Three staggering announcements highlighted downtown Chicago’s office sector during the second and early third quarter as investors jockeyed to get a piece of a market that has been the beneficiary of the tech boom. The CBD office vacancy rate is now at its lowest level in five years — 14.1 percent — aided by downtown net absorption of 592,328 square feet during the second quarter, the most in nearly seven years, according to CBRE Group. Asking rents in the city have risen 3.9 percent over the past year. There have been seven sales of more than $300 million since October 2013, including the deal that will come to define downtown Chicago for a long time to come — the disposition of 300 N. LaSalle St. to Newport Beach, Calif.-based The Irvine Company for $850 million in May. The purchase price equals $654 per square foot for the 60-story trophy tower. To put that figure into context, consider that KBS Realty Advisors LLC paid a then-record $503 per square foot for the building in 2010 to Hines Interests LP. So why did 300 N. LaSalle fetch a record price? There are a few reasons. First, the tower is 97 percent leased …
Market Reports
Investor money has returned to the industrial market in Las Vegas. Compressing cap rates continue to result in rising values on properties even in the hardest-hit areas of Las Vegas. Couple that with limited available industrial product, and the result is the need for today’s buyers to act quickly and competitively if they want to acquire quality properties that will deliver attractive yields. MCA Realty initially entered the Las Vegas market in mid-2011 to acquire incubator/mid-bay, multi-tenant industrial properties significantly below replacement cost. Since that time, the firm has seen a substantial shift in the number of buyers competing for this product type in this market. This increasing competition will continue to drive values up, and investors will need to rely even more heavily on their local brokerage relationships to make deals work. On the leasing side, vacancy rates continue their downward trend. Occupancy is up on all industrial product types, and confidence from business owners continues to rise. The result is increased stabilization throughout the market. A key component driving the tenant demand for multi-tenant industrial is the resurgence of hotel construction and renovation in the works on the Las Vegas Strip. This activity has created a surge of …
When The New York Times has something positive to say about Birmingham, you know something really good is in the works — and that’s exactly what happened last August. The paper ran an article entitled “A Return to Downtown Birmingham” that highlighted Railroad Park, Regions Field, the new Westin Hotel and the renovation of Lyric Theatre. It quoted David Fleming, CEO of REV Birmingham, calling attention to the public enthusiasm that’s driving the revitalization. “There’s a feeling that [the downtown] is back, and that wasn’t true 10 years ago,” he said. This past March, Livability.com added to the buzz by ranking Birmingham 10th in the nation in its ranking of downtowns in small- and mid-sized cities. Developers Betting Big As a result, there’s a question that’s now on the minds of many apartment investors: Is the sky the limit for downtown Birmingham? It’s too early to tell, but an increasing number of developers are placing their bets on the Magic City. At the end of April, the Bristol Development Group announced plans to build 250 high-end apartments downtown, joining such local companies as Harbert Realty, Watts Realty, KRE Development Holdings, RGS Properties and Scott Bryant & Co. that have about …
Home to many of the fastest growing communities in Maine, the Sebago Lakes region is continuing its rebound from the Great Recession. Recent Census data puts Windham as the second-fastest growing Maine community, just behind our neighboring town of Gorham. All six of Windham’s bordering towns are in the top 30 fastest growing communities, including four in the top 10. Windham acts as the marketplace and service center for the region and serves a primary trade area population of 61,000 residents, and a secondary trade area of 80,000 people. The four-season nature of the region draws 500,000 visitors annually. Retail sales have rebounded from recession lows — and with 50 percent of the region’s sales, Windham leads the way. Construction of Single-Tenant Retail Remains Steady Tractor Supply (19,000 square feet), Goodwill (17,800 square feet) and Dollar Tree (10,000 square feet) have added to the 1.5 million square feet of retail space since 2012. AutoZone recently submitted plans for a 7,500-square-foot building to be constructed in the center of our retail district, and other retailers are showing interest in locations south of the retail center along U.S. Route 302. Vacancy Rates Remain Low Windham’s retail vacancy rate continues to remain low, …
It should come as no surprise at this point that Orange County is on course with a robust economic recovery. Furthermore, there are favorable indicators for a steady increase in value over the next few years. Even though industrial product is limited in the county, development is picking up now that vacancy rates have been on a downward slope and rental rates continue their course on a gradual upturn. While all sectors in Orange County are seeing movement in a desirable direction, quality industrial space is becoming even more of a premium. The larger industrial spaces are drying up in Orange County. Most of the industrial spaces available today are smaller than 20,000 square feet. Meanwhile, many older buildings are being converted or remodeled to invite a variety of other property uses like residential, creative office and self-storage. The average asking price for investment-grade industrial properties of more than 20,000 square feet in Orange County is at $147 per square foot, as of the halfway point through the second quarter of 2014. This number has been on the rise year-over-year since the drop at the end of 2010 when the average asking price dipped to $120 per square foot. The …
The center cores of Baltimore and Washington, D.C., are located approximately 40 miles apart, and talk has renewed about the possibility of connecting the two metropolises by a Maglev rail system. The Baltimore/Washington region is generally considered the fourth largest in the country, boasting nearly 9 million people in the common area. But, when it comes time to rate the demographics, quality of life and overall attributes between the two, Baltimore assumes its secondary status in most comparisons, especially among some professionals in the retail real estate industry. Yet, given the recent successes of retail ventures that have opened in Baltimore City within the past year, prospects for future developments that promise to reinvigorate oft-neglected sections of the city and planned expansions of other mixed-use projects, Baltimore is currently enjoying a “charmed” life. The iconic advertising campaign for National Bohemian beer, which referred to Maryland as “The Land of Pleasant Living,” seems like an appropriate descriptor these days. The project that still has Baltimoreans buzzing is The Shops at Canton Crossing, the 330,000-square-foot retail shopping center situated within the city’s east side that opened last fall, and could easily serve as a national model for successful brownsfield development. Abandoned warehouse …
Due to its unique location and an economy pretty well recovered from the recession, Honolulu has experienced explosive growth in high-rise condo developments. These are exciting times for investors and developers of multifamily properties on the islands. Hawaii’s economy is finally on a positive growth trend for 2014. This is expected to continue into 2015 and beyond. The state’s economy relies heavily on conditions in the U.S. economy and key international economies, particularly Japan, which has experienced slow growth. Tourism in Hawaii is the No. 1 industry. Last year, it grew 4.8 percent, which resulted in more than eight million annual visitors. This is expected to taper to 3 percent in 2014. U.S real GDP is expected to increase by 2.4 percent in 2014 and 3 percent in 2015. In comparison, Hawaii’s economy is projected to show a 2.4 percent increase in 2014 and 2.2 percent in 2015. Hawaii’s unemployment rate is projected to be 4.2 percent in 2014, 4 percent in 2015 and 3.5 percent in 2017. The Honolulu Consumer Price index is expected to increase to 2.1 percent in 2014 and 2.5 percent in 2015. These are all positive signs. However, Hawaii suffers from a critical shortage of …
Purpose-built student housing has always been a dynamic market segment with unique challenges and opportunities. As an asset class, student housing fared well during the recent downturn, but the micro-market nature of these developments precludes too many generalizations. What makes a university a strong market for new student housing is in large part due to the dynamics at work in that specific university community. In addition, student housing being developed today reveals a trend toward high-end finishes and lavish amenities. Hyper-local Market On a national scale, the student housing market is large and growing. As the recession drove more people back to college, developers began adding new beds to campus communities across the nation. The swelling ranks of college enrollment, even as the job market declined, is one reason student housing continued to provide strong returns in a weak economy. But within a university community, there is a finite market for off-campus housing. For example, if a university has 20,000 students, one-third may live on-campus and one-third may commute or live in conventional housing. The other third — 6,500 students — in the market for off-campus housing likely represents the total market. If there were already 5,000 beds available, the …
While Southern New England gambles on casino development, shopping centers are the game of choice in Seacoast New Hampshire. DDR Corp., Waterstone Retail and New England Development have all chosen to invest in major new ventures in the sales tax-free state, and they are expanding their horizons for locations, retail tenants and customers. Supporting retail development, housing activity continues to be robust in Rockingham and Strafford counties. The latest Seacoast shopping center launch is Waterstone Retail’s Granite Ridge Marketplace, at exit 15 of the Spaulding Turnpike in Rochester, N.H. The development plans to capitalize on the Route 11 tourist corridor as well as the populations in the southern Lakes and northern Seacoast regions. (See sidebar below.) With Holiday Inn Express and multiple restaurants already in place, the Granite Ridge District shows great promise as a regional destination and attraction. Combining customers of the Lakes and Seacoast regions, Rochester is a hub of development activity. The Spaulding Turnpike expansion involved an investment of $135 million and has transformed the six Rochester exits. Rochester Crossing by The Wilder Companies (exit 13) is anchored by Lowe’s Home Improvement, Kohl’s and PetSmart, and features Buffalo Wild Wings, GameStop, and Sally Beauty Supply. IHOP Restaurant …
Southern California has one of today’s strongest retail markets in the nation. Orange County has fared particularly well recently, showing resilience to the tough economic period of the past six to seven years. According to CBRE research, the average per capita income in Orange County is 20 percent above the national average, while its unemployment rate stands at 5.8 percent. This is well below the State of California’s rate at 8 percent, and below the nation’s rate of 6.7 percent. The overall retail vacancy rate of 4.9 percent has reduced 50 basis points since the first quarter of 2013 and has shown three consecutive quarters of positive net absorption. While the overall retail numbers in Orange County are improving, certain fundamental changes in the personality of the market are evolving after the recession: E-commerce: Bricks-and-mortar stores in Orange County are responding to unprecedented levels of online sales. According to CBRE research, national online sales are up 185 percent over the past 10 years. They’re projected to grow between 10 percent and 14 percent annually through 2017. Many of the region’s retailers are actively enhancing their customer’s in-store shopping experience to create an environment that e-commerce is unable to offer. Customer …