Market Reports

Spec Industrial Space Takes Over Birmingham Pipeline as Build-to-Suits Dry Up

by John Nelson April 3, 2023

Before we look at the current happenings in the Birmingham industrial market, it is worth glancing into the rearview mirror of the last 24 months or so. 2021 and 2022 saw the delivery of 10 notable industrial build-to-suit projects. Some were announced in 2020 before pricing surges. The last delivery of these projects was completed in fourth-quarter 2022, an automotive project on the west side for Lear Automotive Seating oriented toward Mercedes-Benz. This unprecedented streak of projects totaled 3.3 million square feet. In addition to Lear, tenants included: Lowes, Mercedes-Benz, Motion Industries, TSF Sportswear, Samuel, Son & Co., Amazon (two) and FedEx Ground. Interestingly, two of these facilities are now available for sublease and were never occupied by the tenant. And as of this writing, there is not a single industrial build-to-suit announced or under construction. What did follow the noted build-to-suit wave were six speculative (or partial speculative) projects. The first one delivered — the first phase of Crossroads Commerce Center in the Central submarket — spanned 186,000 square feet, and the twin second phase was recently completed. The two phases are now 75 percent occupied, demonstrating market demand shown in other Southeastern markets in mid-2022 and prior. In …

April 3, 2023

California Market Reports Retail Western Western Market Reports

Orange County’s Retail Vacancy is Tight, but Capital Markets Activity Will Be Sluggish this Year

by Jeff Shaw March 31, 2023

— By Terrison Quinn, Managing Principal, SRS Real Estate Partners — The Orange County retail property market was very active last year for both leasing and capital markets. At 4 percent, Orange County’s retail vacancy was back down to pre-pandemic levels. There was an annual net positive absorption of 445,000 square feet with 191,000 square feet of new space delivered in 2022, per CoStar. Average rents increased 5 percent from an average market rent of $34.84 per square foot, per year to $36.58 — the highest rate of rent growth in 10 years. We don’t see rents coming down at all this year, especially as there’s only 170,000 square feet of new space currently under construction and we continue to experience favorable consumer demand. From a capital markets perspective, investment activity remains to be seen. In line with national trends, many investors and lenders are putting capital deployment on pause as they analyze economic activity and adjust to a period of higher interest rates, higher inflation and, perhaps surprisingly, strong employment. Despite the angst that comes from uncertainty, there is a lot of positive sentiment toward economic corrections, creating investment opportunities over the coming years. This is certainly the …

March 31, 2023

Market Reports Midwest Midwest Market Reports Minnesota Multifamily

Pandemic-Fueled Trends Continue to Have Impact on Twin Cities CRE Market

by Kristin Harlow March 30, 2023

By Jeff Budish, Northmarq Three years in, and the COVID-19 pandemic has immensely altered how multifamily and commercial properties are utilized, located and valued. Now with interest rate changes, all product types have seen a hit from the change in the cost of capital. While challenges are on the horizon, Midwest markets, including Minneapolis-St. Paul, should see less shake up than elsewhere. Despite rising interest rates, recession worries and nagging inflation, the Twin Cities multifamily sector is resilient. Vacancies remain low, demand is outpacing supply and rents are solid. Year over year, apartment rents in the Twin Cities area are up 5 percent. While COVID changed the dynamics of all product types, it explicitly impacted multifamily. The increase in remote work meant employees were not tethered to a physical office. Many people moved away from their workplaces in densely populated areas to the suburbs. However, Minneapolis and St. Paul proper generally saw net outbound demographic shifts. Valuations over the past two years therefore didn’t include additional inflated pricing based on speculation of continual inbound movement. There is also soaring demand for apartments due to an increase in the number of Americans living on their own, roommate-free. In an AvalonBay public …

March 30, 2023

Connecticut Market Reports Northeast Northeast Market Reports

Outsourcing of Property Tax Assessment, Collection Functions Raises Problems in Northeast

by Taylor Williams March 29, 2023

By Elliott Pollack, Esq., Pullman & Comley LLC Although COVID-19 resulted in the pumping of significant dollars from the federal government into municipal and county budgets, generally speaking, property tax assessment offices remain understaffed and undertrained. Many assessors recognize these realities and are successful in convincing local leaders to appropriate funds to retain independent contractors to perform various assessment and collection functions. The theory is that these expenditures are non-recurring and are preferable to staffing assessment offices on a full-time permanent basis. As an example, Connecticut assessors almost always contract with certified revaluation companies to perform statutorily required, community-wide revaluations every five years. They contract with these companies because they simply lack the personnel to do the work themselves. In addition, reliance on outside contractors can, to some degree, insulate municipal staff from angry property owners who are unhappy with their new assessments. Another perhaps unplanned benefit to retaining outside contractors is that unless communications with the contractors can be made promptly after new assessments are published, at least in Connecticut, property owners are compelled to resort to judicial remedies to challenge their values. Since court proceedings tend not to conclude for a year or even more, localities obtain the …

March 29, 2023

Alabama Market Reports Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Birmingham Remains a Healthy Market for Office Landlords, Tenants

by John Nelson March 27, 2023

Birmingham’s office market is facing many of the same challenges our peer markets are encountering. Lingering economic uncertainties have created a very cautious environment. Most tenants and business owners I speak with are either cautiously pessimistic or cautiously optimistic about the economy. Regardless of which side is right, economic projections for 2023 have caused a general slowdown in deal flow as decision makers have become more guarded with business decisions and commitment levels. Is there cause for concern in Birmingham? Historically, Birmingham’s office market has remained stable during challenging times, dodging the extreme highs and lows as markets ebb and flow nationwide. Birmingham’s office market consists of approximately 19 million square feet of multi-tenant inventory across five submarkets, four of which have Class A inventory. Fundamentals, subleases As of fourth-quarter 2022, the occupancy rate for Birmingham’s office market sits at 83.8 percent. For the same period over the last five years, the occupancy rate has only slightly fluctuated year-over-year, ranging from 86.1 percent in fourth-quarter 2018 to 83.8 percent in fourth-quarter 2020. The current rate is at 83.8 percent, illustrating consistency throughout a very problematic time for the office sector. Birmingham’s office sublease inventory is rising, but again, not to …

March 27, 2023

California Industrial Market Reports Western Western Market Reports

Orange County’s Industrial Sector Continues to Grow

by Jeff Shaw March 24, 2023

— By Jace Gan, Executive Vice President, Colliers — Before 2020, Orange County’s industrial base shrank due to developers opting to redevelop multifamily and creative office spaces. Historically tight market conditions limit the number of new leases, and rising interest rates price out many businesses looking to purchase a building. However, we are seeing a significant increase in industrial development across Orange County for the first time in a while. Orange County industrial properties have seen a pullback from institutions that were putting capital out the door. About 2.4 million square feet of new industrial space was constructed in 2022 — a significant increase over the 660,000-square-foot, five-year average. Setting Pace Most activity occurs in North County, which makes up 45 percent of OC’s industrial base. Irvine has remained the hub for more specialized uses related to aerospace, medical, etc. Key developments across the region are dictating the speed of future activity. Goodman recently developed a 1.5-million-square-foot, four-building logistics center in Fullerton. The overall size is rare for the OC, and was 89 percent pre-leased before completion. Samsung took two buildings totaling 1 million square feet. Sprouts took 337,000 square feet in another building. Sares Regis Group is redeveloping an …

March 24, 2023

Illinois Market Reports Midwest Midwest Market Reports Office

Suburban Chicago Office Landlords Still Face Tough Times

by Kristin Harlow March 23, 2023

By Mark Kolar, Cresa There’s been a lot of news recently about the financial pressures facing suburban Chicago commercial office landlords who have financed their office buildings via commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loans. While the financial challenges these buildings face continue to grab the headlines, there is a much less visible yet greater amount of privately funded commercial office landlords that could be facing dire financial changes over the next couple of years. These privately funded loans that originated through major banks and insurance companies are seeing just as much, if not more, stress than their CMBS counterparts. Collectively we’re seeing significant systemic issues for all Chicago commercial office landlords with no clear path to a solution in sight. In suburban Chicago, about 13 percent of commercial office loans are financed by CMBS loans with the majority of loan debt financed through local financial institutions, private investment funds and insurance companies. While details on these loans is not as readily available as their CMBS counterparts, many office landlords are confronting similar challenges. Both CMBS and privately funded commercial landlords and their lenders are facing a host of capital challenges that revolve around systemic changes in leasing activity, increasing costs of …

March 23, 2023

Market Reports Texas Texas Market Reports

Millennials, Gen Zers Drive Demand for ESG Amenities at Texas Office Properties

by Taylor Williams March 21, 2023

By Brett Merz, senior vice president, asset management, KBS Realty Advisors The demand for office properties with amenities that reflect an awareness of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles is growing as a result of younger generations joining the workforce and investing. A recent study by CNBC Make It found that one-third of millennials in the United States place a high focus on investment products with ESG factors. This tendency naturally extends to the places where they work. In fact, 47 percent of 18- to-34-year-olds in the United Kingdom say they would look for a new role if they thought their employer was not committed to the cause. This finding demonstrates that ESG is becoming an essential part of recruitment and retention — particularly among younger workers. Since millennials and gen Zers make up the majority of today’s workforce, ESG is becoming a rising concern among office owners. In the growing markets of Dallas and Austin, businesses are now seeking office spaces that offer eco-friendly features to help attract and retain employees. As a large investor in top-tier commercial real estate, KBS has seen how these amenities can benefit office investors. This is one of the reasons we created an …

March 21, 2023

Industrial Market Reports South Carolina Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Greenville-Spartanburg’s Industrial Market Is ‘Firing on all Cylinders’

by John Nelson March 20, 2023

Over the course of this year, Greenville-Spartanburg’s industrial market is expected to continue its overall upward trajectory with increasing rental rates, record-low vacancy rates and ongoing tenant demand. The fundamentals of Upstate South Carolina’s industrial market are among the strongest anywhere in the country right now due to a myriad of cylinders on which it is simultaneously firing. The market’s plethora of demand drivers include e-commerce users, manufacturing, the automotive industry and the draw of the Inland Port located in Greer. To understand the full picture, however, it’s important to also consider what the Greenville- Spartanburg market is not firing on. The market is not stifled by unions, high regulation or the lack of viable sites, available buildings and utility infrastructure some other markets have to contend with. An important factor affecting current absorption is multiple fourth-quarter tenant occupancy dates being pushed from fourth quarter of 2022 to first quarter of 2023. There was 17.9 million square feet of industrial space under construction at year-end 2022, with approximately 4 million square feet of that already preleased but not yet delivered. Those deliveries in early 2023 will naturally lead to positive absorption and help rebalance the market. A variety of industrial …

March 20, 2023

Illinois Industrial Market Reports Midwest Midwest Market Reports

Finding Liquidity in an Illiquid Market — Where Deals Are Getting Done in Chicagoland

by Kristin Harlow March 16, 2023

By Tyler Ziebel, Colliers Following one of the most active and aggressive periods in Chicago’s industrial capital markets history, 2022 ended as a year most market participants would rather forget. As the buying community returned to their desks and fastened their seatbelts for another year of fun in 2023, industrial sales brokers across the country are starting the year posed with a question from investors that hasn’t been asked in some time: “What are we going to be able to buy this year?” It’s easy to assume that investors will remain content to sit out of the turbulent market, but the answer to where we are, and aren’t, seeing liquidity requires a nuanced answer. In order to do that, we must take a quick look at 2022 and what set this uncertain market in motion. After several record-setting years for industrial leasing and sales in 2020 and 2021, accelerated by the COVID pandemic and a historically low interest rate environment, 2022 opened with the same frenzied pace and enthusiasm of 2021. But as the Federal Reserve pivoted its focus from keeping the economy stable to taming the resulting inflation, rapidly rising interest rates grounded institutional industrial transactions and development deals …

March 16, 2023

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