Western Market Reports

Phoenix Is Defined by Land, Labor, Logistics

by Taylor Williams February 12, 2019

Phoenix has long enjoyed the benefits of land, labor and logistics. In today’s ecommerce-driven market, however, those benefits are propelling the Valley’s industrial activity, and opportunity, to new heights. The region has absorbed more than 5.8 million square feet of industrial space year-to-date. It has also welcomed almost 5 million square feet of new industrial construction, while industrial vacancy rates still sit below 7 percent — their lowest levels in 12 years. Some of this activity can be credited to the price and availability of our land. This typically involves large parcels in the West Valley within close proximity to freeways that are often available at $5 per square foot to $6 per square foot. This is attracting tremendous big box interest, particularly in the Southwest Valley submarket where much of the metro’s more than 5.7 million square feet of new construction is occurring. Lincoln Property Company delivered one of the largest of these developments this past December: the $85 million, 901,700-square-foot Lincoln Logistics Center 40. Underscoring high confidence in the industrial sector, Lincoln Logistics 40 was developed fully speculative with amenities that target ecommerce and logistics-focused users. Among these are 40’ clear height ceilings, sophisticated cross-dock configuration, and extensive …

February 12, 2019

Hawaii Industrial Market Reports Western Western Market Reports

Low Vacancy, High Demand Define Hawaii’s Industrial Market

by Taylor Williams February 5, 2019

When we last reported on the health of Oahu’s industrial market in December 2017, we offered rationale for a then 1.88 percent industrial vacancy rate. This was fueled by demand from contractors building large residential condo developments, the construction of a nearly $10 billion light rail system (voter approved at less than $5 billion), booming tourism and military sectors and large public infrastructure improvements. Oahu’s small 40.4-million-square-foot industrial market was under further compression as industrial product was being taken by the state to support rail construction, or lost due to high rise residential construction and the expansion of our main Honolulu harbor. A prohibitive industrial construction cost scale, which generally exceeds $125 per square foot for metal skin shell warehouse, had also slowed spec and build-to-suit construction. Fast forward to late 2018, and our statistics reflect an industrial vacancy rate bouncing off the bottom at just 2.02 percent. The monthly industrial base rent average is $1.20 per square foot and monthly operating expenses are $0.40 per square foot. This vacancy rate average reflects a small increase over the previous quarter as tenants scrape the bottom of the inventory barrel looking for suitable space. LoopNet cites six industrial availabilities of more …

February 5, 2019

Hawaii Market Reports Multifamily Western Western Market Reports

As Usual, Demand Outpaces Supply in Hawaii’s Multifamily Market

by Taylor Williams January 29, 2019

Hawaii’s multifamily market continues to achieve record pricing driven by strong local investor demand and notable institutional investors of larger mega deals at $100 million or above. This market is defined by limited inventory and prohibitively expensive new construction that leaves Hawaii with stable annual vacancy rates of about 96 percent. Hawaii has seen only modest increases in annual rental rates of less than 1 percent and relatively low rents for apartments in our market that pencil out to $1.75 per square foot to $2.25 per square foot. Despite these relatively anemic financial returns, enthusiasm remains for this sector. In fact, multifamily continues to reign as the most desired asset class for local investors with monthly transaction counts in the five to seven range and the most aggressive cap rates currently averaging 3.86 percent. The pricing results for multifamily have been stunning with per-unit sales prices ranging from $250,000 to $380,000, depending on the type of construction. The multifamily market demand drivers are not anticipated to change in the near term. While the island of Oahu reports average annual new housing demand of 3,500 units, only 1,500 housing units at most are approved annually. Paul Brewbaker, former chief economist for …

January 29, 2019

Hawaii Hospitality Market Reports Office Retail Western Western Market Reports

Hawaii’s Fundamentals Continue to Attract Investment Sale Interest

by Taylor Williams January 25, 2019

The Hawaii investment sale market was active in 2018 with an abundance of capital seeking investment opportunities throughout the state and across all product types. Mortgage availability from local banks and non-local financiers remained strong, and there was a steady flow of new interest from debt and equity sources looking for first opportunities in Hawaii. Last year’s transaction volume (including entity level) was up 33 percent from 2017 to $5.5 billion. Institutional and cross-border investment volumes were up from 2017 and performing well above the 10-year average. It was a slower year for private investors and REITs, though institutional capital from Singapore, Zurich, Kuwait, Germany and Japan were the foreign standouts in 2018. Entity-level activity boosted Hawaii’s transaction volume significantly in 2018. We anticipate this story to continue to spill over into Hawaii through 2019 as institutions deploy large amounts of capital to build scale. Brookfield’s acquisition of GGP was the largest entity-level transaction, which included the 2.5 million-square-foot Ala Moana Center with its two office buildings consisting of about 400,000 square feet, the Whalers Village in Maui and the Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo. The hospitality sector led the charge for the third year in a row with $2.45 …

January 25, 2019

Hawaii Market Reports Western Western Market Reports

The Tide Turns in Hawaii’s Office Market

by Taylor Williams January 22, 2019

Honolulu’s office market has been stagnant for nearly 20 years with negative supply growth, limited demand, constant reductions in square feet per person and a very tight labor market. However, conversions from office to residential and/or hotel use and a major tenant move could change the market starting in 2019. Multi-tenant inventory has decreased by about 500,000 square feet since 1996 with the conversion of an office building to a hotel in 2015 through 2017; another taken off the market in 2016 for a hotel or residential conversion; and yet another converted to office condominiums in 2004. The market currently has about 11 million square feet in 73 Class A and B multi-tenant buildings. Half the inventory and 65 percent of the vacancy (940,000 square feet) is in the Central Business District (CBD), which is Hawaii’s financial center and sits adjacent to federal, state and municipal centers. New inventory has been limited to owner-users, medical office buildings and small mixed-use buildings. These include Hale Pawaa, a 135,000-square-foot medical office building, the 160,000-square-foot FBI building, the 240,000-square-foot NOAA Regional Center, the 75,000-square-foot Princess Kamamalu State office building and the 26,000-square-foot former Honolulu Advertiser Building for Hawaiian Dredging. Office users are generally …

January 22, 2019

California Market Reports Multifamily Western Western Market Reports

Orange County Experiences A Sunny Multifamily Investment Climate

by Taylor Williams January 15, 2019

From its near-perfect weather, parks and beaches to its commerce-friendly environment and well-educated workforce, Orange County has plenty of attractions to offer residents, businesses and multifamily investors. Add to that list well-paying jobs in the expanding professional and business services, and tech and healthcare sectors, and you can see why demand for housing in the county is on the rise. Job growth has pushed the unemployment rate to below 3 percent, a level not seen since the fourth quarter of 1999. The strengthening economy has created a tremendous tailwind for apartment demand in a metro where the cost of a single-family home is out of reach for most households. As a result, Orange County’s multifamily vacancy rate stood at the extremely low level of 3.8 percent at the end of the third quarter. The low level of apartment vacancy has also been positively affected by a change in the rate of new construction. After several years of increased supply, the amount of new housing in the pipeline has begun to decrease, having reached the apex of the current cycle in 2017. This year and next, the county will receive about 4,000 new apartments, down from the more than 4,800 units …

January 15, 2019

California Market Reports Retail Western Western Market Reports

Orange County’s Retail Market Remains Scrappy

by Taylor Williams January 8, 2019

The Orange County retail real estate market remains resilient despite continued pressure from growing ecommerce sales and a new tranche of retailer bankruptcies. Sears is the latest retailer to file for bankruptcy in the Amazon era. Toys“R”Us, Fallas Paredes and Mattress Firm have all declared bankruptcy, while Lowe’s announced it would close all Orchard Supply Hardware stores. In comparison, ecommerce sales continue to experience double-digit increases year-over-year and analysts are quick to conclude the so-called “retail apocalypse” is imminent. Does this mean it’s time to panic if you are in the retail real estate business? Definitely not, but it does mean the edge belongs to those who are proactive and adaptable in their decision making. We are also seeing many retailers and developers step up their game in the wake of ecommerce popularity. Retailers like Walmart and Ralph’s/Kroger are offering free same-day delivery and, in the case of groceries, food delivery in as little as one hour. Retailers like Best Buy are not only price matching but offering better product education and experience via what the company calls a “stickier” relationship. Developers are getting better at placemaking, the multi-faceted approach to planning, design and management of space, giving people more …

January 8, 2019

Hawaii Industrial Market Reports Western Western Market Reports

Hawaii Has Faced A Compressed Industrial Market, But Relief Is in Sight

by Taylor Williams January 3, 2019

When we last reported on the health of Hawaii’s industrial market in 2018, we offered rationale for a then 2.02 percent Oahu industrial vacancy rate. This rate was fueled by the completion of many large residential high rises in urban Honolulu, the ongoing construction of a $9.2 billion light rail system (voter approved at less than $5 billion), and booming tourism and military sectors, our two biggest economic drivers. Oahu’s small, 41 million-square-foot industrial market was under further compression as industrial product was either being taken — or functionally interrupted — by the state to support light rail construction or lost to high-rise residential construction and the expansion of our main Honolulu harbor. A prohibitive industrial construction cost scale, which generally exceeds $125 per square foot for metal skin shell warehouse, had also slowed spec and build-to-suit construction. Fast forward to late 2019, and our market reflects an Oahu industrial vacancy rate of just 2.13 percent, a monthly industrial base rent average of $1.24 per square foot and monthly operating expenses of $0.41 per square foot. Much of this rate is composed of property taxes, which have increased more than 30 percent year over year in some areas, and 50 …

January 3, 2019

California Market Reports Office Western Western Market Reports

Spec, New Development Continue in Orange County’s Office Sector

by Taylor Williams December 18, 2018

The Orange County office market continues to remain healthy with an unemployment rate of 2.6 percent in the second quarter of 2018. This is down from 3.2 percent 12 months prior. The driving industry sectors for Orange County that occupy a large portion of office space include financial services, information technology, logistics and healthcare. We are currently seeing vacancy rates around 11.7 percent, which is about a 10 basis point increase from the second quarter of this year. The main reason for this increase has been momentum in completed construction projects with more than 2.2 million square feet that has been delivered over the past 12 months. At the mid-year point of 2018, more than 808,000 square feet of office space was under construction — the majority of which was speculative. The largest office projects under construction right now include Flight at Tustin Legacy in Tustin and the Quad at Discovery Business Center in Irvine Spectrum. There are four Class A, institutional-quality office projects currently under construction in the county that total nearly 1.3 million square feet — 75 percent of which is pre-leased to tenants. All this bodes well for the continued confidence in the Orange County market. We …

December 18, 2018

California Industrial Market Reports Western Western Market Reports

Orange County’s Industrial Demand Fuels Rent Growth

by Taylor Williams December 11, 2018

The industrial market in Orange County remains strong as demand continues to far outweigh supply. Vacancy throughout the region remains at historic lows, staying below 3 percent for the 13th consecutive quarter through the third quarter of this year. The largest submarket, North Orange County, is also the tightest submarket with a 1.2 percent overall vacancy. As an infill market, we do not anticipate significant increases in vacancy within the Orange County industrial marketplace for the foreseeable future, despite the new developments recently delivered, planned or under construction. There are several significant industrial development projects in various stages in the county. This is welcome news by users seeking to upgrade and expand into modern facilities while maintaining local operations. The first is a 30-acre redevelopment site in Huntington Beach that was purchased by Sares Regis Group earlier this year. Sares Regis is expected to begin construction shortly, with plans to deliver more than 600,000 square feet of new product in late 2019. Shea Properties recently began construction on Shea Business Center in Santa Ana, which is planned for nearly 530,000 square feet and a completion date in 2019. Western Realco is also nearing completion of Beckman Business Center, a 900,000-square-foot, …

December 11, 2018

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