Wednesday, December 25, 2024
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Growth in Sales Volume, Pricing Define Seattle’s Multifamily Market

by John Nelson

— By Dylan Simon, executive vice president, Kidder Mathews — This summer marked a major milestone in Seattle’s apartment market, demonstrating signs of vibrancy with increases in rental rates, growing liquidity and clarity in pricing in capital transactions. The city is gaining momentum and continues to bounce back from recent market fluctuations and the harsh impacts of the pandemic. Urbanization is here to stay — corporate employers are voting against Zoom as an effective tool — as we trend back toward human nature, which requires community and proximity. With limited new construction breaking ground, the stage is set for sustained rental rate growth, which will invariably result in a surge in sales prices. Transaction Activity on the Rise Transaction activity is steadily on the rise in Seattle’s multifamily market, proving conviction from the investment community. This uptick offers greater clarity on property values as the market adjusts from peak interest rates back in fall 2023. For owners and potential sellers, this shift suggests pricing hit a bottom in the past nine months and the only direction in pricing from here is upward. In our recently launched third-quarter Seattle market report, we’ve uncovered key sales insights that underscore this resurgence. During the …

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Market ReportsMidwestMidwest Market ReportsNebraskaOffice

Amenity Focus: Turning Omaha Office Spaces into Lifestyle Spaces

by Kristin Harlow

By Mike Homa, R&R Realty Group Five years later and businesses are still adjusting to the new work environment brought on by the COVID pandemic. Omaha’s office space market is seeing a shift in how companies attract employees back into the office. With remote and hybrid work now widely accepted, developers and employers have realized that providing traditional office spaces is no longer enough to entice workers. Instead, they are focusing on creating environments that offer a blend of professional, personal and recreational amenities, transforming office spaces into lifestyle destinations.  To make coming to the office more attractive, developers are offering amenities that cater to employees’ holistic needs. In some office parks, facilities such as onsite daycare centers are becoming a reality. These allow working parents the convenience of dropping off their children close to where they work, reducing commute time and providing peace of mind. It’s an amenity that goes beyond the typical office needs, addressing a significant aspect of employees’ personal lives. Green spaces are another amenity we see being increasingly incorporated into the surroundings of new buildings and broader development areas. We see outdoor spaces in office parks like Fountain Ridge Office Park, which offers amphitheater-style seating …

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Conference CoverageMarket ReportsMultifamilyTexasTexas Market Reports

Sweet Spot: The Ideal Cap Rate Range for Buying Multifamily Assets in Texas Today

by Taylor Williams

By Taylor Williams The concept of cap rates is an interesting phenomenon when you stop to think about it. Short for “capitalization rate” and calculated as net operating income (NOI) divided by sales price, this all-important real estate metric represents a page borrowed from Wall Street’s playbook, a savvy maneuver by investors to create a vehicle of asset valuation and apply it to select securities on a widespread basis. The circumstances of the metric’s inception are largely unknown, but all that matters is that the real estate industry has successfully propagated the use of cap rates as a crucial mechanism to underwriting and pricing transactions for these assets. And the most basic thing to know is that to a point, sellers like low cap rates because they reflect high purchase prices, and buyers prefer high cap rates for the opposite reason. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. Yet for all their ubiquity, cap rates are fluid, representing snapshots of valuations at random points in time. Tenants move out, leaving spaces vacant, and a property’s …

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IndustrialLouisianaMarket ReportsSoutheastSoutheast Market Reports

Economic Headwinds, Rising Costs Affect Industrial Market in Greater New Orleans

by John Nelson

Despite healthy local market dynamics, the greater New Orleans industrial market did not perform as strongly as insiders expected it to perform over the past 12 months, which is indicative of wider economic factors suppressing a market with pent-up demand.  The Port of New Orleans and its access to major shipping routes along the Mississippi River has long been the principal component for industrial real estate in the area. The recent 2024 regular session of the Louisiana Legislature committed $230.5 million to Port of New Orleans infrastructure projects, including allocations to the Louisiana International Terminal, a $1.8 billion project in Violet, La., scheduled to be operational in 2028, which will be the Gulf South’s premier container shipping gateway able to accommodate New Panamax- and Post New Panamax-sized vessels.  A bit further up the Mississippi River but still in the greater New Orleans region, Canadian company Woodland Biofuels announced a $1.35 billion investment at the Port of South Louisiana in Reserve, La., to establish the largest renewable natural gas plant in the world. The facility will take waste wood and sugar cane and turn it into natural gas. The process will be carbon-negative, leaving less carbon in the atmosphere than before …

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Market ReportsOfficeWashingtonWesternWestern Market Reports

Puget Sound Office Market Sees Positive Signs of Recovery

by John Nelson

— By Leah Masson, senior director, Cushman & Wakefield — The real estate landscape in the Puget Sound region is shaped by a dynamic contrast between the Eastside and Downtown Seattle. The Eastside continues to thrive, particularly with its robust tech activity. Major developments, such as the Eight, Skanska’s 540,000-square-foot project, is nearing full occupancy, underscoring the area’s strong demand.  OpenAI is actively seeking space on the Eastside, with expectations of more artificial intelligence groups to follow. It’s worth noting that the Eastside is not plagued by the safety issues that have been a concern for Downtown Seattle. The anticipated 2025 opening of the light rail is set to drive even more growth in the area. Downtown Seattle is also experiencing an uptick in leasing activity, with active tenants expanding in terms of both square footage and lease term lengths. Since 2021, professional services groups, such as law and engineering firms, have been the primary drivers of leasing, but there is now a welcome return of tech companies to the Seattle market. New AI-focused tenants are beginning to emerge, moving out of coworking spaces and seeking permanent office locations in the city. However, Downtown Seattle continues to face significant challenges, …

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IndustrialMarket ReportsMidwestMidwest Market ReportsNebraska

Omaha Industrial Continues to Be a Top-Performing CRE Sector

by Kristin Harlow

By John Dickerson, OMNE Partners Omaha continues to be strong economically. The Omaha-area population is nearing the 1 million mark, and Omaha has been rated in the top 10 of cities to move to. Unemployment is less than 3 percent compared with about 4 percent nationally, and employment growth is about 2 percent per year.  In commercial real estate, business news generally says that Omaha is doing better than larger cities in the U.S. Of the key sectors, industrial has performed very well. Leasing pace Per CoStar information, Omaha’s vacancy rate is 3 percent. The total industrial square footage is 108 million square feet, and there is approximately 4 million square feet under construction. A large share of construction is due to Google, Facebook and other large users adding facilities. About 1.7 million square feet has been absorbed in the last year. Currently, per market information gathered from Crexi listings, there is approximately 2.6 million square feet available for lease in Douglas and Sarpy counties. (See chart for a breakdown by property types.) One other thing to note is that in the 139 properties with space for lease, there appears to be only 20 spaces for lease with 2,000 square …

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LouisianaMarket ReportsOfficeSoutheastSoutheast Market Reports

Challenges Unfortunately Outweigh Opportunities for New Orleans Office Market

by John Nelson

A combination of short sales, declining occupancy rates, loan concerns and migration to suburban offices contribute to uncertainty in the New Orleans office market. As we approach the fourth quarter of this year and begin to reflect back on the market in 2024, the challenges unfortunately outweigh the opportunities. Two notable cases include The DXC Technology Center and The Energy Centre.  The DXC Technology Center, located at 1615 Poydras St. in the Central Business District (CBD), a once-prized office tower anchored by Freeport McMoRan, sold for less than $37 per square foot. The building, over 500,000 square feet, traded for $18.5 million, significantly below the remaining debt on the property. The New Orleans Police Department recently signed a lease to occupy approximately 45,000 square feet in the building, which lessens the steep decline in the building’s value. The Energy Centre, located at 1100 Poydras St., is one of the most desirable and best-performing Class A towers in the CBD. It entered receivership, but the building is back on track and is rumored to be nearing a sale. The building owner, The Hertz Group, controls four additional Class A office towers on Poydras St. (400, 650, 701 & 909 Poydras St.), …

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IndustrialMarket ReportsWashingtonWesternWestern Market Reports

Dynamics Shift in Seattle’s Industrial Real Estate Market

by John Nelson

— By R.J. Vara, first vice president of investments, Marcus & Millichap’s The Vara Group — The Seattle industrial market is undergoing a transitional phase marked by rising vacancies, fluctuating demand and evolving investment dynamics. There was a robust surge from 2020 to 2022, which saw nearly 19 million square feet of industrial space absorbed and more than $8.4 billion in transaction volume. However, the market experienced a reversal in 2023, with roughly 2 million square feet of previously absorbed space becoming available. This shift, driven by decreased container traffic at local ports, rising interest rates and elevated inflation, has continued into 2024, with speculative construction projects contributing to elevated vacancy rates. As of mid-year, Seattle’s industrial vacancy rate has increased by about 2 percent year over year, reaching 7.7 percent. This has surpassed the national average of 6.6 percent. The rise in vacancies is primarily attributed to the completion of new distribution facilities, with spaces of more than 100,000 square feet now available in double digits. Delivery numbers are expected to fall to their lowest level since 2017, but investors are beginning to explore opportunities in the southern regions. Regarding investment activity, Seattle’s industrial sales volume has notably increased …

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Market ReportsMidwestMidwest Market ReportsNebraska

Real Estate Development Thrives in Omaha, Driven by Strong Demographic Growth

by Kristin Harlow

By Tom D’Arcy and Brad Soderwall, Hines The Omaha market has experienced strong growth in recent years, with $8 billion in commercial real estate development currently underway driven by consistent migration of new residents and professionals to the area.  The city’s attractiveness is attributed in large part to its high quality of life and attractive cost of living, both of which present compelling opportunities for new development that further incentivizes in-migration, and cultivates and enhances the unique lifestyle that makes Omaha a desirable place for families and young professionals to put down roots. Shifting demographics drive growth in Omaha Omaha’s low unemployment rate (at 2.6 percent as of July 2024, per the Nebraska Department of Labor), quality of life, affordable cost of living and expanding cultural opportunities are driving migration into the area. The Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area saw its strongest population growth since pre-pandemic (2019) in 2023, with an increase of 0.8 percent, substantially outpacing the national average of 0.5 percent, per the U.S. Census Bureau. 2023 also saw a net migration of over 3,400 residents to the area. This population growth is fueling demand in the multifamily market, where we saw a record-setting year for development in 2023 …

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KentuckyMarket ReportsMultifamilySoutheastSoutheast Market Reports

Positive Rent Growth Makes Louisville Multifamily Market Stand Out From the Pack

by John Nelson

Amidst economic uncertainty, Louisville stands out for its resilience, establishing itself as a stalwart in today’s market. According to Apartments.com, Louisville ranked No. 1 in the nation for rent growth in the second quarter of 2024. Factors such as Louisville’s non-cyclical job growth, expanding industries including EV production and the burgeoning River Ridge project in Southern Indiana all contribute to its growth.  When we inspect the data, we see a basic yet fundamental market factor at play: supply and demand. Louisville’s supply is low relative to the growth in renters, resulting in upward pressure on rents despite a nationwide market that is largely declining.  Supply dynamics The bulk of Louisville’s development pipeline is concentrated in Southern Indiana, with 1,039 units under construction in the Jeffersonville submarket. The Southern Indiana region has experienced solid growth with over 10,500 incoming jobs due to the economic activity from River Ridge. River Ridge Commerce Center reported an economic impact of $2.93 billion for calendar year 2023, up over $2.7 billion compared with 2022, according to Inside INdiana Business. Notable development projects in Southern Indiana include: • The Flats on 10th, 3300 Schosser Farm Way (300-units by Schuler Bauer Real Estate) • The Warren, 4501 …

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