Western Market Reports

Industrial Investors, Developers Turn Up the Heat in Denver

by Taylor Williams July 31, 2018

Denver industrial assets are achieving record pricing as cap rates compress well below 5 percent for Class A product. As this is happening, developers are taking on hefty projects, signaling that Denver’s industrial real estate cycle is stretching its legs instead of winding down. Among the headlines: • Denver’s single largest investment transaction on record occurred in the first quarter of 2018. The Pauls Corporation sold 14 Class A, highly functional assets totaling 1.9 million square feet to Clarion Partners in the Airport submarket. • The largest speculative build of 701,900 square feet is underway by Majestic Realty. Prologis is building more than 500,000 square feet in the Central submarket, while Hyde Development kicked off the 1.8-million-square-foot 76 Commerce Center project in the “less than proven” I-76 Corridor. • Industrial land pricing has doubled in recent years to now double-digit pricing as triple-net asking lease rates approach $8 per square foot. Despite these impressive headlines, here are three reasons we expect further expansion in Denver’s industrial sector into 2019. Investor Preferences Align CBRE’s 2018 Americas Investor Intentions Survey revealed a dramatic increase in the popularity of industrial investments compared to years prior. Half of investors in the Americas are seeking …

July 31, 2018

Colorado Market Reports Multifamily Western Western Market Reports

Denver’s Multifamily Market Tests Its Limits

by Taylor Williams July 24, 2018

An interesting metric was reached in the Denver multifamily market during the first quarter of 2018 — and that’s record absorption. The city already boasts accolades for quality of life, talks of strong in-migration and speculation of becoming the location for the second Amazon headquarters. After these, the most common topic of conversation for multifamily professionals is the unprecedented construction pipeline and just when will we hit an inflection point where the market won’t accept any more Class A, market-rate apartments. It seems we’re still not there. As of the first quarter of 2018, the trailing 12-month absorption was more than 10,000 units. That’s more units than what was completed in 2017 and the highest absorption on record. The result was metro-wide vacancy dipping year-over-year to 5.79 percent, limited concessions and metro-wide annual rent growth at 3.8 percent. Denver’s average rent now stands at $1,405 per unit and $1.62 per square foot. The Central Business District (CBD) experienced the most absorption this quarter, accounting for nearly 25 percent of total metro absorption. Annual rents also grew by 2.7 percent, leading the CBD to regain its title for most expensive rental submarket in Denver with rents per-unit averaging $1,835. But development …

July 24, 2018

Colorado Market Reports Office Western Western Market Reports

Denver’s Dynamic Office Market Changes Face of Downtown

by Taylor Williams July 17, 2018

Denver’s office market has been riding a wave of expansion, entering its ninth straight year of growth, with net absorption totaling 186,826 square feet in the first quarter of 2018. While vacancy ticked up — ending at 15.9 percent, up from 15.1 percent in the prior quarter and from 14.6 percent one year ago — it is expected to fall over the next several quarters as tenants continue to absorb space in both new and existing buildings. The Denver office market’s impressive expansion has lasted 33 consecutive quarters, resulting in a total of 9.7 million square feet of absorption, 7.4 million square feet of new deliveries and a 409-basis-point plunge in vacancy. The majority of the 9.7 million square feet absorbed between the first quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2018 occurred in three key submarkets. This included the Southeast Suburban (SES), Downtown and Northwest (NW) markets, which recorded 3.3 million, 2.9 million and 1.3 million square feet of absorption, respectively. The Downtown market ended the quarter with absorption of 214,317 square feet, and Class A median asking rates were up 39.5 percent from year-end 2009 to $39.76 per square foot. Asking rates in some of the newest …

July 17, 2018

California Industrial Market Reports Western Western Market Reports

The Inland Empire: A Premier Southern California Industrial Market

by Taylor Williams July 10, 2018

The Inland Empire continues to be one of the most dynamic industrial real estate markets in the country from both a user and investor perspective. Rent growth remains exceptionally strong, boasting a growth rate of more than 50 percent in the past five years, with a 10.1 percent increase in 2017. Although current average asking rents are at record highs, they remain at a 40 percent discount when compared to the neighboring infill markets of Los Angeles and Orange County, indicating ample room for further growth. Vacancy remains unchanged at 3.7 percent, despite 20 million square feet of deliveries last year, a testament to the market’s unrivaled user demand. Leasing momentum continues to outpace supply, particularly for recently constructed distribution space. This is demonstrated by the 46 percent pre-lease rate for deliveries greater than 1 million square feet last year. The Inland Empire’s proximity to world-class transportation infrastructure, combined with a relatively large supply of recently delivered distribution facilities, creates a highly optimistic future outlook when considering the projected exponential growth of e-commerce. The Inland Empire’s e-commerce primacy of location as it relates to underlying market fundamentals are attracting best-in-class domestic and global capital. This is creating a hyper-competitive buyer …

July 10, 2018

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California Market Reports Office Western Western Market Reports

Lower Rents, Relocations Attract Investors, Users to Inland Empire’s Office Market

by Taylor Williams June 26, 2018

The Inland Empire office market got off to a slow start in 2018, continuing a trend of positive momentum with little excitement. The average asking rent registered $1.81 per square foot, down 3.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2017 and $0.01 below the first quarter of 2017. Preliminary sales and lease volumes are off 39.1 percent over the prior year. However, the Inland Empire is seeing one of the lowest vacancy rates since 2007, with more than 108,000 square feet of new construction added to the market this quarter. As of the first quarter of 2018, vacancy was 7.9 percent, down 30 basis points over the quarter and 90 basis points below last year at this time. Nine projects totaling 201,671 square feet are under construction, with the largest being Rady Children’s Medical Plaza at 60,000 square feet. Much of the new growth in the office sector is being driven by the healthcare industry. Office medical space comprised more than half of the space under construction, as the education and health services sector employment has grown by 4 percent between January 2017 and January 2018. This has accounted for 8,800 of the 13,500 new jobs in the office-occupying sectors. …

June 26, 2018

Market Reports Multifamily Nevada Western Western Market Reports

Reno Multifamily Rent Growth Among Nation’s Highest as Vacancy Remains Low

by Taylor Williams June 19, 2018

Reno’s proximity to the Bay Area is supporting an economy beyond the gaming industry. The area’s lower cost of living is also attractive for Bay Area transplants attempting to further stretch their income. Tesla is the most notable utilizer of the metro’s favorable location and business-friendly environment. The company pulled 112 permits last year to build out internal areas of the factory. The introduction of Tesla’s electric semitruck necessitates a further expansion of production in the coming years. On the supply side, development is ramping up quickly as builders finally move away from primary markets to relieve housing pressure in tertiary metros. Inventory will expand by more than 4 percent this year, representing the largest increase on record. The South Reno submarket contains a majority of the completions slated this year. More than 1,400 units are underway in the submarket, including nearly 1,000 scheduled for delivery in 2019. Builders are also active in the Sparks submarket, where 600 units are underway and scheduled for completion. The introduction of new units has pushed up the percentage of properties offering leasing incentives to 16 percent. Still-tight conditions are limiting the average incentive to just nine days of free rent. An influx of …

June 19, 2018

Industrial Market Reports Nevada Western Western Market Reports

E-Commerce, Advanced Manufacturing Attract Capital to Reno

by Taylor Williams June 12, 2018

Industrial sales and leasing in the Reno-Sparks area remains one of the best performing sectors in the marketplace, just as it did in 2017. With a record vacancy percentage below 4 percent, combined with new buildings being occupied upon completion, the strong demand for new and existing industrial product is a welcome normality from previous years. The North Valley’s submarket has been the dominant center point for speculative development. It is currently the fastest-growing submarket in Reno, as nearly 50 percent of the transactions containing more than 50,000 square feet were concentrated in this submarket. This is primarily attributed to the abundance of skilled labor in the area and proximity to Interstate 80. Developers continue their hunt for buildable land in the area, though the availability of readily developable parcels is dwindling. Driven by consumer shifts toward internet goods, along with burgeoning advanced manufacturing, capital from institutional and regional investors alike have entered Reno’s industrial market. This has led to the industrial market posting the largest volume and most competitive assets. Last year’s investment volume was up 90 percent year over year, with a 14 percent increase in the total number of sales. The most recent eye-opener was Blockchains’ acquisition …

June 12, 2018

Market Reports Nevada Office Western Western Market Reports

Reno’s Office Market Successfully Rebounds From The Great Recession

by Taylor Williams June 5, 2018

I have had the pleasure of selling commercial office space in Northern Nevada for nearly 15 years. During this time, I saw the peak of the market from 2003 to 2008 wherein construction was at an all-time high, lease rates were reaching unseen heights and absorption was setting records. Then we all got to experience the Great Recession from 2008 through 2012. This saw nearly half of the buildings that were constructed during the previous peak become empty. Vacancy rates hit 20 percent, lease rates dropped to levels well below where they were in 2003, and construction came to a screeching halt. Then, magically, at the beginning of 2013 the economy took a turn and the Northern Nevada office market began its recovery. This was expedited in 2014 with Tesla making its announcement of the Gigafactory in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center and the Tesla Effect created a national buzz that hasn’t slowed. Unfortunately, this has created a new problem. The Reno office market sits at 10.1 percent vacancy, down from 20.7 percent during the recession, as net absorption has been positive year over year since 2012. The absorption has been primarily in second-generation space as there has been relatively …

June 5, 2018

California Market Reports Multifamily Western Western Market Reports

Apartment Values Continue to Climb in Orange County

by Camren Skelton August 22, 2017

Orange County’s well-diversified and growing economy, coupled with its high quality of life, attract residents nationally and internationally to the region. Prohibitive home pricing also intensifies the high barrier to home ownership, further supporting overall apartment fundamentals in the Orange County market. Developers are targeting urban centers where they can transform the areas with Class A rentals. Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle, the Disney Resort, Convention Center Complex and surrounding area are undergoing an infusion of more than $5 billion that is redefining the area as a highly urbanized residential, entertainment and business hub. A similar transformation is happening at the Irvine Business Complex (IBC). In addition to these clusters, about 19,000 units are scheduled to come online over the next few years, particularly in the Class A product category. Rents in Orange County rose 4.8 percent year-over-year through January, outpacing the 4.6 percent national growth rate. Renter demand remains elevated, fueled by a rapidly expanding economy and population gains. Large companies and startups alike are drawn to the market’s highly educated workforce as nearly 25 percent of residents have at least a bachelor’s degree. This reinforces the foundation for the multifamily sector’s rent growth in both “renter by necessity” (students/young professionals/blue-collar/subsidized …

August 22, 2017

Hawaii Market Reports Office Western Western Market Reports

Competition Increases for Hawaii’s Office Space

by Camren Skelton August 15, 2017

Hawaii’s office market is dominated by Honolulu, which is home to 70 percent of the state’s population and commerce. More than 90 percent of the state’s 12 million square feet of multi-tenant Class A and B office space is located in Honolulu, with nearly 80 percent of Honolulu’s inventory situated in the four-mile stretch between the Central Business District and Waikiki. Hawaii’s office tenants are primarily in industries that support tourism, military, construction and government – Hawaii’s economic drivers. These include FIRE (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate), plus legal, CPAs, architects, engineers and contractors. Hawaii also has a small but growing innovation economy that has spawned several co-working centers, incubators and impact investment firms backed by the University of Hawaii. These names include Lauren Powell Jobs (widow of Steve Jobs), Pierre Omidyar (founder of eBay) and Henk Rogers (Tetris). Larry Ellison purchased 97 percent of the Island of Lanai in 2012 for $300 million and could join the list of tech billionaires interested in supporting Hawaii’s innovation economy. Hawaii has seen slow but steady job growth in office-using businesses, but the drive to reduce square feet per office worker and the related cost savings has resulted in a net loss of …

August 15, 2017

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