Louisville’s office market is certainly a representative example of a typical office market in a mid-sized city. As expected, Louisville experienced the impact of COVID-19 and the remote work trend. Downtown had to endure the social unrest during summer 2020 that created a perception of a lack of safety. Our community has work to do to get things back to “normal,” but things are slowly starting to move in the right direction. As has always been the case, the downtown and suburban markets face different trends. Typically, the suburban market has outperformed the central business district (CBD) with higher average rents and lower vacancy. Presently, the downtown Class A market has average rents in the $19.11 per square foot range and vacancy around 22 percent. The suburbs are seeing $22.16 per square foot in rent and 14.6 percent vacancy. Recently, the CBD posted 480 square feet of negative net absorption for the second quarter. After taking large hits throughout most of the pandemic, this looks to be a sign that downtown may finally be turning the corner. The suburban market took a big hit this past quarter due to vacancies and downsizing of two large companies. Even so, suburban markets …
By Taylor Williams The fervent desire that many Americans have to make up for lost eating, drinking and socializing time has New York City’s food and beverage (F&B) market roaring back to life, prompting tenants to revisit growth plans, landlords to aggressively market their spaces and the brokers who represent the two sides to sharpen their pencils. In mid-August, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that residents wishing to eat or drink inside a restaurant or bar would have to show proof of receipt of at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Yet after two months of seeing this policy enforced, local brokers say the mandate has had a minimally adverse impact on business. Consequently, leasing activity, which began rebounding a year ago, is now accelerating in the F&B space. According to data from CBRE, F&B deals accounted for 30 percent of all new retail leases executed in New York City between March 2020 and August 2021. The company’s research team also identified 65 F&B leases throughout New York City in 2021 alone, representing about 33 percent of the total deal volume. Specifically within Manhattan, there were 24 leases executed for F&B concepts in the third quarter …
The Atlanta industrial market has been hot and setting records for quite some time now, and the third-quarter numbers for 2021 show that this trend is continuing as we are once again setting all-time record highs for activity, positive net absorption and new construction. Activity for the Atlanta industrial market for the third quarter alone was over 24.6 million square feet, which beat the previous record for a single quarter by over 4.1 million square feet. Adding the third-quarter numbers for activity to the previous three quarters, Atlanta has posted a new record high for a four-quarter period with over 82.2 million square feet of activity. This breaks the previous four-quarter record for activity by over 6.4 million square feet. It would certainly be logical to conclude that the net absorption numbers would be robust and positive as well for the same time periods, and you would be right. Atlanta set another record for positive net absorption with over 12.1 million square feet, which was over 2.8 million square feet higher than the previous record. When you add the third quarter numbers to the previous three quarters, you will see again a new record high for a four-quarter period with …
By Zack Taylor, senior vice president, Colliers Houston’s industrial market continued to see strong leasing activity in the third quarter. Overall net absorption for 2021 should easily pass 20 million square feet, making it the best year on record by a long shot. For context, Houston’s industrial market has, on average, absorbed between 8 million and 11 million square feet of space per year since 2014. Houston’s North and Southwest submarkets absorbed the most space in the third quarter of this year, led by Lowe’s Home Improvement taking down 1.5 million square feet and Amazon taking 1.9 million square feet in each of those respective submarkets. Total marketwide leasing volume for the year is well over 30 million square feet and does not show any signs of stopping as we hit the midpoint of the fourth quarter. Direct vacancy is continuing its downward trend, but rental rates have largely remained the same on new product. Second-generation infill warehouses are experiencing the greatest increase in rents, especially for tenants with requirements between 20,000 and 50,000 square feet. Many of these tenants are faced with a dilemma: They can either accept higher rents for their infill locations or relocate to more expensive …
By Evan Meyer, Senior Office Specialist, Kidder Mathews The business climate continues to thrive in Reno as the regional economy quickly rebounded from the pandemic-fueled recession of 2020. Reno performed far better than most markets on the West Coast with a low unemployment rate (4.2 percent in August) and expanding job growth (+7.2 percent year over year). The region’s rapid growth persists as new businesses continue to move into the area, a trend that accelerated over the past few years. Most relocations are coming from California, attracted by the strong economic environment and business-friendly policies in Northern Nevada. As one of the fastest-growing regions in the U.S., expansion is occurring across multiple industries, including technology, manufacturing, distribution, financial and healthcare. The diverse and dynamic nature of the regional economy has driven the overall performance of the office market. This has produced continuous years of declining vacancy and a decade of rising rents, even through the peak levels of the pandemic. At the end of the third quarter, the vacancy rate was 7.7 percent, a 130-basis point drop compared to the previous quarter. Vacancy rates continue to decline across all submarkets due to strong demand and tenant expansion. Net absorption also gained momentum …
“I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do…” Like many urban city centers, New Orleans has faced unprecedented challenges from COVID-19 over the past 19 months. The metro area lost more than 85,000 jobs between second-quarter 2019 and second-quarter 2020. In an economy heavily reliant on tourism, Orleans Parish was the most impacted with over 41,000 jobs lost, predominantly in the hospitality sector. Retailers — and their employees — depend on the large boosts of economic activity provided by large-format gatherings such as conventions and festivals like Jazz Fest, French Quarter Fest, and Mardi Gras, all of which were cancelled for the past 24 months. Additionally, the very active hurricane seasons of 2020 and 2021 resulted in devastation from three major storms in economic centers along our coastal community. New Orleans is still navigating clean-up efforts following Hurricane Ida, which landed Aug. 29, while real estate developers, builders and tenants face even more pricing and timing challenges due to material and worker shortages that were further hindered by storm activity. However, we are marching in the right direction. Cruises are resuming from Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA). Business travelers are getting back on the road. Offices are …
By Patrick Shalz, Partner, TOK Commercial Net absorption in Boise’s office market through August is nearly 806,000 square feet. This has already outpaced the amount seen in 2020 by more than 40 percent. Meridian and Downtown Boise have had the most net absorption, with 232,000 square feet and 191,000 square feet, respectively. Overall vacancy has declined a full percentage point in 2021, from 7.3 percent to 6.2 percent. Multi-tenant vacancy has also declined from 11.2 percent to 10.7 percent. Many of the largest transactions of 2021 involved companies that are new to the Boise MSA. Kiln, a co-working company with offices in Utah and Colorado, leased nearly 50,000 square feet of newly constructed space in the Eagle View Landing project near Eagle Road and I-84. U.S. Investment Corp. and AMS Sensors, both of which are new to the market, leased 13,100 and 10,900 square feet, respectively, at the 11th & Idaho Building in downtown Boise. Overall asking rates have increased in the past year, rising $0.50 per square foot to $18.50 per square foot (full-service lease/FLSV, annually). Class A space in newly constructed office buildings have asking rates ranging between $26 and $30 per square foot. Landlords have been offering $60 to $65 …
Louisville’s multifamily market has long benefited from the city’s highly diversified employment base. With strongholds in distribution (boosted by the recent surge of e-commerce sales), manufacturing, healthcare and professional services, Louisville has rebounded from the pandemic-induced recession more quickly than much of the rest of the country. As of July 2021, the local unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, while the national rate was 5.4 percent. In addition to increased job growth, local employers are raising wages to attract top talent needed for expansion requirements. This wage growth, coupled with employment demand, has created a considerable advantage for multifamily property owners that have been able to push rental rates on an annual basis. Integra Realty Resources (IRR) reports that overall market vacancy is hovering at a low 4 percent. The combination of low vacancy rates and wage growth has allowed multifamily owners to increase rent structures. Landlords have seen high single-digit annual rent increases for the last four years in the Louisville MSA. Class A properties have been achieving rents approaching $2 per square foot for some unit types in luxury developments. IRR also reports that there are currently over 4,000 multifamily units planned or under construction in the Louisville MSA. …
By Devin Ogden, Partner, Colliers Idaho has been overlooked by investors and developers in the past due to its smaller size and geographic isolation. This is not the narrative anymore. Tenants and users are currently looking to expand their operations into Idaho to serve the surging population and take advantage of a business-friendly environment with minimal regulation. Expensive land costs and significant cap rate compression in primary markets are causing developers and investors to shift their focus to secondary and tertiary markets to chase yield and opportunity. With the positive trend of people and businesses moving or expanding to Idaho, Boise is now near the top of the list for many national and regional investors and developers. The Boise industrial market has been underdeveloped in the past with only a handful of local developers that never got out ahead of themselves. The population of the Boise MSA is more than 750,000. Total industrial inventory is more than 42 million square feet with an additional 5 million-plus square feet being flex product. The market has had nearly 3 million square feet of positive absorption over the past two years and, as such, the current vacancy rate is 1.9 percent. Most new warehouse being constructed …
By Gary Holloway Jr, president, GMH Communities The COVID-19 pandemic served as an accelerator for transforming the Philadelphia multifamily market. Overnight, property owners and managers had to quickly adapt and find new ways to serve their residents while prioritizing their safety and following all of the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As we head into 2022, the pandemic will continue to influence what prospective tenants expect from their apartment communities. Here are three opportunities that multifamily owners should consider as the industry continues to grow and evolve in Philadelphia. WFH is Here to Stay Working from home is not a new trend. However, the pandemic thrust countless residents into remote work situations without warning. This sudden shift in work routines has prompted multifamily developers to rethink which amenities they need to provide now that remote and hybrid work is the norm. At GMH Communities, we are actively growing our amenity offerings to enhance the work-from-home experience. At The Yards at Malvern, one of our newest properties that is located in the suburb of Malvern, residents have access to a robust business center with multiple small and large conference rooms with a Zoom conference room, …