By Ben Wallace, SIOR, vice president, Colliers Over the past decade, “suburban industrial” buildings have become more critical than ever. A suburban industrial building can be defined as one that is located within the suburbs of a major metroplex and designed for small- to medium-size users with above-average allotments of office/showroom space to accommodate service and light distribution uses. The typical building and infrastructure designs naturally limit heavy truck traffic and achieve higher rental rates, deterring heavy distribution and manufacturing users from locating there. With macro-level shifts in how people shop for and acquire goods and services, the need for suburban industrial buildings that are located near consumers has become increasingly important. Most cities have done an excellent job of regulating and altering development standards for these assets to meet this need while being careful to avoid creating rundown industrial areas in their communities. These cities have achieved this goal by elevating development standards to feature clean concrete exterior façades as well as the screening of dock loading areas and attractive glass entrances. The reason that many of these items are important is that the vast majority of these suburban industrial developments are not appropriately zoned when developers come to …
Market Reports
Higher-Quality Properties, Downsizing Drive Strong Office Leasing Activity in New Mexico
by Jeff Shaw
— By John Ransom, Senior Vice President and Principal, Colliers — Albuquerque MSA office users continue to closely evaluate real estate decisions post-pandemic. The leasing trend is pivoting toward quality properties with landlords upgrading their building systems, security and amenity offerings. Tenant improvement costs are central to lease negotiations, so matching a tenant with space that requires the least amount of renovations to meet their needs is critical for both the tenant and the landlord to make a deal. In any event, tenants often have to share in the TI costs with upfront capital or amortizing a portion of the construction expense into the rental rate. This leads to longer lease terms and additional lease securitization requirements. Beneficial occupancy and other creative incentives are also being offered by landlords in lieu of additional tenant improvement dollars. Companies looking to downsize are considering a trade up in building/space quality. The upgrade has little impact to overall real estate expense, while improving the working conditions for their employees and ability to recruit in a competitive hiring climate. The office vacancy rate has steadily decreased to about 12 percent from a high of 20 percent five years ago. The bulk of vacancies are …
Against the backdrop of rising interest rates, recent financial stress and murkiness over the Federal Reserve’s ultimate direction and economic implications, dealmaking in the first half of 2023 has remained exceedingly challenged across all real estate sectors as wide bid-ask spreads persist. However, compared to other spaces, rental housing in the Southeast remains relatively healthy from a fundamentals perspective, despite supply-driven softening in the near term. This trend is evident in many major markets, including cities like Atlanta. Occupancy and rent growth remain healthy in Atlanta. The rental vacancy rate for Atlanta as of January 2023 reached 5.4 percent, a 0.9 percent decrease over the previous year, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This falls below the national average of 5.8 percent for the fourth quarter of 2022. The median rental rate in January 2023 was also up 4.3 percent year-over-year, reaching $1,941. Population growth, employment opportunities, infrastructure investments, a business-friendly environment and other demand drivers continue to intensify Atlanta’s need for housing; and long term, the outlook for rental housing in the metro is very strong. More than 6 million people now live in the region, according to recent Census data. The Atlanta Regional Commission predicts more …
— By Reg Kobzi, Senior Vice President, CBRE — Despite economic headwinds and uncertainty, there remains a positive sentiment within the San Diego retail market due to the historically low vacancies that continue to persist quarter over quarter. Inflation across consumer categories erodes spending power and challenges the retail landscape, as well as the greater economy. Landlords proactively track consumer spending and tenant resilience to mitigate risk. Inflation has proven stubbornly high, but it is predicted to decline over the coming months as the economy cools. CBRE believes the rate hiking cycle is nearing an end, and the Feds should start to cut rates by the end of the year. Despite the economic challenges, San Diego is healthy as its unemployment rate has remained relatively steady and seen significantly less expansion than at the state and national levels. June is the 35th consecutive month that unemployment in San Diego was below the state norm and the 12th straight month below the U.S. average. San Diego retail vacancy stabilized at the beginning of 2023, mirroring the rate from the last quarter of 2022 of 4.9 percent. Since vacancy rates are indicators of the market’s overall health, this stabilization is a valuable …
By Anthony Armbruster, Colliers Although converting former office buildings to multifamily properties is by no means a new practice, conversions have been on the rise in recent years due to the changing work environment and office landscape. While the COVID-19 pandemic has started to fade away in many peoples’ minds, several of the changes in the work environment during that time have not. Many formerly in-office employees continue to work from home or have hybrid schedules post-pandemic. Additionally, tenants who are moving into new office spaces have shown a preference for smaller, more efficiently laid out, amenity-rich and suburban Class A office spaces. These changing consumer preferences have resulted in higher vacancies and fewer new tenants for older downtown office buildings than before the pandemic. Consequently, many of these older buildings are being converted into residential spaces, exemplifying the trend. An office building may be considered for a residential conversion when it is no longer economically feasible to continue running the building as such. However, not every office building at the end of its economically useful life is a suitable candidate for a residential conversion. Factors such as a building’s layout, location, age and cost of conversion play the most …
— By Will Strong, Executive Vice Chair, Industrial Capital Markets, Cushman & Wakefield — Albuquerque has emerged as a vibrant hub for industrial development, showcasing a thriving economy and a favorable business climate. With its strategic location, robust infrastructure and supportive policies, the city has become an attractive destination for ecommerce and logistics companies seeking growth and expansion. Situated in the heart of the Southwest, Albuquerque enjoys a prime location that serves as a gateway to various markets. It is conveniently connected to major transportation networks, including interstates 25 and 40, making it accessible for shipping goods across the region. The city is served by the Albuquerque International Sunport, facilitating efficientair freight and business travel. The market’s availability of reliable utilities, such as water, electricity and high-speed internet, further strengthens the city’s industrial ecosystem. The Albuquerque industrial market grew more than 300,000 square feet in the past year. Demand has been strong enough to continually outpace deliveries, enabling vacancies to tighten below the historical average, according to CoStar. Vacancies have fallen to just 2.4 percent, well below the national average of 4.5 percent. Albuquerque has a diversified base of industries, led by aerospace, high-tech manufacturing, distribution and logistics, technology and …
Despite shifts toward remote and hybrid work, office rents continue to rise in North Carolina’s Triangle region. Among the 25 largest office markets in the country, Raleigh experienced the second-highest rent growth between 2019 and 2022 — a testament to continued tenant demand. We’re also seeing renewed interest in trophy assets, where the average asking rent has reached an all-time high of $43.35 per square foot. Additionally, the first quarter showed a 280,000-square-foot increase in total office supply, indicating investor confidence in Raleigh’s resilience. Compared to rival markets, Raleigh wasn’t overbuilt pre-pandemic. The market doesn’t have millions of square feet of vacant space downtown and is more balanced than its competitors, leaving plenty of opportunity for future growth. Another indicator of Raleigh’s growth trajectory is the 32 percent year-over-year increase in tours given by JLL’s Office Agency Leasing team this year. Given the current economic headwinds, we know that prospects are taking longer to make decisions about their space. However, we also know they are actively evaluating their options and making long-term plans for their team’s future needs. At buildings within our portfolio, badge swipes last quarter reached a post-pandemic peak utilization of 68 percent – just 13 percent shy …
— By James Hall, ABI Multifamily — It’s been a tumultuous year for global capital markets and asset prices, which have had to contend with a broad array of geopolitical and economic headwinds. The Las Vegas multifamily market — while it remains demographically sound — is dealing with inflationary-based pricing concerns and fundamental characteristics dampening investor appetite.Amongst all the noise and negatively skewed fundamentals, Las Vegas’ economy continues to grow, with tourism surpassing pre-pandemic levels this quarter. Harry Reid Airport reported the highest recorded number of passengers in February, indicating that the market continues to benefit from a surge in post-pandemic domestic tourism.A report released by the Federal Funds Information for States ranked Nevada as first in the nation for economic growth and momentum last year. The measurement considers a wide array of key economic and demographic indicators, including population, personal income and employment growth.While California continues to reel from a declining population, both Nevada and Arizona are benefiting from a surge in net-migration. The population of Las Vegas is expected to double by 2060, which would add an additional 2 million residents to the MSA, per Woods and Poole Economics..Las Vegas residents have a much higher propensity to rent …
— By Jerry Doty, Senior Vice President, Colliers — Las Vegas was once known only for its flashy casinos and luxurious hotels, but over the past several years, it has become a growing distribution hub for the entire West Coast. Las Vegas is situated at the intersection of several major highways, making it an ideal location for businesses that need to move goods quickly and efficiently. The city’s proximity to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach also make it a gateway for goods entering and leaving the United States. Our industrial market has had an epic rise in recent years, and up until the recent economic shake-up with rising interest rates and uncertainty in the capital markets, there was no end in sight. We continue to ask ourselves if 2023 will be the year things finally slow down or, even worse, take a step back. First, the good news. One of the most striking statistics about the Las Vegas industrial market is the extremely low vacancy rate. Despite delivering about 8.5 million square feet over the previous five quarters, we still sit at a near record-low overall vacancy of 1.5 percent for the first quarter of 2023. Even …
By Taylor Williams Multifamily investment sales activity has been muted across major Texas markets during the first half of 2023, underscoring the unfortunate reality that even the most coveted asset classes are not immune to severe macroeconomic headwinds. Much like a year ago, the combined effects of stubborn inflation and corresponding interest rate hikes have wrought visibly negative changes to the world of multifamily investment sales. But in summer 2022, deals were still getting done at a decent clip; price disparities and depreciation were the most significant and obvious impediments to deal velocity. Today, buyers and sellers are more closely aligned on market realities as relates to price points, but many are simply not motivated to transact — at least in the short term. According to data from RealPage, in the first quarter of 2023, there were 337 multifamily transactions within the Dallas-Plano-Irving triangle, down from 510 in the first quarter of 2022. The greater Houston area saw 266 deals executed in the first quarter this year, a decline from 410 during that period in 2022, while the Austin market’s total number of transaction fell from 191 to 123 quarter-over-quarter. Multifamily sales prices responded differently to reduced deal volume from …