The developments are bringing a new class of retailers to the market. Major projects include Brickell City Centre, a 500,000-square-foot shopping center with a roster of tenants that includes Armani Collezioni, anchor tenant Saks Fifth Avenue and Valentino. North of downtown Miami, the $1.7 billion Miami Worldcenter project will introduce a high-street retail concept that is similar to the popular Lincoln Road open-air mall in Miami Beach. In Miami’s Design District, the $1 billion redevelopment of the neighborhood is attracting luxury retailers like Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Cartier. Downtown residents will have easy access to all of these retail destinations. Retail operating fundamentals remain strong in the Miami market. Vacancies closed the first quarter of …

August 15, 2016

Market Reports Michigan Midwest Midwest Market Reports Retail

Michigan Retailers Are Expanding, Rents Are Growing, Investors Are Capitalizing

by Christina Cannon August 11, 2016

Chances are you have read the stories in the news lately about the challenges facing Michigan, the City of Detroit, or more recently the state’s seventh largest city, Flint. Between the chronicles of a once ailing automotive industry, the Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing by the City of Detroit in 2013 — the largest municipal bankruptcy in history — and most recently lead-tainted city water in Flint, there have been dozens of national headlines, sharp sound bites, and a litany of negative press coverage over the past few years. In short, over the past decade we have witnessed a roller coaster of economic events that have created a rather palpable investor stigma for Detroit and the State of Michigan as a whole. Despite the negative tone surrounding investment opportunities in Michigan, the state’s strong commercial real estate market is creating value for investors acquiring retail assets. Historically, Michigan shopping centers have traded at cap rates 50 to 100 basis below their national peers. Is this discount still warranted? Tide turns in Great Lakes As a brokerage firm dedicated to the sale of investment properties and retail tenant representation, Landmark Investment Sales and its parent company, Landmark Commercial Real Estate Services Inc., …

August 11, 2016

Florida Industrial Market Reports Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Miami’s Industrial Market Poised to Benefit from Panama Canal Expansion, Cuba

by John Nelson August 8, 2016

Given a handful of macro-factors in the Miami industrial market including the Panama Canal expansion nearing completion, PortMiami expansion, strong American dollar, and improving relations with Cuba coupled with the country’s new mega-port project, it is a unique time to be an industrial real estate service provider. To succeed in this environment, it takes deep local knowledge and a global understanding of how Miami, the Caribbean and Latin American economies and infrastructure are intertwined into global commerce. The first macro-factor is the Panama Canal expansion, its first major renovation since the 1914 opening. The expansion is set to have a major impact on global trade; specifically, the way cargo will be handled and transported throughout the Western Hemisphere. The larger canal will accommodate the new line of Post-Panamax vessels — supertankers, container and passenger ships too large to previously pass through the canal. Miami is a prime location for these vessels and offers a tremendous expansion opportunity for the local industrial market provided the vessels have a port to dock. In response to the Panama Canal expansion, PortMiami completed a deep dredge project to allow the Post-Panamax vessels full access, which is the second macro-factor affecting Miami’s industrial market. The …

August 8, 2016

Market Reports Multifamily Texas Texas Market Reports

Houston’s Apartment Gains and Pains Haven’t Been Equally Distributed

by Haisten Willis August 5, 2016

The downturn in the upstream oil and gas industry, caused by the low prices of these commodities, has been the subject of continuous examination and prognostication since its onset in late 2014, particularly in the Houston region. Though it has diversified its economy somewhat since the 1980s, when its overdependence on that industry brought ruin to its economy, Houston remains the large Texas metro most economically tied to oil and gas. Houston benefited from those ties from 2011 to 2014, during the period of surging fortunes in that sector, by adding 380,000 jobs. However, because this tremendous boom in employment was less economically diversified than the region’s overall economy, when upstream oil and gas abruptly switched from growth to contraction, so did the region’s growth prospects. Houston’s other economic sectors at this point are not growing substantially enough to keep net growth strongly positive in terms of jobs. So far they are merely keeping the region in an essentially stagnant condition. The Push for Amenities All sectors of Houston-area real estate have felt an impact from this reversal, but to varying extents. The apartment market, which is traditionally among the sectors most directly tied to current employment levels, is receiving …

August 5, 2016

Market Reports Michigan Midwest Midwest Market Reports Multifamily

Metro Detroit Apartment Market Finds Its Groove

by Christina Cannon August 4, 2016

Favorable hiring trends in metro Detroit have driven household formation to its highest point since the start of the new millennium. As a result, multifamily asset performance and operations have shown marked improvement with respect to demand, occupancy, rents and prices. In the first quarter of the year, local employers created 14,500 jobs for a year-over-year gain of 2.3 percent, which brought Detroit’s unemployment level to its lowest level since 2001. Employment advances were led by the professional and business services sector as well as the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 16,100 and 6,000 workers, respectively. Total employment at the end of 2016 is projected to be 1.9 percent higher than it was at the end of 2015. The generally higher paying professional and business services jobs will lead to broad-based employment growth through the rest of the year, and gains in this segment are expected to support growing demand for luxury rentals. In any event, rental demand in Detroit is on the rise for the foreseeable future. Construction takes off Encouraged by positive employment trends, economic indicators and a recovering automotive industry, new construction, renovation and conversion are thriving. Developers have new multifamily projects underway in more than …

August 4, 2016

Georgia Market Reports Retail Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Atlanta Retail Market Experiences Demand in Hottest Submarkets

by John Nelson August 1, 2016

The Atlanta retail market continues to be robust, with vacancy tightening in key submarkets and rents trending upward. Overall vacancy fell slightly from 7.1 percent during the fourth quarter of 2015 to 7 percent in the first quarter of 2016, according to CoStar. However, the decline is greater in hot submarkets such as Buckhead and Central Perimeter that boasted vacancy rates as low as 2.8 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively, in the first quarter. Demand Up, Supply Tightens There is still a disconnect between supply and demand, especially in strong trade areas, and many retailers that wish to enter or expand in the market are finding it difficult to do so. Rents are escalating by 10 percent to 15 percent because of the increased competition for space and the high cost to build new developments is attributable to escalating land costs. During the first quarter, 21 buildings totaling 300,174 square feet were delivered, according to CoStar, and at the end of the first quarter, 1.73 million square feet of retail space was under development. As Atlanta can deliver more of the space that’s under construction and open up availability, rent is expected to continue to climb. Health and Fitness Food …

August 1, 2016

Newer Posts

Older Posts