What trends do you see presently in retail development in your area? Developers continue to move forward on projects in which they have an anchor tenant and financing. Land and construction costs have risen to a point where the rents developers need aren’t feasible to tenants, thus putting the project on hold. What type of retail product is doing well in your area? Regional malls and our two lifestyle centers continue to perform very well. What retailers are new to your area? Dick’s Sporting Goods, Famous Dave’s, LA Boxing, and over a dozen new tenants to our area that are currently in negotiations with landlords. Who are the active retail developers in your area? Center Cal, CE John and Company, Gramor Development and Opus NW are the most prominent players right now. Please name one or two significant retail developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? Cascade Station was recently completed located next to Portland International Airport, on the east side of Portland near the border of Oregon and Washington. This project’s success was banked on the fact that customers who don’t want to pay a Washington State sales tax will cross the Columbia …
Market Reports
What area is your expertise? Industrial properties in Miami-Dade County (Miami) and Broward County (Fort Lauderdale). What trends do you see presently in industrial development in your area? Industrial development in South Florida is at a slow down and absorption is creeping along. Given the land constraints of the Atlantic Ocean and Florida Everglades, build-to-suits are also harder to find in Broward and Dade counties. What type of industrial product is doing well in your area? Multi-bay and multi-tenant warehouses are in high demand because they continue to absorb space for a variety of tenants from 500 square feet to 5,000 square feet. Many businesses that can function without their storefront locations are downsizing and moving their business to warehouses where they do not have to pay the high retail rental rates. Big box industrial warehouses over 65,000 square feet are also doing well. There is less demand for space over 10,000 square feet and under 65,000 square feet, as tenants desiring this size space are feeling more of the effects of the current economic downturn. Please name one or two significant industrial developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? In Broward County, two …
What area is your area of expertise? My area of expertise is Southern California, but for the purpose of this interview I will focus on Los Angeles County. What trends do you see presently in multifamily development in your area? The rapid escalation of construction costs has subsided and in some cases is even coming down and labor is more widely available and less expensive. Despite reduced costs, land costs have started to come down. As demand for luxury condos wane, many development sites that were once slated for condo-construction will most likely be redirected to multifamily apartment buildings or mixed-use buildings. Who are the active multifamily developers in your area? A few major multifamily developers in the area are Legacy Partners, Related Development Company, NMS Properties, JPI Development, Lowe Enterprises, Fifield Company, and JSM Development. Please name one or two significant multifamily developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? One significant multifamily development is the $600 million mixed-use development on Hollywood and Vine by Legacy Partners. This project is comprised of a hotel, retail space, condominiums, and 375 luxury apartments. It is scheduled for completion in 2009. Another major development is the NoHo …
What area is your expertise? Atlanta industrial What trends do you see presently in industrial development in your area? Spec developments has slowed given uncertain economic conditions. Spec space to be delivered this year is 4.9 million square feet, down about half from this time last year. Almost all new development is bulk warehouse of 400,000+ square feet. What type of industrial product is doing well in your area? The bulk market has been active. Distribution is stable. Who are the active industrial developers in your area? DCT Industrial, First Industrial Realty Trust, Duke Realty Corp., Majestic Realty Co., IDI, Raco, Panattoni Development Co., John W. Rooker and Associates, Robert Pattillo Properties, McDonald Development, Jadow Realty and M.D. Hodges. Please name one or two significant industrial developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? IDI’s newly planned Meridian 75 Logistics Center is a 200 acre park along Interstate 75 near Macon. The park will accommodate 3 million square feet when completed and Majestics Airport Center III where the developer has started 4 buildings including a 600,000-square-foot bulk warehouse. Where is the majority of development taking place? Why is this area doing well? Northeast and Airport …
Since 1995, container volume at the port has increased by approximately 400% and now exceeds 2.3 billion TEU s (20-foot equivalent units). With this growth, national developers have entered the market and started large speculative construction projects totaling more than 4.5 million square feet. However, the market is still relatively small at 23 million square feet. While the port s growth will ultimately create strong demand, there are some questions concerning building size and near-term absorption and overbuilding that will be addressed in the next year. Many of the speculative buildings exceed 500,000 square feet. The Savannah industrial market s vacancy is certainly healthy at 5.4%, but the current state of spec development will probably drive it higher in the short term. Additionally, the amount of vacant space may stall rent growth and keep it in the $3.30 to $4 per square foot range over the next year. At Duke, we were fortunate enough to acquire a fully leased, 5.1 million-square-foot portfolio from local developer Wrenn Blalock, we are also exploring additional land opportunities to maintain our position as a leading developer in Savannah. Our Savannah portfolio includes Portside at Grange Road and Crossroads Business Center, where we will acquire …
What area is your expertise? My specialty is retail investment sales in Oklahoma. What trends do you see presently in retail development in your area? The Oklahoma City metropolitan area has experienced minimal local tenant turnover, but for the most part, leasing has stabilized. With the construction of new life style centers, mall tenants and even mall anchors are moving to the new open air developments. What type of retail product is doing well in your area? Recently developed shopping centers occupied with national tenants remain the front runner for solid retail investments and, as in most markets, well-located neighborhood centers continue to be successful. Free standing retail is still solid with very few vacancies; however, the verdict is still out as to what fallout the Metropolitan area will have from nationwide store closings. What retailers are new to your area? Conn s is the most recent retailer to the Oklahoma City area opening one store with three more planned. Who are the active retail developers in your area? Jackson Development, Sooner Investment Group, Blanton Property Co., Burk Collins & Co. and Larry Owsley. Please name one or two significant retail developments in your area. What impact will these projects …
What area is your expertise? • Office leasing and sales in Salt Lake County What trends do you see presently in office development in your area? • The office market continues to show positive net absorption and a sustained demand for office product. Developers and the capital markets have not been over-zealous by creating a large supply of speculative office product. Most of the new office construction has had substantial pre-leasing activity.There is also a greater interest in creating a more green and sustainable office buildings. Who are the active office developers in your area? • DDRS, Boyer Company, Woodbury Corporation and Hamilton Partners Please name one or two significant office developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? • The Gateway in the downtown area of Salt Lake City continues to have an impact on the office market. Large and notable companies such as Fidelity and Ernst and Young continue to locate in this mixed-use project. Tenants seek to have amenities such as restaurants, shopping, entertainment, condos, and light-rail transportation at their doorstep. This project will continue to be the “pace-setter” in office development and will be the development that will have little, if …
What area is your expertise? • Columbia, S.C. What trends do you see presently in retail development in your area? • Currently, there are several active types of development: Wal-Mart and Target anchored community centers ranging from 200,000 to 300,000 square feet Unanchored retail strips from 6,000 to 20,000 square feet Auto dealerships relocated from in town to suburban locations Additional home improvement locations Bank locations Fast food locations What type of retail product is doing well in your area? • All retail seems to be quite strong at this point Who are the active retail developers in your area? • Active retail developers are Fletcher Bright, WRS, Edens & Avant, Kahn Development, and Owen Development. Please name one or two significant retail developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? • Village at Sandhill is a 1 million-square-foot lifestyle center in Northeast Richland County. It is being developed by Kahn Development of Columbia. This project has introduced the lifestyle center to the region and created a retail anchor in Columbia’s fastest growing suburb. • The Shoppes at White Knoll is a 250,000 square foot development that was recently completed in the Redbank submarket. WRS …
What area is your expertise? The Greater Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area and Western Pennsylvania. What trends do you see presently in multifamily development in your area? The Greater Pittsburgh MSA is a very stabilized and historically steady market. There are high barriers to entry, modest but steady rent increases, strong occupancy and limited concessions are offered to tenants. Who are the active multifamily developers in your area? The recent active developers in the Greater Pittsburgh MSA include Lincoln Properties and Continental. Please name one or two significant multifamily developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? The Cork Factory located in the “Strip District” on the river front in Pittsburgh. This project was recently developed into 297 luxury apartments from a vacant warehouse. The Cork Factory is a tremendous success in terms of lease-up time and achieving record high rents. This project, along with The Encore on 7th, represent the two newest apartment communities built in the City of Pittsburgh in more than 30 years. The Encore on 7th was built from the ground up by Lincoln Properties. The community contains 151 luxury rental units and was completed in 2006. Where is the majority of development …
What office are you based in? Birmingham, Ala. What area is your expertise? Birmingham Industrial Market What trends do you see presently in industrial development in your area? Presently, some geographic areas of our market are soft. Primarily some of the bulk distribution markets located on the perimeter of Birmingham are experiencing a softness that our market has not seen in recent history. This softness is associated with the construction of new buildings which the market has not yet absorbed. What type of industrial product is doing well in your area? Office warehouse product is currently 91.1 percent leased. It is a very tight market with all submarkets in Birmingham experiencing the same kind of high levels of occupancy. Who are the active industrial developers in your area? There are different partnerships developing industrial product in the Birmingham market with either EGS Commercial Real Estate or Graham and Company leading the partnerships. Please name one or two significant industrial developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? The most recently completed developments in our area have occurred in the Southern submarket. Shelby West and Shelby Commerce Park, IV are each significant developments (approximately 250,000 square …