Western Market Reports

The pandemic has done a lot to the office sector, not the least of which is convince employees they don’t need to sit in a cubicle eight hours a day, five days a week. Turns out, unsurprisingly, many people appreciate the freedom and flexibility that comes with working from home.  The average U.S. office vacancy rate was 18.6 percent in the first quarter of 2023, according to Cushman & Wakefield. This was 5.9 percentage points higher than fourth-quarter 2019. Three California regions are also listed on the “Bottom 10 Performers of 2022” list (according to vacancy rate) put out by the National Association of Realtors. These include San Rafael (19.3 percent vacancy), San Francisco (16.4 percent) and Los Angeles (14.4 percent). Yet, leases are still getting signed, particularly at urban mixed-use projects throughout the state. Sean Slater, senior principal in RDC’s San Diego office, thinks this type of environment is a no-brainer for companies looking to bring employees back to the office.  “Office workers want choice, especially with the current work-from-anywhere trend,” he says. “For a long time, suburban office parks have lacked choice of food and beverage, a diverse population of tenants, and a meaningful connection to their community. …

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— By Tony Solomon, Senior Vice President, District Manager, Marcus & Millichap — Industrial continues to be one of the most sought-after asset classes across the Los Angeles County commercial real estate market. This year, the metro will maintain its position as one of the tightest industrial markets in the nation. It also ranks fifth in rent growth among major markets west of the Mississippi.  For the 17th time in the past 18 years, the Los Angeles metro’s industrial stock will increase by less than 1 percent, as 4.3 million square feet is slated for delivery. Supply additions will be concentrated in the South Bay and San Gabriel Valley, leaving less than 1 million square feet to come online in the rest of the county. While vacancy was below 2 percent in four of the metro’s biggest submarkets to start 2023, speculative completions and industrial users re-evaluating their space requirements will push vacancy to 3 percent by year end. This is a rate 80 basis points under the long-term mean. Rents are projected to grow by 7.6 percent as a result, bringing the average asking rate to $21 per square foot.  Part of this rise in vacancy can also be …

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— By Priscilla Nee, Executive Vice President, CBRE — The Los Angeles apartment market started showing signs of cooling as supply has risen to meet demand. Rents decreased marginally year over year as last year’s apartment demand decreased following pent-up pandemic demand. In response to decreased prices, renter demand for space has seen an increase in the first few months of 2023.  Across the market, vacancy is sitting just below 4.5 percent as of first-quarter 2023, which is up from all-time lows of around 3.7 percent one year prior. Concessions for new renters are present. They have been steady and increasing since the third quarter of 2022 as landlords work to attract great renters to new and existing projects.  Additional new supply is outpacing present demand, despite early upticks in demand for the year. That, paired with a strong development pipeline and an additional 27,000 units under construction, may continue to drive vacancy rates up should demand not increase in kind. This could lead to potential reductions in lease rates if a property sits vacant on the market long enough.  Most current development and construction is centered in Downtown LA, Koreatown and South LA. Markets like Inglewood are setting themselves …

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— By Sean Fulp, Vice Chair & Head of Office Capital Markets, U.S. Southwest, Colliers — Office sales, leasing and development activity are at historic lows for Los Angeles County. With interest rates rapidly increasing, few active developments, and office vacancy and availability at an all-time high, the office market is in discovery mode. One of the major trends in development is creative, state-of-the-art studio/office campuses. These developments have broken ground in West Hollywood, Burbank, Santa Monica and Culver City.  Developers in this space have the mindset of “if you build it, they will come.” Office sales activity is down more than 50 percent in the past year due to a high interest rate environment and a divide between buyer and seller pricing expectations. As loans become due, landlords will have decisions to make, and distress will occur in the market.  Office availability is at an all-time high in Los Angeles at nearly 30 percent — likely the new norm going forward. Companies have figured out that employees like to have the flexibility of where and even when they work. With that said, companies are downsizing their office space by 25 percent to 50 percent and, in some cases, by …

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— By Aiman Noursoultanova, Senior Vice President, CBRE — Reno has become an increasingly attractive market over the past decade for multifamily investors due to its continued strong performance, fueled by a desirable business and regulatory climate. Rents have doubled since 2013, while vacancy has continued to remain healthy despite robust construction activity. Multifamily investors took notice once noteworthy companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Tesla began to increase their investments in the region.  Strong Population, Job Growth Fuel Investment  Reno’s population grew by 15.3 percent in the past decade. The area is projected to see 51.6 percent population growth by 2060, the 40th highest of all 384 U.S. metro areas, according to Washington D.C.-based economic and demographic data firm Woods & Poole Economics. As a testament to the area’s growth, the Reno-Tahoe International Airport recently announced a $500 million development and expansion project to accommodate airport traffic. The area’s rise in population is attributed primarily to job growth and a desirable quality of life. This started with Tesla’s initial Gigafactory investment in the region, then continued with Apple’s 1.1-million-square-foot data center campus. Google also purchased 1,210 acres and plans for a future data center development. Meanwhile, Tesla announced a $3.6 …

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— By Wick Udy, Senior Managing Director, JLL — Salt Lake City’s industrial market continued its exceptional performance in 2022. Last year was the third consecutive year of above-average leasing and the second-highest volume of annual absorption on record. The largest volume of completions was recorded in 2022 with 13 million square feet delivered. However, leasing and absorption volumes were both below 2021 levels, which is something industry leaders are watching in 2023. Developers were forced to push pause on new building projects toward the end of 2022 due to rising interest rates and tighter capital markets. Because of this, JLL predicts 2023 could be the year of the sublease. What was a landlord-favorable market for many years is slowly leaning toward a tenant-favorable market.  Based on current activity within the marketplace, absorption should be positive in first-quarter 2023. Companies are signing leases on existing buildings instead of waiting for new builds, which will keep vacancy low for the foreseeable future. The market has remained as robust as it has because companies from California are relocating to Salt Lake City. They want to take advantage of its affordable real estate, quality of the workforce and the market’s proximity to large …

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— By Tad Loran, Vice President, Retail Specialist, Avison Young | Western Alliance Commercial — The Northern Nevada retail market has been performing well. New tenants are entering the marketplace and the area experienced positive absorption. Rental rates have increased for the year, but there has been a decrease in commercial sales due to higher interest rates.  The retail vacancy rate is currently at 4.7 percent, while asking rental rates are at $1.70 per square foot on a monthly basis. Many submarkets have shown improvement, including South Virginia, Meadowood, South Reno and the North Valleys. Tenants that have recently entered or are expanding in Northern Nevada include Colombia Sportswear, Voodoo Brewing Company, Jamba Juice, the Human Bean, Starbucks, Cracker Barrel, Mountain Mike Pizza, Pet Station, Take 5 Oil Change, AutoZone and Five Below. Tenants with closures include Bed Bath & Beyond, Sizzler Steakhouse, Food Source Grocery Store, Campo, California Pizza Kitchen, Long John Silver’s, Rounds Bakery and Claim Jumper.  Unemployment in Nevada fell to 3.4 percent in December 2022. This low unemployment rate has led some prospective new businesses to either delay or cancel expansion plans in this region.  From a development perspective, Reno has many new projects in the …

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— By Rawley Nielsen, President of Investment Sales, Colliers — Salt Lake City’s multifamily market will continue to stand out and impress in 2023…even with so much uncertainty, ongoing readjustments within the market and many investors at a stay. That’s because Utah continues to receive outsized investor interest that will maintain stability in pricing. Investors recognize overall performance at property levels remains healthy as the state continues to be a leader in population growth. Utah is also one of the top states for outstanding job creation, increased demand for housing and exponential rent growth. While multifamily investment sales volume was record-setting during the first half of 2022, we have seen volume taper dramatically in recent months. This is due to rising interest rates and a lack of clarity in the debt and equity markets that have impacted pricing. Much of this slowing can be attributed to the rising cost of capital and low leverage caused by debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) requirements. (See Tables 1-3) Overall, 2022 saw an average cap rate of 3.75 percent, decompressing over 20 basis points compared to the first half of the year. Cap rates are expected to expand further through 2023 as uncertainty in …

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— By Baker Krukow, Senior Advisor, Industrial, Dickson Commercial Group — The Reno-Sparks industrial market is expected to remain active in 2023. It has a hefty pipeline of proposed industrial projects, steady increases in rental rates and a direct vacancy rate below 2 percent. The lack of available product has remained a challenge for tenants looking to occupy space, while landlords have been able to benefit from competing offers. The result of these tight market conditions will continue to push industrial development throughout the year. There was roughly 5.4 million square feet of new industrial product delivered in 2022, with 76 percent of those projects being speculative developments. A vast majority of those spec projects were pre-leased prior to completion. Looking at 2023 new construction, developers are dealing with severe winter weather delays. As a result, several projects have had to push back their completion timelines. Amongst some of the anticipated industrial projects under construction are Dermody Properties’ LogistiCenter at I-80 West Phase II, which will contain two state-of-the-art distribution buildings totaling 429,000 square feet. In the Sparks submarket, Panattoni Development has broken ground on the Pyramid Pointe Commerce Center, a 195,000-square-foot, Class A flex/bulk building, which will demise to …

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— By Melissa Molyneaux, Executive Vice President, Colliers — The Northern Nevada market has seen continued positive net absorption, slowed investment sales and a sizeable increase in available sublease space in recent months.  Local tenants with smaller footprints have been the driving force behind leasing activity and the market’s positive net absorption, with most new leases signed in 2022 being 5,000 square feet and less. Meanwhile, national and corporate tenants reevaluating their space needs have brought much of the available sublease space to the market in significantly larger blocks.  Uncertainty surrounding interest rates has slowed investment sales, although pricing remains healthy. With investors putting a pause on new acquisitions, owner-user purchase activity may increase as tenants seize new occupancy opportunities.  New construction starts have been minimal, although redevelopment/renovation projects remain prevalent. Two new developments that have broken ground include the Kimpton, a premier Class A high rise in downtown Reno, and Renown South Meadows, a specialty care center with about 40,000 square feet available for third-party providers. Each development represents continued demand from client-facing occupiers and healthcare providers in the region.  In 2022, there were 30 companies that either expanded in or relocated to Northern Nevada, according to the Economic Development Authority of Western …

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