Submitted by Ron Anderson, VP of Research and Technology, NAI Avant LLC in Columbia, S.C. Posted 02-22-08. What area is your expertise? Columbia, S.C. What trends do you see presently in retail development in your area? Currently, there are several active types of development: Wal-Mart and Target anchored community centers ranging from 200,000 to 300,000 square feet Unanchored retail strips from 6,000 to 20,000 square feet Auto dealerships relocated from in town to suburban locations Additional home improvement locations Bank locations Fast food locations What type of retail product is doing well in your area? All retail seems to be quite strong at this point Who are the active retail developers in your area? Active retail developers are Fletcher Bright, WRS, Edens & Avant, Kahn Development, and Owen Development. Please name one or two significant retail developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? • Village at Sandhill is a 1 million-square-foot lifestyle center in Northeast Richland County. It is being developed by Kahn Development of Columbia. This project has introduced the lifestyle center to the region and created a retail anchor in Columbia’s fastest growing suburb. • The Shoppes at White Knoll is a …
Southeast Market Reports
What area is your expertise? Industrial properties in Miami-Dade County (Miami) and Broward County (Fort Lauderdale). What trends do you see presently in industrial development in your area? Industrial development in South Florida is at a slow down and absorption is creeping along. Given the land constraints of the Atlantic Ocean and Florida Everglades, build-to-suits are also harder to find in Broward and Dade counties. What type of industrial product is doing well in your area? Multi-bay and multi-tenant warehouses are in high demand because they continue to absorb space for a variety of tenants from 500 square feet to 5,000 square feet. Many businesses that can function without their storefront locations are downsizing and moving their business to warehouses where they do not have to pay the high retail rental rates. Big box industrial warehouses over 65,000 square feet are also doing well. There is less demand for space over 10,000 square feet and under 65,000 square feet, as tenants desiring this size space are feeling more of the effects of the current economic downturn. Please name one or two significant industrial developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? In Broward County, two …
What area is your expertise? Atlanta industrial What trends do you see presently in industrial development in your area? Spec developments has slowed given uncertain economic conditions. Spec space to be delivered this year is 4.9 million square feet, down about half from this time last year. Almost all new development is bulk warehouse of 400,000+ square feet. What type of industrial product is doing well in your area? The bulk market has been active. Distribution is stable. Who are the active industrial developers in your area? DCT Industrial, First Industrial Realty Trust, Duke Realty Corp., Majestic Realty Co., IDI, Raco, Panattoni Development Co., John W. Rooker and Associates, Robert Pattillo Properties, McDonald Development, Jadow Realty and M.D. Hodges. Please name one or two significant industrial developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? IDI’s newly planned Meridian 75 Logistics Center is a 200 acre park along Interstate 75 near Macon. The park will accommodate 3 million square feet when completed and Majestics Airport Center III where the developer has started 4 buildings including a 600,000-square-foot bulk warehouse. Where is the majority of development taking place? Why is this area doing well? Northeast and Airport …
Since 1995, container volume at the port has increased by approximately 400% and now exceeds 2.3 billion TEU s (20-foot equivalent units). With this growth, national developers have entered the market and started large speculative construction projects totaling more than 4.5 million square feet. However, the market is still relatively small at 23 million square feet. While the port s growth will ultimately create strong demand, there are some questions concerning building size and near-term absorption and overbuilding that will be addressed in the next year. Many of the speculative buildings exceed 500,000 square feet. The Savannah industrial market s vacancy is certainly healthy at 5.4%, but the current state of spec development will probably drive it higher in the short term. Additionally, the amount of vacant space may stall rent growth and keep it in the $3.30 to $4 per square foot range over the next year. At Duke, we were fortunate enough to acquire a fully leased, 5.1 million-square-foot portfolio from local developer Wrenn Blalock, we are also exploring additional land opportunities to maintain our position as a leading developer in Savannah. Our Savannah portfolio includes Portside at Grange Road and Crossroads Business Center, where we will acquire …
What area is your expertise? • Columbia, S.C. What trends do you see presently in retail development in your area? • Currently, there are several active types of development: Wal-Mart and Target anchored community centers ranging from 200,000 to 300,000 square feet Unanchored retail strips from 6,000 to 20,000 square feet Auto dealerships relocated from in town to suburban locations Additional home improvement locations Bank locations Fast food locations What type of retail product is doing well in your area? • All retail seems to be quite strong at this point Who are the active retail developers in your area? • Active retail developers are Fletcher Bright, WRS, Edens & Avant, Kahn Development, and Owen Development. Please name one or two significant retail developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? • Village at Sandhill is a 1 million-square-foot lifestyle center in Northeast Richland County. It is being developed by Kahn Development of Columbia. This project has introduced the lifestyle center to the region and created a retail anchor in Columbia’s fastest growing suburb. • The Shoppes at White Knoll is a 250,000 square foot development that was recently completed in the Redbank submarket. WRS …
What office are you based in? Birmingham, Ala. What area is your expertise? Birmingham Industrial Market What trends do you see presently in industrial development in your area? Presently, some geographic areas of our market are soft. Primarily some of the bulk distribution markets located on the perimeter of Birmingham are experiencing a softness that our market has not seen in recent history. This softness is associated with the construction of new buildings which the market has not yet absorbed. What type of industrial product is doing well in your area? Office warehouse product is currently 91.1 percent leased. It is a very tight market with all submarkets in Birmingham experiencing the same kind of high levels of occupancy. Who are the active industrial developers in your area? There are different partnerships developing industrial product in the Birmingham market with either EGS Commercial Real Estate or Graham and Company leading the partnerships. Please name one or two significant industrial developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? The most recently completed developments in our area have occurred in the Southern submarket. Shelby West and Shelby Commerce Park, IV are each significant developments (approximately 250,000 square …
What area is your expertise? Office brokerage and development, Birmingham, Ala. What trends do you see presently in office development in your area? Class A buildings, but very little supply in 2008. Who are the active office developers in your area? EGS Commercial Real Estate, Colonial Properties and Daniel Corporation Please name one or two significant office developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? Colonial Brookwood Center, developed by Colonial Properties and located adjacent to Colonial Brookwood Village. Completed in May 2007 and added 150,000 square feet of Class A space to the Midtown market. The building was 100 percent leased at the time of completion. Where is the majority of development taking place? Why is this area doing well? The majority of development is taking place in the Midtown submarket, primarily because of its proximity to Birmingham’s upscale residential areas and its access to the Central Business District (CBD). What area do you expect to be the next big development market? Why? Suburbs and the Midtown market What areas are doing well in terms of office leasing? Which areas are struggling with office leasing? Midtown and Highway 280 are the tightest submarkets currently, …
What area is your expertise? Birmingham Retail Market What trends do you see presently in retail development in your area? Retail development continues to be driven by discount anchors and grocery stores. What type of retail product is doing well in your area? Of note, fourth quarter saw most retail absorption take place in neighborhood retail properties. Also, a new Wal-Mart Supercenter opened in the Eastern/Irondale submarket. All retail is doing well in our market with occupancy at approximately 91.2 percent. What retailers are new to your area? ALOC Grocery is new to the market along with several smaller national chain stores. Who are the active retail developers in your area? Colonial Properties Trust has done the most retail development in the past several years. Please name one or two significant retail developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? Colonial Promenade in Fultondale, located in the Northern submarket, opened in Fall 2007 — Target, Best Buy and Books-A-Million Colonial Promenade in Alabaster, located in the Highway 31 south submarket, Phase II opened in August 2007 — Target, JCPenney and Best Buy The Grove in Hoover, located in the Hoover/Riverchase submarket, planned for 2009 — …
What area is your expertise? • Orlando/Central Florida What trends do you see presently in retail development in your area? • Orlando is still very much on an upward trend for retail development. With the population growth we have experienced over the past few years, the need for consumer services still exists which is being met by numerous local and national developers. What type of retail product is doing well in your area? • Big box with some smaller in line space centers are doing very well along with smaller strip centers ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 square feet that have a majority of regional national tenants. Some owners of older shopping centers are also doing well because they have committed funds to major capital improvements, which have given their dated centers a facelift to compete with newer retail. They remain competitive by having a good-looking product, but at a lower rental rate. What retailers are new to your area? • Two of the most promising and innovative retailers are Dagwood’s Sandwich Shoppes and Teriyaki Experience. Both of them are franchises that will see major growth throughout Central Florida in the next 1 to 2 years. They truly offer a …
What area is your expertise? • Maitland Center Office Market What trends do you see presently in office development in your area? • No speculative development at this time. Who are the active office developers in your area? • Battaglia Fruit Company and Liberty Property Trust Please name one or two significant office developments in your area. What impact will these projects have on the market? • None immediately planned. Where is the majority of development taking place? Why is this area doing well? • The majority of development taking place is in Southwest Orlando. The driving factors behind this are the lack of Class A buildings in the area as well as the expansion of the timeshare and tourism industries. What area do you expect to be the next big development market? Why? • Lake Mary. This is the only market besides Southwest Orlando that has expansion capabilities without venturing past the metropolitan Orlando area. What areas are doing well in terms of office leasing? Which areas are struggling with office leasing? • Orlando as a whole is a healthy office market. The obvious weaknesses are in the sectors that deal directly and indirectly in the residential real estate …