The commercial real estate market in the Tyler metropolitan area experienced one of its best years in 2014. Led by the retail sector, a number of new leases and sales brought a bevy of businesses to the market. The city of Tyler has a population of around 100,000, while the metro area contains 222,000. Tyler is the retail and medical center of northeast Texas, with a trade area population of 415,000. The city experienced strong population growth of 15.8 percent from 2000 to 2010. The Tyler economy is fueled by the medical sector, which accounts for 20 percent of all employment. Trinity Mother Frances hospital employs 4,000; East Texas Medical Center accounts for over 3,200 jobs; and the University of Texas Health Center at Tyler has total employment of 865. Because of the outstanding medical facilities in the city, patients from a 14-county area come to Tyler for medical care. Another strong driver for the local economy is the existence of higher education opportunities. The University of Texas at Tyler continues its strong growth, boasting a total enrollment of more than 6,400, while Tyler Junior College serves 35,000 students. Both of these schools are expanding. UT Tyler’s engineering school has …
Market Reports
It is great to be in Las Vegas and witness the city’s strong recovery from the economic lows of a few years ago. Exciting projects like the $500-million LINQ entertainment and retail promenade, the 1.6-million-square-foot Downtown Summerlin lifestyle center and the market’s first IKEA, now under development, are filling the region with promise. Las Vegas added more than 25,000 jobs between 2013 and 2014, a 3.3 percent increase, representing the third highest growth rate in the country during that time. As opposed to the previous economic boom that was largely driven by construction growth, the job growth in this recovery has been evenly spread across several sectors like general services (retail), professional/business, education, healthcare and leisure/travel. Las Vegas also hit a milestone in 2014 when it reached a record-setting 41.1 million visitors for the year. Those visitors included 5.2 million conventioneers, the highest total since 2008. As the Las Vegas economy continues to expand, retail is leading the pack with taxable sales that have already increased an astounding 29.4 percent from the recession low, including an 8.1 percent year-over-year increase in the past 12 months. Total taxable spending in the region is near its highest levels in history, reaching $36.2 …
Nashville has quickly become one of the most active Southeast markets for multifamily, both in terms of development and sales. Driven by tremendous job growth, strong population increases, a pro-business climate and an educated workforce, Nashville’s remarkable multifamily growth is not overstated. From 2014 to 2017, more than 12,300 units are projected to enter the market, with another 9,000 that are planned or proposed. Concerns have arisen that Nashville’s supply will outpace the demand in the medium term. However, job growth indicators, sales activity and lease-up velocity indicate the contrary. Nashville’s economy has surpassed the $100 billion mark with a 5.1 percent unemployment rate and a 4.2 percent GMP growth rate that is double that of the rest of the nation. Notable recent expansions include General Motors (1,800 jobs), Under Armour (1,500 jobs), Magna International (357 jobs), and FedEx (347 jobs) — all of which were announced in the second half of 2014. In addition, Bridgestone America has announced that it will consolidate its operations in Nashville adding 600 jobs. These expansions combined with immense foreign direct investment continue to fuel the area’s growth. According to IBM’s 2014 Global Location Trends Report, Tennessee ranks first in the nation in terms …
Midland’s name was called four times at the Texas Downtown Association Presidents’ Awards luncheon during the organization’s 2014 Annual Conference in Granbury. Four finalists and two winners emerged from the six nominations submitted by the City of Midland Downtown Development Department. The two winners were the Midland Chamber of Commerce’s Star Spangled Salute, which tied with Bryan for Best Promotional Event for a population over 50,000, and Midland Tower for Best Restoration for a population over 50,000. The Downtown Midland Management District was a finalist in the category of Best Downtown Partner for outstanding contributions to preserve, revitalize and redevelop Texas downtowns. Basin Burger House was a finalist in the category of Best Renovation/Rehabilitation, recognized for excellence in the rehabilitation of the interior and/or exterior of an existing building. The developer for Basin Burger House recently broke ground on another retail development approximately 25 yards to the west. The number of future potential nominees for the Presidents’ Awards increases as the commitment to the revitalization of downtown Midland builds momentum. Fueling this resurgence is a combination of private and public interests. Several projects recently received favorable responses from the Downtown Midland Management District, the Midland Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone and …
The retail market as a whole is shifting to make shopping more experiential amid a recovering economy and the influence of millennials and their shopping demands and interests. Despite the buzz about the popularity of online shopping, less than 10 percent of all retail sales take place via the Internet. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), online retail sales in 2013 were nearly $263 billion, accounting for a mere 6 percent of total retail sales. In-store sales accounted for the remaining $4.3 trillion, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. It’s clear that while some consumers find online shopping convenient, the majority still prefer the shopping center experience. In particular, millennials, who are 74 million strong with a buying power of $174 billion, demand that experience. Last fall, Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group forecast that 89 percent of millennials would shop at a mall over the holidays. Surprisingly, millennials use technology to conduct research about products, but they generally prefer to visit stores to make purchases. Millennials will read product reviews online but they want to touch the merchandise, feel it, experience it and then tweet about it to friends. So, while the entire shopping process revolves around technology, …
The retail market in Utah continues to build steam and has expanded over the past 12 months. With these gains, tenants are in abundance and new construction is on the rise. Vacancy continued to improve through 2014, as the overall vacancy rate declined by 0.7 percentage points on a year-over-year basis to end at 6.2 percent. This represents the lowest vacancy rate of the past decade. With supply constrained and demand improving, average asking lease rates jumped by 9 percent on a year-over-year basis, to $18.98 per square foot. New construction continued across the valley, with 548,577 square feet of space added to the market. The local housing market drives retail development in Utah. About 18,573 building permits have been issued throughout the state in the past two years, including multifamily projects. This construction pushed many retailers into expansion mode, looking to take up shop in locations that cut off the competition. This is particularly true in one segment of the market that now stands supreme in the Utah retail ecosystem: grocery. Grocers have expanded at a breakneck rate. Sprout’s Farmers Market opened new stores in Holladay and South Jordan. A Smith’s Marketplace opened its doors in West Jordan at …
Jack Daniels, FedEx and Gibson Guitar are a few international brands that already call Tennessee home, and the list has expanded over the past two years, as major brands have chosen to grow their operations in Middle Tennessee. Recent industrial relocations including Under Armour, Beretta and Hankook Tire are a few notable companies that chose Nashville over other major markets in the U.S. In addition, existing companies such as General Motors, FedEx and Nissan continue to expand their footprint in the region, creating more jobs and building larger facilities. All of this activity has created the demand for more site-ready properties that can accommodate build-to-suit projects and be delivered quickly. Nashville’s continued evolution as the South’s leading auto manufacturing hub, as well as its favorable central location, has bode well for the industrial market over the last few years. Favorable Fundamentals Nashville’s industrial market vacancy rate of 7.1 percent at the end of fourth-quarter 2014 is the lowest it has been since the fourth quarter of 2008, and the 2014 total net absorption has reached more than 2.25 million square feet, the highest absorption since 2006. This year is projected to be a banner year for new construction with multiple …
Austin is happening. The city was ranked No. 1 for small business growth by Forbes.com and No. 1 in Kiplinger Finance Magazine’s “10 Best Cities for the Next Decade.” Steady population growth has created demand for virtually all real estate product types in Austin. While the office market and vertical condo developments grab most of the headlines, the regional industrial real estate market has recovered significantly from the recession and is expanding in lock step with the overall economy. The Texas capital is now the 11th most populous city in the U.S. and the fourth largest in Texas. From a population of 132,459 in 1950, the city grew to 465,622 in 1990, 656,562 in 2000, 790,390 in 2010 and an estimated 865,504 today. More new industrial product was delivered in Austin last year, approximately 675,000 square feet, than any year since 2008. Another 550,000 square feet of industrial property is expected to deliver this year. In a market of 46 million square feet in total, these are robust years for industrial development. Net absorption for the year was 376,279 square feet, according to Xceligent. While positive, it was substantially less than the 887,544 square feet of net absorption in 2013. …
Industrial real estate market fundamentals in the Toledo, Ohio, area remained quite sound at the end of 2014. Most key indices showed stability or improvement. The most noteworthy statistic is the 2.3 million square feet of positive net absorption recorded in the second half of the year — the highest amount in recent memory. The lion’s share of the absorbed space can be attributed to the delivery of the 1.6 million-square-foot Home Depot warehouse in Troy Township. Even if the Home Depot deal is excluded from the data, the total absorption notched in the third and fourth quarters was impressive. Absorption would have been higher had the nearly 400,000-square-foot former Ace Hardware distribution center in Perrysburg Township not become vacant. In 2014, Ace announced that it would relocate its warehouse in the Columbus, Ohio area. Dearth of Suitable Space Despite the generally strong performance of the industrial real estate sector this past year, one senses that many of the players in the market are feeling some level of frustration. The frustration stems from the sentiment that things could be better — a result of the generally tight supply of buildings and the even tighter supply of the right types of …
By all measures, 2014 was the strongest year in recent memory for the Boston office market. With an approximate 1.8 million square feet of positive net absorption, nearly 5 million square feet of tenant demand, and continued development around the city, Boston remained one the country’s strongest markets. It’s not news that proximity to parking, public transportation, restaurants, bars and other amenities keeps employees happy. But Boston’s escalating prices mean cost-conscious companies must evaluate their downtown options — which means they have begun trading other items of importance, such as locational cachet, space configuration, look, feel and ultimately building type, for access to amenities. As a result, if 2013 was the year of the Seaport, then 2014 was the year of Downtown Crossing (DTX). With the renovation of 10 Summer Street and Havas’ 120,000-square-foot move to the Millennium redevelopment complete, other companies have followed suit. The third and fourth quarters brought more than 250,000 square feet of deals to 500 Washington Street. Carbonite and Sonos took 52,000 square feet and 170,000 square feet, respectively, in the third quarter, while Safari Books Online took 30,000 square feet in the fourth. Prominent national non-profit Year Up also consolidated its headquarters near DTX …