The retail market in Memphis has continued to improve over the past year with new developments now open for business and redevelopment projects popping up across the metro area. Memphis, most commonly known for its blues and barbecue, has recently become the dreamland for those looking to lease, buy or redevelop assets. Vacancy rates are falling, new tenants and stakeholders are entering the market and retail investment sales continue to be in high demand. With several new development projects in the pipeline, the metro area is looking to capitalize on the new infrastructure. Memphis, located in the southwest corner of Tennessee within Shelby County, boasts a large metropolitan statistical area comprising Crittenden County in Arkansas; Benton, DeSoto, Marshall, Tate and Tunica counties in Mississippi; and Fayette and Tipton counties in Tennessee. One of the most attractive features of life in Memphis is the area’s remarkably low cost of living, which has allowed Memphis to become the city where one eats and stays instead of eats and plays, adding increasing demand on the commercial real estate market. According to a variety of real estate professionals doing business in the area, national and international investors and developers are looking to Memphis because …
Greenville is undergoing significant growth and capturing the attention of national investors and tenants. Historically high rental rates, increased occupancy and strong construction activity for the first time in recent years collectively indicate a healthy market. Additionally, tight market conditions provide an ideal investment sales environment encouraging landlords to market their office assets for sale, something they couldn’t justify doing a few years ago. The market’s occupancy rate was up to 85.2 percent at year-end 2015 from 83.7 percent the previous year. As demand grows and space is absorbed, the market is shifting in favor of landlords, who are pushing up rental rates to levels never before seen in the market. Asking rental rates for Class A office space in the market averaged $22.41 per square foot at year-end 2015, increasing 9 percent in a one-year span. Class A space in the central business district (CBD) is even more costly with asking rental rates averaging $25 per square foot. With office users showing a strong desire to locate in the market and willingness to pay higher rental rates for quality space, developers are turning to new construction and adaptive reuse projects to meet the heightened demand for space. Several projects …
To say 2015 was a good year for the Memphis industrial market would be an understatement. The Memphis market, which comprises approximately 220 million square feet spread across seven submarkets and three states (Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas), set a new record in 2015 with absorption exceeding 8.4 million square feet. This total is nearly double what the market recorded in 2014 and an impressive 2 million square feet more than the record set in 2006. Vacancy also dipped into single-digit territory for the first time ever, falling below the 10 percent mark to a new record low of 9.8 percent. Vacancy fell 370 basis points in 2015 alone, the most significant year-over-year vacancy decrease in market history. The market’s central U.S. location, quadra-modal transportation infrastructure (river, road, runway and rail) and abundant labor force are just a few of the benefits that make it an ideal location for distribution tenants. A total of 18 Class A deals were completed in 2015 by notable companies like Nike, Post, Cummins, Dayco Products, AmerisourceBergen, T.J. Maxx and Coca-Cola, to name a few. Class A buildings made up 6.3 million square feet, or 75 percent, of total absorption. There were five deals north of …
For the fifth straight year, the Baltimore industrial market ended the year with a positive net absorption, with improvements continuing in both rental rate growth and overall fundamentals. While not overly robust compared to other areas of the country, such as Ontario, Calif., Atlanta, New Jersey and Central Pennsylvania, the Baltimore market absorbed almost 3 million square feet of industrial space in 2015. This sustained growth trend is attributed to a steady, albeit choppy, stream of demand, sustained levels of new construction activity and falling availability and vacancy markers. Looking at the overall conditions of the market, several factors contribute to the improving fundamentals, the most significant of which is the ongoing, high demand for Class A industrial property, which continues to outpace available supply. The Baltimore market is located in the heart of the I-95 Corridor and can access 34 percent of the U.S. population within a single day’s drive. Additionally, given its location within the Washington/Baltimore metropolis, major retailers have selected Baltimore as a logical location for e-commerce and omni-channel fulfillment centers to distribute to homes. These centers will allow retailers same-day access to the 9 million people in the Baltimore-Washington region. On average, those residing in this …
Beretta, Nissan, General Motors, Electrolux and Hankook Tire are a few manufacturing giants that call Middle Tennessee home. Expanding the manufacturing presence throughout 2015, 29 advanced manufacturing companies announced relocations or expansions in Middle Tennessee. Of that total, six companies revealed plans to create a combined 710 jobs and occupy more than 1 million square feet during the fourth quarter of 2015 alone. Nashville’s central location, skilled workforce and labor cost advantages continue to make the market a magnet for manufacturing companies. Unsurprisingly, in its Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2016 report, Urban Land Institute named Nashville the “No. 7 U.S. Market to Watch for 2016” and an “18-Hour City.” Additionally, Nashville’s low cost of doing business and consistent job and population growth favor the industrial market, and the pipeline for talent across all multiple industries remains full. Nashville’s industrial market is firing on all cylinders — with record low vacancy rates and historically high rents, which is driving robust speculative warehouse development. Interestingly, a new trend is occurring that is breaking the paradigms of traditional industrial space use — the appearance of the maker economy. These “makers” are modern, small-scale manufacturers that “are emerging as a revitalizing force in …
Ten years ago, the urban Nashville multifamily inventory consisted of a small handful of institutional-sized assets, offering sparse amenities and unit finishes that left much to be desired. Fast forward to 2016 and the seemingly insatiable demand by residents to live in the eclectic, urban enclaves that Nashville offers has resulted in more than 5,000 units delivered over the last few years, with nearly 8,000 additional units set to deliver over the next two years. The standard of the assets being delivered continues to raise the bar, as developers look for a competitive edge and renters have demonstrated their willingness to pay a premium, with rents in top locations flirting with $3.00 per square foot. Demand The absorption pace has accelerated each year, seemingly limited only by the number of units being delivered to the market. When looking at the entire metro area, not just the urban submarkets, absorption topped 6,000 units in 2015, with new supply totaling approximately 5,960 units. A significant portion of this demand is from Millennials, who traditionally prefer to live in urban neighborhoods, and with Nashville ranked as a top 10 destination for Millennial in-migration, this trend is likely to continue. Fueling the urban residential …
Raleigh’s office market is the strongest it’s been in years, with employment and corporate investments continuing to climb throughout the Triangle region. A current lull in the delivery of new construction and the market’s increased popularity have created a space crunch for Class A office space, especially for tenants seeking large blocks. While a good amount of new construction started or continued in 2015, there’s still a gap in “move-in ready” space. Vacancy fell from 11.7 percent in the second quarter to 11.2 percent in the third quarter, causing rent growth for Class A space. Direct asking rent increased from $23.81 per square foot in the second quarter to $24.14 per square foot in the third quarter and is expected to continue to increase until delivery of new construction picks up, which will likely be mid-2016/early 2017. The market has definitely shifted in favor of the landlord, and concessions that were made during the recession have fallen off as owners no longer have to offer them to secure tenants. Desire for Class A space in the Triangle has pushed pre-leasing rental rates to a historic high north of $33 per square foot — and they are likely go higher before …
A rebounding economy and robust population growth are driving strong fundamentals across all segments of Raleigh-Durham’s commercial real estate industry. The region added 30,105 jobs during the 12 months ending September 2015, a growth rate of 3.1 percent. Users of all product types are facing rising occupancy costs and fierce competition for quality space. The Raleigh-Durham industrial market experienced positive net absorption of 721,185 square feet through the first three quarters of 2015, marking the sector’s fifth consecutive year of expansion. Increased tenant demand, combined with a lack of new construction, has driven vacancy back to pre-recession levels. Overall vacancy for warehouse and flex space ended the third quarter at 7.5 percent, down by 130 basis points year-over-year. Warehouse vacancy fell by 160 basis points to 6 percent during the same period and is down from a cyclical high of 10.2 percent. Flex vacancy ended the third quarter at 11 percent, down by 60 basis points year-over-year and from a cyclical high of 16.5 percent. Leasing activity has been broad based, driven primarily by organic growth in the region’s existing tenant base. Among the industries fueling the largest transactions are third-party logistics, e-commerce, manufacturing and housing and construction. Finally back …
The Jacksonville multifamily market continues to enjoy strong fundamentals at levels not seen since before the recession. In fact, the last 18 to 24 months have seen a major record-setting environment. Jacksonville saw new records being set across the board from all asset classes in all submarkets. Class A and value-add assets continue to see cap rate compression and consequently we have new benchmarks for highest price per unit and price per square foot. In 2014, Jacksonville reached nearly $800 million in sales — accounting for more than 12,000 units (includes transactions exceeding $1 million). Based on the year-to-date transactional volume — $735 million with multiple large deals set to close by the end of the year — it’s safe to say that we will exceed last year’s amount. This is the highest sales volume for multifamily in Jacksonville in the last decade. The apartment market has experienced a steady improvement in fundamentals during the past 12 to 15 months. Effective rent increased 2.6 percent from $905 in the first quarter to $928 in the second quarter, which resulted in an annual growth rate of 5 percent. According to CBRE Econometric Advisors’ (CBRE EA) second quarter report, the forecast for …
With economic conditions improving across the country and business confidence significantly increasing, the Jacksonville office market is gaining momentum and seeing positive space absorption for the fifth consecutive quarter in a row. Jacksonville’s tax-friendly environment, competitive business relocation incentives and strong labor pool have historically been a magnet for Fortune 1000 companies looking to establish back-office locations, but over the last few years, the city has evolved into a regional hub for the headquarters of domestic and international financial services companies. Most recently, Georgia-based Ameris Bank announced that it would move its headquarters this January from Moultrie, Ga., to the 26th floor of Riverplace Tower in downtown Jacksonville. Among the reasons why Jacksonville was an attractive location for its headquarters is the ability to tap into the city’s growing skilled workforce and the opportunity to increase the bank’s footprint and brand exposure in this market. Jacksonville is also becoming a hotspot for global financial firms like German global banking and financial services company Deutsche Bank and Australia’s Macquarie Group. Deutsche Bank has been building its presence in Jacksonville since 2008, employing about 1,700 people, and continues to import jobs from the Northeast to Jacksonville as it grows its business operations. …