Greater Cleveland’s office market is showing some signs of recovery, and this is being fueled by the many development projects in the works. Planned developments include a casino to be located in the Tower City area opening sometime in 2013 and a proposed Medical Mart facility, which will be located next to Cleveland’s convention center in the heart of downtown. Another projected office development is the East Bank project by Scott Wolstein, which will house the national headquarters for Ernst & Young and law firm Tucker-Ellis. The project will be the first phase of a planned office, retail and residential development at the edge of Cleveland’s historic warehouse district. Eaton Corporation also is planning a new 400,000-square-foot campus in the Chagrin Highland’s 630-acre corporate community on Cleveland’s east side, which will leave Eaton’s current building at 12th Street and Superior, in the central business district, with more than 300,000 square feet available. Other major deals in the works are the relocation of Huntington Bank (approximately 100,000 square feet) from its namesake historic property at East 9th Street and Euclid to the former BP building, which is now 200 Public Square. The iconic bank building is home to several large firms …
Market Reports
Office development in the Minneapolis market is virtually at a standstill. Since the economy’s downturn, many projects have been shelved, and developers today are striving to locate aggressively priced, dispossessed buildings that can be repositioned and brought back to life for the next real estate cycle. The exceptions are highly visible build-to-suit projects. In September, Acosta, a sales and marketing company, plans to move into a new 65,000-square-foot building in the southwest suburb of Eden Prairie. Additionally, the law firm Hellmuth & Johnson is building 44,000 square feet of office space, topping three levels of covered parking at the intersection of Interstate 494 and Highway 169, also in Eden Prairie. Shadow space is an underlying issue affecting development in the Twin Cities. Until companies can absorb space they already lease but currently maintain as vacant, the development cycle will remain flat. Leasing activity is also quiet. Those businesses that are relocating are typically consolidating or otherwise downsizing. However, the U.S. General Services Administration is in the market for nearly 500,000 square feet of office space. Half of that is being spurred by a short-term need to relocate workers displaced by a $115 million federal stimulus funded renovation of the Bishop …
What a difference a year can make. At this time last year, the Detroit and Southeastern Michigan multifamily housing markets were experiencing some of their worst economic times since the early 1970s. But with recent announcements from Ford and General Motors concerning first quarter profits, there appears to be hope for the troubled region. Because the region has been so challenged during the past 18 months, there has been very little new development planned for 2010. But in 2011, nearly 2,800 apartment units are planned in the metro region, representing a potential 1.3 percent increase in the current inventory. One recent success story within the city is Garden View Estates, a mixed-use development with affordable housing, including rental units, senior co-ops and single-family homes. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based Windham Development is the principal in the residential portion of the project, which celebrated its grand opening in September 2009. These types of developments are going to play a key role in re-growth within the city because of joint efforts between private developers, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Detroit Housing Commission and the City of Detroit. We can anticipate new development in Ann Arbor and downtown Detroit. Ann Arbor …
The Las Vegas retail market has taken a significant hit during the economic downturn, but amid the doom-and-gloom the city continues to attract retailers and visitors that eventually will help restore stability to the region. Much of the declines are being driven by the general economy and, subsequently, joblessness throughout greater Las Vegas. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the metropolitan area reported an unemployment rate of 13.8 percent in January 2010, compared with 10.3 percent in January 2009. With nearly 136,000 people out of work in metro Las Vegas, it has been difficult for the market to achieve consumer spending levels that could help turn the market around. Recent retail statistics show worsening conditions for metro Las Vegas. According to a December 2009 survey conducted by Applied Analysis, the Las Vegas retail market had a vacancy rate of 10 percent, which is up from 7.5 percent in December 2008 and more than double the market's historical 10-year vacancy rate of 4.5 percent for anchored retail centers. Meanwhile, average retail property rents reportedly declined to $1.84 per square foot, down from $2.13 just 1 year prior. New development virtually stalled for retail properties in the market during 2009. …
The writing was on the wall. Some read it; others ignored it. Regardless of the strategy, retail development came to a halt in 2008. A few single-tenant buildings were developed, but most ground-up projects went into a holding pattern. Two years later, most of those projects are still on hold or moving very slowly at best. From power centers and mixed-use developments to strip centers and grocery-anchored centers, development activity remains stagnant throughout the Peach State. Hardest hit are the secondary and tertiary markets where developers built shopping centers based primarily on residential growth projections. Unfortunately, those projected communities were never built. Many retailers in those markets have struggled, and some have closed their doors. As national retailers look for space again, shopping centers in those markets will be low on their list, furthering the decline of these centers. How Will Developers Survive? The old cliché — location, location, location — holds true. Developers with good projects in prime locations will make it through the cycle by adapting to the changing market conditions with the short-term focus on cash flow and long-term focus on value. However, several fundamental tactics are needed to survive this economic cycle: • Asset Stabilization: One …
Orlando retail vacancy will rise again in 2010, partly as a result of significant blocks of vacant space in properties built during the past few years. While slumping demand has affected all vintages of assets, the vacancy rate in shopping centers constructed since 2007 topped 20 percent last year, much more than the marketwide rate for all properties. Continuing softness in the job market will reduce store visits and suppress spending, further influencing spacial demand and limiting the number of tenants available to fill new shopping centers. Additions to supply will not be a major factor this year, however, as completions will fall to the lowest annual level in at least 30 years. Housing starts, typically a precursor of retail property development, declined for four consecutive years through the end of 2009. Home building will likely remain depressed in 2010 while the economy continues to stabilize, thereby deterring retail developers. Following a year in which 39,400 jobs were eliminated, employers in Orlando will trim 1,000 positions this year, a 0.1 percent decrease. Completions will drop from 900,000 square feet in 2009 to 300,000 square feet this year. Falling rents and rising vacancy will force the delays of some developments currently …
Increasing vacancies mean increased worries for Atlanta’s commercial property owners, but also more options for the city’s tenants. How soon will the market regain some stability? Office The big uncertainty facing the 125 million-square-foot and 22 percent-vacant Atlanta office market in 2010 is whether or not increased leasing activity will outpace recession-induced tenant downsizing/rightsizing and result in occupancy growth. On the demand side, the approximately 1.5 million square feet of leases signed during fourth quarter 2009 represented a nearly 30 percent drop from the previous quarter. Notable transactions inked include those by KPMG, with a multi-floor renewal at SunTrust Plaza in downtown Atlanta. In Buckhead, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey decreased its footprint, renewing 92,000 square feet at Atlanta Financial Center. In the suburbs, Cox Enterprises committed to approximately 95,000 square feet at 9000 Central Park, with its subsidiary, AutoTrader, in negotiations at 3003 Summit Blvd. for up to 400,000 square feet. Meanwhile, increasing vacancy and downward pressure on rental rates are luring tenants into the market to search for deals. Major tenants checking out Atlanta space at the start of 2010 included Alston & Bird, with a 400,000-square-foot requirement; Kilpatrick Stockton (240,000 square feet); and an unnamed corporate relocation, dubbed “Project …
Do you remember how it feels to be on a wild rollercoaster ride, excited and confused, trying to make sense of the ride yet wondering when it will end? That’s exactly what developers, brokers, retailers and landowners are feeling in the commercial retail market. Although Macon finds itself somewhat insulated from what major retail markets are feeling during the “Great Recession,” it is certainly not immune to the prolonged effect of this economic downturn. With the lack of financing, local and regional developers have had to adjust the delivery of their projects in the wealthy submarket of North Macon and the South Bibb County area. While they too recognize Macon as somewhat of an insulated market, they are not blind to the fact that nationally some major retailers have closed, rental rates are declining, vacancy exceeds 20 percent and negative absorption is beginning to rear its ugly head. The Shoppes at River Crossing, Macon’s newest lifestyle center on Riverside Drive, hit a speed bump with the departure of Circuit City, but has quickly recovered with the recent announcement of Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts’ lease of a 20,331-square-foot building. With a commitment from a major anchor, Fickling and Co. is moving …
The Tampa market has passed through the most severe phase of the recession, a period during which the apartment vacancy rate climbed 360 basis points. In some Pinellas County submarkets, vacancy will surpass 11 percent this year as the local unemployment rate exceeds metro and state levels, while subdued population growth will reduce housing demand. Hillsborough County submarkets, meanwhile, will fare somewhat better as completions slow. Still, sluggish demand will be behind apartment performance, forcing owners to continue to offer concessions to maintain sufficient occupancy levels. The metro area’s vacancy rate is expected to be among the highest in the country this year, and revenues will contract sharply. In 2010, employers will cut 4,000 jobs, a 0.3 percent reduction, but an improvement from last year, when 51,000 positions were eliminated. Developers are forecast to complete 1,000 units this year, down from 1,400 new rentals in 2009. Planned projects total about 5,100 units, or 3 percent of existing stock. Although supply growth will ease in 2010, demand will remain weak, resulting in a 30 basis point rise in vacancy to 10.8 percent. Last year, vacancy climbed 180 basis points. This year, asking rents should fall 3.8 percent to $767 per month, …
The Jackson office market remains strong, with occupancy rates of 81 percent and average rental rates of $19 per square foot. As the state capital, government is the driving force for local real estate, and recently, the public sector has been working with private developers to establish partnerships. With more than $600 million in private and public development during the last couple of years in the CBD, companies are intrigued by downtown’s revitalization. The King Edward restoration by HRI Properties, Watkins Partners and Deuce McAllister is an example of where local government property was transformed into a new 186-room Hilton Garden Inn combined with 64 newly leased apartments. Fondren Place is another public/private partnership where Peters Real Estate and The Mattiace Company partnered with Jackson Public Schools to convert a former school to boutique shops, restaurant space and a new 37,500-square-foot office building with retail space. The construction of the Jackson Convention Complex has spurred hotel development to support Jackson’s first convention center with the nearly completed Sleep Inn and the newly renovated Clarion Hotel Roberts Walthall. Eley Guild Hardy Architects fell in love with a Neo-Classical Revival-style former bank and is transforming it into a LEED-certified building for its …