Momentum in the industrial market has remained strong for the past three years. This momentum should continue through 2014. Total market activity for 2013 generally remained on par with a record-setting year from 2012, but the makeup of that activity changed significantly. On a square footage basis, leasing activity decreased by 25.6 percent, while user-sale activity increased by 117.3 percent. Much of the increase in user-sale activity can be attributed to Boeing’s acquisition of the 850,000-square-foot Kraftmade building. Strong activity in the market led to more than 2.5 million square feet of positive absorption, representing the highest level of annual absorption since 2007 and exceeding the absorption of the past four years combined. This high level of positive absorption pushed overall vacancy rates down by 1.6 percentage points to end the year at 7.4 percent. As vacancy rates have declined, achieved rental rates have increased by 8.1 percent. The greatest increase was seen in spaces with more than f 100,000 square feet where rental rates increased by 14.7 percent. This category accounted for more than 40 percent of total market activity. The expansion of e-commerce continues to leave its mark on the development and functionality of buildings. E-commerce accounted for …
Western Market Reports
The Las Vegas multifamily market is back with a vengeance. The market went into a meltdown in 2009 while the financial crisis was in full swing, delivering the biggest blow to the local economy in Vegas’ history. What had been low unemployment and a development boom to rival all past development cycles quickly turned into a downward spiral. Construction came to a standstill and workers fled the city in search of work elsewhere. Apartment fundamentals dropped to record lows. Asking rents dropped 19.25 percent between 2009 and the second quarter of 2012, while concessions stood at 8.5 percent. Even with all this in play, the Las Vegas market is known for reinventing itself. The market recovery was in full swing last year. Stalled projects were restarted with a whole new set of players, and employment was picking up speed. An exodus from California to Nevada is currently underway, with Penske Truck Rental citing Las Vegas as one of its top 10 places where new residents are moving. Unfortunately, unemployment is still above the national average, but that is changing fast. Fundamentals are improving with concession shrinking to 5.25 percent compared to a high of 8.5 percent in 2009. Asking rents …
There’s a clarity that’s emerged in the Inland Empire industrial market following 20 consecutive quarters of positive absorption. As a result, it’s not surprising the market is experiencing the highest number of speculative developments in five years. In 2013, development took off, absorption was strong, and the overall vacancy rate was low, all of which were strong indicators of the role and importance the industrial sector plays in Southern California and the entire Western Region. The Inland Empire West submarket experienced the majority of the increased gross activity that was reflected in an overall 1.2-million-square-foot, year-over-year increase on 7.9 million square feet of activity in the fourth quarter of 2013. That resulted in 4.2 million square feet of net absorption for the quarter, pushing the year-end total to 14.8 million square feet. Notably, the Inland Empire East submarket surpassed the West submarket in generating more net absorption during this same time – 2.3 million square feet to 1.9 million square feet, respectively. This was due to the lack of supply of high-quality buildings in the West submarket, while the East submarket was viewed as a more desirable location in terms of building quality. Steady demand and shrinking supply during the …
We all know the recent recession was hard on the Las Vegas commercial market. The good news is that a recovery is now well underway. End users are moving quickly to take advantage of historically low interest rates, which are coupled with potential rental income streams in buildings and office projects that are mostly vacant. The overall market vacancy rate is currently estimated to be at about 25 percent. For tenants that need larger spaces, however, that number can be misleading. Smaller tenants have more options, and Downtown Las Vegas continues to outperform the rest of the market, with only a 10 percent vacancy rate. Although it’s still a tenant’s market, they no longer have the leverage they once had during the middle of the downturn. Landlords are tightening concessions and seeking stronger tenant commitments, though many investors have budgeted tenant improvement dollars during acquisition and underwriting. Investors are now willing to spend these dollars to acquire quality tenants, which previously would have presented a tough sell to banks, receivers and servicers. Most other concessions remain similar to other years, with landlords standing somewhat firmer in the negotiating process. Given these conditions, Las Vegas is now seeing activity in all …
The answer to that question is both yes and no. For some institutional investors and developers, perception is all that matters. And their perception of the metro Phoenix office market is “we’ll pass – for now.” Driving this perception is the 23 percent office vacancy rate reported by major brokerage firms in their recent quarterly market reports. But perception and reality are not always the same. Drilling down into the data reveals that certain submarkets have vacancy rates in the low single digits, and the size of available vacant space differs from what users in the market want. What cannot be determined from quarterly market reports is just how much space suffers from functional obsolescence. Numerous buildings sit vacant – even during good economic conditions – due to poor location, not enough parking, inadequate power, deferred maintenance and numerous other deficiencies. Most office brokers believe that at least 5 percent to 7 percent of vacant space is in obsolete buildings. Assuming that is true, why are good, quality buildings still 16 percent to 18 percent vacant? The majority of office vacancy is composed of smaller, non-contiguous, spaces. Due to lingering uncertainty in the overall economy, most small- to medium-size businesses …
If you had to summarize Orange County’s multifamily market in one word, it would be “robust.” Generally speaking, the apartment sector has thrived across the nation in recent years, but few markets have performed better than this booming, affluent slice of Southern California. Soaring occupancy rates, rent growth, compressing cap rates, strong investor demand — these are the characteristics of today’s Orange County multifamily market. Thankfully, they should be the trends of the future as well. Underpinning the multifamily sector’s health is the recovering Orange County economy. Over the past year, payrolls have increased by 2.3 percent, according to research by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). Although all the major employment sectors have experienced expansion, the largest gains have occurred in construction, financial activities and leisure/hospitality. These were the three industries hit hardest during the Great Recession. Overall, half of the jobs lost during the recession have been regained. The county’s unemployment rate in October was 5.8 percent, significantly lower than both the California and national rates, which were 8.7 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively. Looking ahead, the economic indicators are positive: both job and population growth should average 2 percent annually until 2017. A growing Millennial population and expensive for-sale …
New paradigms in tenant demand and workplace trends have dramatically altered Los Angeles’ office market in the past three years. Internet, creative and entertainment (ICE) tenants have primarily pushed demand and new trends in adaptive reuse, while finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) end users — along with their law firm counterparts — have contracted. This is often due to lower spatial requirements per employee, coupled with the rising trend of collaborative space. The segments of LA with repurposed and renovated office properties are white hot. This is especially true in Santa Monica’s Silicon Beach area where rents average $50 but can get as high as $70 per square foot. This new coastal, high-rent district benefits its surrounding areas, as well as the city’s CBD and Downtown, where tenants are seeking lower-cost space. Despite an overall market vacancy of about 18 percent, Downtown rents are holding steady due to a concentration of Class-A owners holding firm or even slightly escalating rates. Considering the real estate fundamentals — relatively high vacancy and 9.5 percent unemployment — there may be a disconnect in the investment market. Los Angeles office investment is generally still a bargain compared to other global gateway markets, however. …
While economic uncertainty still abounds, the Los Angeles County retail market remains on the road to recovery. Several significant leases were signed during 2013, representing an expansion of both value retailers and luxury brands. Also contributing to positive market momentum was the lack of massive closures by big box retailers, such as Borders and Blockbuster, which were seen in previous years. Los Angeles also maintained its status as a primary market for investors. Cap rates trended in the low- to mid-5 percent range for core grocery/drugstore-anchored product and around the 6 percent range for power/promotional shopping centers. Investor demand was strong for high-profile and street-front retail in Hollywood and Beverly Hills, resulting in aggressive acquisition terms and cap rates falling into the four percent range and below. Los Angeles’ retail market overall experienced moderate leasing activity in 2013. CoStar reported a positive net absorption of 850,112 square feet in the third quarter. However, one submarket that saw significant activity—retail and otherwise—was Downtown LA with the FIGat7th open-air shopping center leading the renaissance. In addition to CityTarget, which opened here in 2012, FIGat7th recently signed a 27,000-square-foot lease with Spanish clothier Zara for a flagship location and a 32,000-square-foot lease with …
In its entirety, the Orange County industrial market showed positive net absorption at the closing of 2013. Neighboring markets like Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, however, displayed a more robust recovery when compared to the Orange County industrial market. This reflects a less aggressive, but steady decrease in vacancy at about 4.3 percent — a number that has not been seen since the third quarter of 2008. Most of the market’s leasing activity has been established by users in the less than 100,000 square feet range. A few notable large transactions that took place in 2013: • Cargill, Inc. moving into 184,438 square feet at Fullerton Crossroads • Obey Clothing moving into 170,466 square feet on Michelson Drive in Irvine • Cavotec Dabico US Inc. moving into 159,943 square feet at 5665 Corporate Ave. in Cypress Pointe Rental rates steadily increased in 2013. The average quoted asking rate for available industrial space was $8.49 per square foot, per year at the end of the third quarter of 2013. This represented a 1.3 percent increase in quoted rental rates from the end of the second quarter, as rents were reported at $8.38 per square foot. Although lease rates underwent one …
Strong recent job growth in Orange County has led to a major pickup in demand for quality retail space. The county’s low development profile has resulted in correspondingly high long-term occupancy levels. Thus, the recent recession with its negative absorption drove the local community neighborhood shopping center rate no higher than the 7 percent peak it reached in the first quarter of 2010. Descent has been the trend ever since. The rate has dropped to 5.5 percent by the end of the second quarter, down 40 basis points year-over-year amid modest additions to supply. The second quarter National Community neighborhood sector rates, by comparison, were notably higher at 10.5 percent. Orange County power centers’ vacancy rates are also lower than the national rate. There have been no power center projects completed in the county since 2007. The vacancy rate for power centers in Orange County is 3.9 percent, compared to 5.7 percent nationally. Orange County’s typically strong economy, positive population growth and high levels of affluence bode well for local retailing and the local retail real estate market. All of Orange County’s cores will see new retail development delivered in 2014 and beyond. Some of the new development will be …