The Raleigh-Durham office market has not only recovered from the Great Recession, it is solidly in expansion mode, and tenants are facing market conditions not witnessed in 15 years. The current cycle has been marked by a prolonged period of limited development activity. While job growth in the local market has been rebounding for more than five years, the construction pipeline has only recently filled in a meaningful way, and a large portion of the development activity in 2014 and early 2015 was driven by build-to-suits. With Class A vacancy now at a 15-year low, speculative development is heating up again. While projects totaling 1.4 million square feet were underway in the first quarter, most of this product will not be delivered until 2017 or later, and approximately half of the space has already been spoken for. In the near term, the market heavily favors landlords. The Triangle office market began 2016 with strong activity as tenants absorbed 453,997 square feet, driving vacancy down by 40 basis points to 12.1 percent. This figure is down by 180 basis points on a year-over-year basis and has fallen from a cyclical high of 18.7 percent. Class A vacancy ended the first quarter …
It’s hard to argue with the fact that the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan areas are among the most economically dynamic and socially vibrant cities in the United States. With a thriving business environment, strong growth and impressive demographics, Minnesota consistently ranks in the top five of the most educated states in America, according to the United States Census Bureau. The Twin Cities also boast an expanding workforce, outstanding public transportation network and a booming economy. With 17 Minnesota-based Fortune 500 companies, it’s not surprising that the Twin Cities are competitive on a national and even global scale. The competitive energy and high-level activity in the city’s retail marketplace is being fueled in part by a surge of new retailers. The aggressive entry of new tenants to the market, along with the challenge of a 4 percent vacancy rate, is prompting quality spaces to be absorbed almost immediately. As stated in the Welsh Q2 2015 market report, over 1.1 million square feet of retail space were absorbed during 2015, the highest number in the market in over a decade. The vacancy rate for regional mall trade areas is actually closer to 2.6 percent, with numbers for the Minnetonka/Ridgedale Mall trade …
As Charlotte’s employment surpasses the pre-recession peak of 2007 and the metro swells to almost 2.4 million residents — growing three times faster than the national average — Charlotte is on every retailer’s radar and poised for continued retail growth. Retailers seeking customers with disposable income benefit from Charlotte’s strong affordability index, relative to similarly sized cities, and have enjoyed a positive trend in household incomes, which increased 8 percent between 2010 and 2015. This income growth is bolstered by the 35- to 54-year-old “big-spender” segment, which makes up approximately 30 percent of Charlotte’s population, and is expected to continue to grow in spite of shrinking nationally. Retail developers and investors are also big fans of these fundamentals, which have yielded positive retail absorption over the past 12 months, impressive rent growth of 4.3 percent year-over-year, and vacancy of 5.5 percent, well below the historical average. Similar periods of growth in Charlotte’s history have delivered traditional grocery-anchored neighborhood centers, garden-style apartments and mid-rise office buildings, primarily surface-parked to accommodate the vehicle-centric nature of Charlotte. That trend is changing as Charlotte adapts to the cultural shift and increased density that now prioritizes proximity, access and convenience over McMansions and white-picket-fenced suburbia. …
Retail development in the St. Louis metro area continues to gain momentum. Rental rates are strong, with triple-net asking rents averaging $12.30 per square foot, and are expected to trend upward as the retail market continues to grow. Absorption of existing product along with multiple new developments has created a positive forecast for the St. Louis retail market. In the second quarter of 2016, the St. Louis retail vacancy rate dropped to 5.9 percent from 6.1 percent the previous quarter with positive net absorption of 449,056 square feet. Leasing ramps up Contributing to the healthy retail market are several tenants moving into large blocks of space including two 41,921-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market stores now open in St. Peters. Among other store openings: • At Home has announced two 100,000-square-foot locations on the site of a former Walmart in Town & Country and a former K-Mart in O’Fallon, Mo. • Academy Sports will open two 62,000-square-foot locations in Manchester and O’Fallon, Ill. • Camping World will move into 34,710 square feet in Wentzville. • Stein Mart will occupy 31,000 square feet in Town & Country. • Bob’s Discount Furniture has signed a 28,035-square-foot lease in Manchester and a 30,000-square-foot lease at …
Driven by strong leasing activity, the New Hampshire Seacoast industrial market now has a limited supply of available options. The overall Seacoast vacancy rate is currently 5.6 percent. Compare that to the end of 2010, when vacancy in the market hit 12.9 percent. Narrowing the focus to the Portsmouth industrial market (excluding the Pease Tradeport), the vacancy hit 8 percent in 2010 but it had dropped to 3 percent at the end of 2015 — and at the end of June 2016, the vacancy rate hovered at 2 percent. This significant drop in vacancy leaves users with less viable product to choose from and is pushing them away from the Interstate 95 corridor of Portsmouth and Seabrook. Industrial Users Turn to Ground-Up Development Users in Portsmouth and surrounding communities, unable to find existing buildings to meet their needs, have turned to ground-up development in areas outside of Portsmouth and further away from the Interstate 95 corridor. Two large industrial users, Rand Whitney and Stonewall Kitchen, broke ground on projects in 2015 and have recently moved into their new facilities. Rand Whitney, part of the Kraft Group, originally opened a corrugated cardboard sheet plant in Dover back in 1972. Over the …
Employment gains in New Haven and Fairfield counties, coupled with a bustling job market in the New York City metro, have generated high demand for apartments in New Haven and Fairfield counties, overcoming some of the recent negative optics in Connecticut. Newly hired employees are looking for housing. Employers in New Haven and Fairfield counties are set to add 10,500 individuals to the local workforce this year. And although a significant number of tenants work in the boroughs of New York, they prefer Connecticut rentals due to a significant price differential. Even after considering costs for commuting, the value proposition New Haven and Fairfield counties remains very robust as average rents are priced at approximately $2,000 less per month than those in New York City. Market demand for housing in these two counties will create upward pressure on rent this year, advancing average effective rent 1.6 percent to $1,635 per month. In 2015, effective rent closed the year at $1,609 per month — an 18.3 percent pace of growth since 2011. Builders will deliver 2,100 apartments in New Haven and Fairfield counties in 2016, a reduction from the 3,550 apartments that were delivered in 2015; and they are focusing on …
In recent years, the fundamentals in Charlotte’s industrial real estate market have continued to improve. Overall, the market can be characterized by an increase in tenant activity and the emergence of new submarkets more active on the development front than in the past. Tenant growth can be attributed to organic growth from users expanding, velocity of new deals, as well as emerging submarkets within the market. Charlotte’s central location near the transportation arteries of I-77 and I-85 continues to make the city’s industrial space very attractive to logistics and distribution companies. Charlotte is growing by approximately 20,000 residents per year, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The population growth, coupled with the trend of brick-and-mortar retailers transitioning portions of their business to e-commerce, makes for a positive outlook on Charlotte’s industrial fundamentals. The strongest tenant activity is in the 25,000- to 75,000-square-foot range, with tenants looking to upgrade the quality and functionality of their space. Beginning in fourth-quarter 2015 and continuing into first-quarter 2016, there was noticeable activity among tenants relocating from owner-occupied facilities to leased spaces. This trend has been driven by a limited supply of options for purchase, historically high construction prices and a steady economy. Furthermore, the …
Look no further than Kansas City for one of the most burgeoning apartment rental hotspots in the Heartland. Ever since apartment deliveries reached a trough of 233 units in 2011, developers have ramped up construction activity year after year to meet healthy rental demand, though often still trailing robust leasing activity. This trend continued in the first half of 2016, with 2,170 newly occupied apartments exceeding 1,650 multifamily units added to the metro area inventory. What’s contributing to this demand? And will rapid market growth and expansion continue? Job growth, tech boom Employment gains are a big reason rental market demand continues to outweigh supply. For the last six years, greater Kansas City has experienced annual average employment gains of 1.5 percent to support sustained rental demand. After steady, though moderate gains in the last half of 2015, employers accelerated hiring with 10,500 additions from January to June, a 1 percent expansion over the previous six months. The six-month hires capped an annual increase of 1.5 percent since mid-2015 with 15,900 new personnel. To no surprise, the rise in employment has coincided with the rise in renters, as they’ve been attracted to new inventory around employment hubs. The Downtown/East Kansas …
New York City’s retail outlook is sunny, as steady labor market expansion — bolstered by substantial Fortune 500 hiring — has spurred retailer demand for existing and new spaces in all five boroughs. Strong retail property performance in the City That Never Sleeps has supported continued rent and price growth, which will result in higher sales velocity over the short- and mid-terms. Employment Gains, Tourism Underlie Performance During the first six months of 2016, New York City employers created 33,600 new jobs. This pronounced job growth, which has been characteristic of the current cycle, reduced the unemployment rate to 5 percent by the end of the first quarter. This is the lowest rate unemployment rate the city has seen since November 2007. By the end of the year, area employers will add 90,000 workers, with the education and health services and professional and business services sectors projected to post the greatest increases. The leisure and hospitality sector will also contribute significantly to employment gains this year, as greater tourism spending prompts organizations in the sector to ramp up hiring. Another important indicator of NYC’s economic health is strong retail sales, which represent one of the best paces of retail spending …
Growth. It is occurring all across the Rio Grande Valley. From the residential sector to the retail development industry, regional statistics indicate there is an overwhelming boom in the Valley. The rise in the region’s population and the increasing number of yearly visits from Mexican nationals, among other factors, are contributing to the boom. The Rio Grande Valley commercial real estate industry has seen steady, consistent growth over the last two years. National retailers looking to incorporate themselves into the local economy or expand their existing business include Main Event Entertainment, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, Dave & Busters, Dick’s Sporting Goods, HomeGoods, Chick-fil-A and Walmart. Local and international retailers including Super Cream Restaurant & Bakery, Kurai Sushi Buffet, and Dona Tota are also expanding in the region. Other entities helping to spur growth in the commercial real estate industry are the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) campuses in Edinburg, Harlingen and Brownsville, and a number of large investment retail projects in the upper and mid-valley including the development of the 8,500-seat Bert Ogden Arena in Hidalgo County. Impact of UTRGV The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is less than two years old and boasts …