The Las Vegas office market features a number of unique characteristics. For example, the Class A office market is not concentrated into a central business district. Office users in the downtown area consist almost exclusively of tenants that require proximity to the courts or government offices. Consequently, the tenant mix is limited to uses associated with litigation and government services. Other Class A tenants are spread around the valley at projects such as Hughes Center, a location favored by financial services, gaming interests and transactional law firms. The pool of Class A tenants is relatively shallow, measuring 6.2 million square feet or 13 percent of the overall office market. Reasons include a narrow economic focus — primarily gaming and tourism — and a lack of regional or national corporate headquarters. Consequently, speculative development and operation of Class A office space favors local players (i.e., developers, lenders and brokers). The speculative office pipeline for Las Vegas is dry except for one notable project. Tivoli Village, a 750,000-square-foot retail/office project, is anticipated to deliver its first phase in October. Despite office vacancy in excess of 20 percent, the developers, a partnership between IDB Group of Israel and local developer EHB Companies, have …
Western Market Reports
The fast-growing Salt Lake City metropolitan area, also known as the Wasatch Front, stretches about 40 miles north of downtown Salt Lake City to Ogden and about 40 miles south to Provo. The area now boasts a population of about 2.1 million — or about 75 percent of the state’s population. Highly favorable demographics continue to lure top-quality retailers, restaurants and shopping centers to the region, which enjoys one of the largest average family sizes in the country (3.6), the youngest median age (28.9) and an unusually high median household income of about $63,000. The market also has a highly educated, value-based population with a strongly established work ethic that encourages retail patronage and expansion. Growth in Salt Lake County, which has a population of about 1.1 million, is particularly strong in the southwest portion. Area planners are projecting a population growth of 1 million people in the Wasatch Front during the next 30 years. Unlike other Western markets, retail in the metro area is not highly volatile. Most retailers did take an expansion hiatus here during the recession, but store fallout was minimal, except for a handful of closings by bankrupt national retailers. Some major national retailers, including Target, …
San Francisco is not immune to the forces of gravity, but sometimes it appears that might be true for the city's apartment market. Across the country, the multifamily sector has weathered the Great Recession better than other asset classes. Availability of capital — both equity and debt — has resulted in relatively modest value declines compared to office, industrial and retail investments. Transaction volume has been relatively robust, largely attributable to the disassembly and re-sale of the former Lembi portfolio. Research indicates that in excess of 50 apartment sales were completed in the first half of 2010, for a total value representing about $120 million. Among the most active buyers were Flynn Investments, Klingbeil Capital Management and Tribeca Cos. Expect market activity to remain level or even increase, as buyer appetite has yet to be satisfied. The rental market also seems to have stabilized. According to Novato, California-based RealFacts, a national leader in apartment industry research, rents in San Francisco are only down modestly since second quarter of 2009, but they are up slightly in the first half of 2010. While occupancy is reported to be at a relatively low 94 percent, we believe this state may be a temporary …
The Las Vegas retail market has taken a significant hit during the economic downturn, but amid the doom-and-gloom the city continues to attract retailers and visitors that eventually will help restore stability to the region. Much of the declines are being driven by the general economy and, subsequently, joblessness throughout greater Las Vegas. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the metropolitan area reported an unemployment rate of 13.8 percent in January 2010, compared with 10.3 percent in January 2009. With nearly 136,000 people out of work in metro Las Vegas, it has been difficult for the market to achieve consumer spending levels that could help turn the market around. Recent retail statistics show worsening conditions for metro Las Vegas. According to a December 2009 survey conducted by Applied Analysis, the Las Vegas retail market had a vacancy rate of 10 percent, which is up from 7.5 percent in December 2008 and more than double the market's historical 10-year vacancy rate of 4.5 percent for anchored retail centers. Meanwhile, average retail property rents reportedly declined to $1.84 per square foot, down from $2.13 just 1 year prior. New development virtually stalled for retail properties in the market during 2009. …
The Denver industrial real estate market stopped its 2008 free-fall and stabilized in the second half of 2009. A recipe of back-to-back quarters of positive absorption and no new speculative construction caused the vacancy rate to hold steady at 8.6 percent. Tenants are still vacating blocks of space as leases expire, and the weak economy continues to take its toll, but statistically this has been somewhat offset by the lack of new product coming to market and a handful of tenants relocating or expanding. The renewable energy sector had a dramatic impact on the Denver industrial market in 2009 as solar-panel and wind-turbine manufacturers continued to make large investments in the Front Range. As a result, the area is experiencing a ripple effect as smaller tenants are entering the market to fulfill the raw-material requirements and installation needs of these manufacturers. In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded more than $75 million in advanced energy manufacturing funds through the Recovery Act to six Colorado clean-tech companies. Hopefully these tax credits will be the foundation for continued job creation and reinforce the Colorado manufacturing industry in 2010-2011. The major development projects currently underway are two buildings totaling 660,000 square …
The metropolitan Phoenix market differs from other western cities in terms of its affordability of housing, from first-time buyers to retirees. As the market comes out of this recession, Phoenix is poised with available, affordable residential and commercial properties. Also, there still is plenty of land area in which to expand, unlike our counterparts, who are bounded geographically from growth. Columbus, Ohio-based Glimcher Properties is developing the $270 million Scottsdale Quarter, a mixed-use, destination development that opened its first phase in March 2009. Phase II is scheduled to open this March. Located at the southeast corner of Scottsdale Road and the Greenway-Hayden Loop in the North Scottsdale submarket, the entire three-phase project totals nearly 1.25 million square feet and features retail, entertainment, residential/hotel and office components. While many other new Phoenix-area developments have been put on hold or canceled altogether, Scottsdale Quarter’s development continues. Located across from Kierland, Glimcher’s major infill development is able to piggyback on the first successful lifestyle center on the West Coast. Currently, Scottsdale Quarter has attracted national tenants new to Arizona, such as Williams-Sonoma Home, H&M, Brio Tuscan Grille, Oakville Grocery and west-elm. Others tenants, such as Gold Class Cinemas, Nike and Sunglass Hut, are …
The Orange County industrial market continues to suffer from the effects of the national recession — widespread job losses, corporate downsizing, a lack of liquidity and an overall resetting of property values. Local businesses are postponing capital expenditures, reducing workforces and attempting to shed excess space, which has caused the availability rate for industrial product to increase by 70 percent since the first quarter of last year. North Orange County has experienced seven consecutive quarters of negative net absorption. The vacancy rate is just shy of 6 percent, while the availability rate is approaching 11 percent. The sharp increase in availability, coupled with an overall lack of demand, has created a tenant’s market where landlords are forced to be creative and are offering substantial rate reductions, free rent and moving allowances to entice tenants. Despite the aggressive attempts by landlords to lure tenants to their vacant buildings, many tenants do not have the confidence in their businesses to justify a large-scale move and are working with their existing landlords to complete short-term renewals. Although asking lease rates haven’t moved much given the lack of velocity and tenant demand, recently completed deals show that lease rates are down 25 to 30 …
There's no doubt that the Mile High City has been reeling lately from the country’s current economic downturn. At a time when other cities have experienced a significant decline, Denver has held on to a majority of its retail due in large part to business sectors, such as renewable energy and governmental agencies, choosing Denver for their headquarters and the unemployment rate remaining at around 7 percent, which is below the national average. While vacancy rates also remain below national averages, hovering around 10 to 12 percent, supply for retail space remains higher than demand. Although construction projects are happening downtown and in areas with high residential populations, developments have slowed greatly. Most projects currently under construction started either before the downturn with tenants already committed or were put on hold. One such project in the final stage of completion is the redevelopment of SouthGlenn Mall in Centennial. The entire mall—except for anchor stores Sears and Macy’s—was demolished in 2006 and completely rebuilt as a mixed-use center called The Streets at SouthGlenn. With nearly 1 million square feet of retail space, 140,000 square feet of office space and 200 luxury residences, the first phase of The Streets at SouthGlenn opened …
With a population of 2.2 million, Portland is the 28th largest metropolitan area in the country, the fourth largest city on the West Coast and the largest city in Oregon. Sportswear and equipment businesses Nike, Adidas-America and Columbia Sportswear are all headquartered in Oregon. National publications often cite the Portland area for its coolness factor. In 2009, Men’s Journal named Portland the third “Best Beer Town in the U.S.,” the Wall Street Journal dubbed it the fourth best “Youth Magnet City” and it was third in the Forbes annual list of safest major cities. Unfortunately, it’s not all positive news for the area. Oregon has the fourth highest statewide unemployment rate in the country. During the past year, Oregon has lost 100,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate is now holding steady at 11.5 percent. However, for the real estate sector, the state had the foresight to have well thought out land-use planning laws, and this has benefited the region in these tough times. In the early 1970s, Governor Tom McCall commissioned a study on the future of the Willamette Valley, whose farms and forests were being threatened by a wave of new growth and poorly planned development. Knowing that Oregon’s …
The retail sector continues to struggle as consumer confidence remains relatively low. Until the job market perks up, Orange County residents will maintain low levels of spending. This nervous sentiment has crossed over to prospective investors in retail properties because of the potential for weak cash flow. Leasing activity is at a virtual standstill, with no anticipated movement for at least the next 6 to 9 months. With the exception of Kohl’s and Forever 21 leasing up former Mervyn’s stores and Marshalls taking up large space at previously occupied locations, most of the vacated big box spaces are sitting empty. As of August, the Orange County vacancy rate increased to 7.7 percent, up 8 percent from the previous quarter. Further evidence of a weak market, the average asking rent declined $0.05 to $2.56 per square foot from the previous quarter. Sales activity during the third quarter has lacked large trendsetting transactions. Due to rising vacancies and declining rental rates, potential investors have been hesitant to acquire large properties; this explains why most of the deals have been small or mid-sized. Cap rates have shifted from 5 percent during the market peak in 2007 to 8 percent or higher for large, …