Southeast Market Reports

Orlando: The ‘Happiest Place on Earth’ for Industrial Real Estate

by John Nelson November 21, 2016

Orlando likely resides in the minds of children and children at heart as “The Happiest Place on Earth,” and those involved in its industrial market today couldn’t agree more. Over the past five years, the Central Florida industrial market has been transformed from its prior position as a spoke in the wheel of distribution to the hub. To service consumers located in the country’s third most populous state, companies are locating large distribution centers in Central Florida (hub) with smaller distribution centers in Tampa, South Florida and Jacksonville (spokes). From a distribution standpoint, Central Florida has become the statewide distribution center for Florida. Warehouse is the New Retail The world of e-commerce began with the birth of the internet in the early 90s, made a big milestone with the first secure online transaction in 1994, and today Amazon is no longer first thought of as a rainforest in South America. In fact, Amazon is so prolific that recent reports from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimate that Amazon Prime now reaches nearly half of U.S. households. That translates to 54 million people, just in the United States, who have paid $99 for an annual membership that enables each consumer access to …

November 21, 2016

Florida Market Reports Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Demand for Orlando’s Class A Office Space is Outpacing Supply

by John Nelson November 14, 2016

The Orlando office market is strong and continues to grow stronger. Vacancy rates are declining, rents are increasing and new developments are in the works. While many large office markets around the country seem to have reached or are approaching the peak of this real estate cycle, the market in the Orlando area still has great potential for expansion. According to the Orlando Economic Development Commission (EDC), there is currently an unprecedented level of office, multifamily and mixed-use development planned for downtown Orlando. This is largely thanks to Tremont Plaza, a 28-story mixed-use development being built by Lincoln Property Co. and Tremont Realty Capital. The $81 million development will have seven floors of office space totaling over 200,000 square feet, along with a 180-room hotel, making it the first large-scale Class A office project for Orlando in 10 years. With several other major multi-use commercial projects on the drawing board, the EDC calculates that more than 1 million additional square feet of construction is planned for Orlando’s downtown business district. There are several factors contributing to the office market’s prosperity, including Florida’s improving economy and business-friendly atmosphere. The state offers a favorable business tax structure, pro-business legislature and access to …

November 14, 2016

Florida Market Reports Multifamily Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Orlando’s Job Growth Allows Multifamily Sector to Continue Strong Performance

by John Nelson November 7, 2016

To those outside Orlando, the Central Florida metro of just over 2.3 million residents has long been a vacation destination with its major theme parks and top attractions including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld and the I-Drive corridor, home to the new Orlando Eye. In fact, Orlando welcomed over 66 million visitors who spent more than $60 billion in 2015, a new all-time local and U.S. travel industry high. However, tourism is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to Orlando’s emergence as a top target for multifamily investment. The metro is experiencing exceptional growth across multiple sectors of the economy, and in 2015, the Orlando MSA led the nation in employment gains, coming in at 4.6 percent. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the metro added 52,200 new jobs. Of these new jobs, the highest percentage was in professional business services, medical, transportation and general services. Looking forward, data from CBRE-Econometric Advisors projects that Orlando will lead the U.S. in employment growth over the next five years by a wide margin (2.3 percent compared to 0.8 percent for the nation overall). The rapid employment growth driven by numerous corporate relocations and expansions including Verizon, Mitsubishi-Hitachi, …

November 7, 2016

Florida Market Reports Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Broward County’s Office Sector is Operating at Peak Performance

by John Nelson October 31, 2016

Broward County’s office market continues to heat up like the South Florida summer. Vacancy is decreasing while office rental rates in the market increase. Broward County added 32,100 jobs in the past year, the 4 percent nonagricultural employment growth leading to a second quarter unemployment rate of 4.2 percent, outpacing the state (4.5 percent) and national (5.0) averages. “Many factors drive Broward County’s strong economy, including a talented and diverse workforce, our proximity to Latin America and the Caribbean, and access to three international airports and three seaports,” says Bob Swindell, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, the county’s public/private partnership for economic development. Broward County’s office sector performance is a big story in an area of very positive commercial real estate headlines. It can be argued that South Florida trails only the two Bay Area bellwethers, San Francisco and the Silicon Valley, in property performance nationwide. Office rental rates in the county — CoStar reported that the market’s average rate increased 1.4 percent during first quarter to $25.14 per square foot — are most likely reaching the top of the arc in the present economic cycle. “Some of our strongest job growth has been in high-wage …

October 31, 2016

Market Reports Maryland Multifamily Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Job Growth, Proximity to D.C. Help Boost Baltimore Multifamily Rents, Supply

by John Nelson October 24, 2016

Historically overlooked along the East Coast, Millennial migration has symbolized the dawn of a new day in Charm City. The recent influx of a budding dynamic workforce to Baltimore’s urban core neighborhoods has driven the fourth largest increase in college-educated young professionals amongst metro areas nationwide. These young professionals followed substantial job migration resulting in a paradigm shift from Washington, D.C., and other major Mid-Atlantic employment centers. Baltimore’s labor market has demonstrated year-over-year gains since 2010. As of March 2016, Baltimore metro-area non-farm employment totaled 1.4 million, up 2.6 percent over the past year, as compared to 2 percent growth nationally over the same period, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The professional and business services sector contributed the largest gains since March 2015, adding 13,500 jobs to Baltimore’s work force, representing a growth rate of 6 percent over the prior year. The recent surge in employment has driven sustained demand for rental housing, pushing vacancy rates to historic lows and placing upward pressure on rents. Despite its rapid ascension, Baltimore continues to benefit from its proximity to other East Coast cities, which have experienced economic expansion as well, with Baltimore remaining the most affordable of …

October 24, 2016

Industrial Market Reports Maryland Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Baltimore Industrial Revolution Fueled by Consumer Products Sector

by John Nelson October 17, 2016

Bigger — and strategically located — continues to be better in the Baltimore metropolitan region when it comes to the industrial real estate product sector. Blink your eye these days in Charm City, and you might miss the latest 100,000- to 500,000-square-foot transaction that transpired, fueled by the seemingly insatiable appetite among retailers to warehouse consumer products near large population areas and maintain same-day or next-day delivery models. Companies involved with the production and distribution of food products and home goods are the next most prolific users of warehouse and industrial space. The avalanche of large-scale logistics-related leases first started in 2014 when Amazon.com leased a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center with Duke Realty in Baltimore City. Recent notable activity includes RPM Warehouse (435,000 square feet at Baltimore Crossroads in White Marsh); Pier 1 Imports (644,000 square feet in Harford County); Ikea (300,000 square feet with Federal Capital Partners in Halethorpe); Canusa Corp. Fiber Group (320,000 square feet in Dundalk); Sephora Americas (320,000 square feet of renewal space in Harford County, plus an additional 620,000 feet of new space); FedEx Ground (300,000 square feet at TradePoint Atlantic); US Lumber (260,000 square feet with MCB Real Estate and One Liberty Properties); Capital …

October 17, 2016

Market Reports Maryland Retail Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Experiential Retail Emerges as Significant Driver in Baltimore Metro Area

by John Nelson October 10, 2016

Not so many years ago, the typical consumer thought of visiting the nearby regional mall or neighborhood center to go shopping — possibly for a new pair of jeans or some shoes. Like everything else in this world, the internet has significantly altered this exercise and, today, people tend to think of retail centers as places to “experience” something that cannot be easily acquired or replicated by simply tapping on a keyboard to request it. Developers and retailers alike have adapted to this behavioral change by introducing new concepts that emphasize the delivery of this experience, including new restaurants, entertainment-style concepts and health care services. This trend remains in full swing in the Baltimore metropolitan region, coupled with game-changing projects planned or rising throughout the Charm City region. Food, Medical, Entertainment The continued popularity of fast-casual restaurants is driven in large part by time-depraved families with dual-income households that seek eating options offering both quality and quickness. The “burger war” includes recent entries such as Bobby’s Burger Palace, Clark Burger and Shake Shack. Wahlburgers, operated by actor Mark Wahlberg and his brothers, might soon follow. Pizza remains a crowded, yet vibrant, category with new arrivals &pizza, Blake Pizza, MOD Pizza …

October 10, 2016

Market Reports North Carolina Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Limited Office Construction in Triangle Area Bolsters Market Fundamentals

by John Nelson October 3, 2016

The Raleigh-Durham office market has not only recovered from the Great Recession, it is solidly in expansion mode, and tenants are facing market conditions not witnessed in 15 years. The current cycle has been marked by a prolonged period of limited development activity. While job growth in the local market has been rebounding for more than five years, the construction pipeline has only recently filled in a meaningful way, and a large portion of the development activity in 2014 and early 2015 was driven by build-to-suits. With Class A vacancy now at a 15-year low, speculative development is heating up again. While projects totaling 1.4 million square feet were underway in the first quarter, most of this product will not be delivered until 2017 or later, and approximately half of the space has already been spoken for. In the near term, the market heavily favors landlords. The Triangle office market began 2016 with strong activity as tenants absorbed 453,997 square feet, driving vacancy down by 40 basis points to 12.1 percent. This figure is down by 180 basis points on a year-over-year basis and has fallen from a cyclical high of 18.7 percent. Class A vacancy ended the first quarter …

October 3, 2016

Market Reports North Carolina Retail Southeast Market Reports

Infill, Transit-Oriented Developments are Driving Charlotte’s Retail Market

by John Nelson September 26, 2016

As Charlotte’s employment surpasses the pre-recession peak of 2007 and the metro swells to almost 2.4 million residents — growing three times faster than the national average — Charlotte is on every retailer’s radar and poised for continued retail growth. Retailers seeking customers with disposable income benefit from Charlotte’s strong affordability index, relative to similarly sized cities, and have enjoyed a positive trend in household incomes, which increased 8 percent between 2010 and 2015. This income growth is bolstered by the 35- to 54-year-old “big-spender” segment, which makes up approximately 30 percent of Charlotte’s population, and is expected to continue to grow in spite of shrinking nationally. Retail developers and investors are also big fans of these fundamentals, which have yielded positive retail absorption over the past 12 months, impressive rent growth of 4.3 percent year-over-year, and vacancy of 5.5 percent, well below the historical average. Similar periods of growth in Charlotte’s history have delivered traditional grocery-anchored neighborhood centers, garden-style apartments and mid-rise office buildings, primarily surface-parked to accommodate the vehicle-centric nature of Charlotte. That trend is changing as Charlotte adapts to the cultural shift and increased density that now prioritizes proximity, access and convenience over McMansions and white-picket-fenced suburbia. …

September 26, 2016

Industrial Market Reports North Carolina Southeast Southeast Market Reports

New Industrial Construction is Easing the Supply Squeeze in Charlotte

by John Nelson September 19, 2016

In recent years, the fundamentals in Charlotte’s industrial real estate market have continued to improve. Overall, the market can be characterized by an increase in tenant activity and the emergence of new submarkets more active on the development front than in the past. Tenant growth can be attributed to organic growth from users expanding, velocity of new deals, as well as emerging submarkets within the market. Charlotte’s central location near the transportation arteries of I-77 and I-85 continues to make the city’s industrial space very attractive to logistics and distribution companies. Charlotte is growing by approximately 20,000 residents per year, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The population growth, coupled with the trend of brick-and-mortar retailers transitioning portions of their business to e-commerce, makes for a positive outlook on Charlotte’s industrial fundamentals. The strongest tenant activity is in the 25,000- to 75,000-square-foot range, with tenants looking to upgrade the quality and functionality of their space. Beginning in fourth-quarter 2015 and continuing into first-quarter 2016, there was noticeable activity among tenants relocating from owner-occupied facilities to leased spaces. This trend has been driven by a limited supply of options for purchase, historically high construction prices and a steady economy. Furthermore, the …

September 19, 2016

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