By Willy Walker, CEO of Walker & Dunlop I recently had the pleasure of sitting down to talk with some prominent members of the Walker & Dunlop team, including Kris Mikkelsen, executive vice president of investment sales, Aaron Appel, senior managing director of capital markets, and Ivy Zelman, executive vice president of research and securities. In this episode of the Walker Webcast, “State of CRE,” we covered some of the most prominent issues the commercial real estate industry is facing, as well as some headwinds it will continue to face in the future. Changes in Homebuilding and Consumer Spending Although homebuilders had to offer incentives when rates first started increasing last year, they are still seeing a steady demand for homes, as demand still heavily outpaces supply. This imbalance is seen in the new and existing home market. Single-family homes in many markets across the country are in multiple offer situations, indicating that single-family residential real estate is still strong. This is incredible, given the fact that many existing homeowners are locked into mortgage rates in the 2-5 percent range, giving them little reason to move out of their current home. How Mortgage Deals Are Currently Financed Although we are …
Office
AUSTIN, TEXAS — RWE Renewables, which develops and operates renewable energy plants, has signed a 69,000-square-foot office lease at Centro, a mixed-use development in Austin that is owned by locally based investment firm Riverside Resources. John Gump, Nate Stricklen and Jon Milonas of CBRE represented RWE Renewables in the lease negotiations. Riverside Resources was self-represented. A quartet of merchandisers and restaurants also recently signed leases to occupy the development’s 15,000 square feet of retail space.
Renesas Electronics Signs 88,998 SF Office Lease at Forty540 II in Morrisville, North Carolina
by John Nelson
MORRISVILLE, N.C. — California-based Renesas Electronics America, a subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corp., has signed an office lease at Forty540 II in Morrisville, about 15 miles west of Raleigh. The company now occupies 88,998 square feet at the building, bringing the property to 95 percent occupancy. Built in 2021, Forty540 II totals 198,424 square feet across five stories at 710 Slater Road. Amenities at the building include a fitness center, showers, an internet café and prominent signage opportunities. Brad Corsmeier and Ed Pulliam of CBRE|Raleigh handle leasing at the property, which is managed by the firm’s Property Management group.
GUILFORD, CONN. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $8.2 million sale of Innovation Park, a 56,564-square-foot office building in Guilford, located in New Haven County. Thermo Fisher Scientific serves as the building’s anchor tenant. Ani Paulson and C.J. Wilson of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in the transaction. Paulson also procured the buyer. Both parties were private investors that requested anonymity. John Krueger of Marcus & Millichap assisted in closing the deal as the broker of record.
SAN DIMAS, CALIF. — San Dimas CA LLC has purchased a 79,036-square-foot R&D/flex facility in San Dimas. The facility is located at 960 Overland Court. The two-story property sits on 4.2 acres and is fully occupied by Collins Aerospace, a Charlotte, N.C.-based aerospace and defense product supplier and subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. The facility is a mission-critical location for Collins and houses the company’s research and development operations. Originally built in 1987, the property recently underwent significant landlord renovations and tenant improvements. It features a mix of open-plan offices and private offices, conference rooms, multiple kitchenettes, and 7,600 square feet of warehouse space with two dock-high positions and two truck wells. Mark Shaffer, Anthony DeLorenzo, Gerard Poutier, Bryan Johnson and Nick Williams with CBRE’s Investment Properties—California/Arizona/Nevada, along with Todd Tydlaska, Mike Longo, Melissa May Moock and Sean Sullivan with CBRE’s Institutional Capital Partners, represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — Avison Young has brokered the sale of a medical office building in downtown Santa Monica. US 528 Arizona Owner LLC acquired the property for $5 million. The 3,049-square-foot medical office building is located at 520 Arizona Ave. It was acquired as part of a land assemblage for the development of a mixed-use project. Mitch Stokes of Avison Young was the sole broker in the transaction.
By Wes Snow, co-founder and CEO, Ascendix Technologies For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, offices are 50 percent occupied nationally as companies push harder for returns to their buildings — which is good news. Still, amid this encouraging development, inflation, interest rate hikes and general fears of recession might impede businesses planning to align their office rent expenses with the pre-pandemic rates. Can businesses optimize the space they’re already utilizing without renting more? At Ascendix Technologies, a company that has been specializing in custom real estate software development for two decades, we’ve seen a variety of space extension practices applied by office owners and managers. Here are some methods that users can employ too maximize efficiency within their existing footprints. Implement Open Floor Plans Not only do wall-less spaces encourage collaboration among teams and reduce the need for spacious individual offices, they also increase flexibility in terms of how space is utilized. Reconfiguring spaces is easy with movable walls and modular furniture and represents an option that helps growing businesses align their changing needs with the spaces they’ve got. Upgrading open-floor space management with automation is another viable option. With a technology like floor management software or …
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — PEBB Capital and Intalex Capital, in partnership with CDS International Holdings Inc., have acquired 110 East, an office building located in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The 24-story property comprises 343,500 square feet of office space. Christian Lee, Andrew Chilgren, Marcos Minaya and Sean Kelley of CBRE brokered the transaction on behalf of both the buyers and the seller, Stockbridge. The sales price was not disclosed, but multiple media outlets have reported that 110 East traded for $43 million. Travis Herring and Katherine Ridgway of Cushman & Wakefield are working with PEBB and Intalex to oversee leasing of the building, and the partnership has secured 76,000 square feet of new tenancy, with 125,000 square feet of new leases currently in negotiation. Plans for the property include multimillion-dollar renovations to common areas. Greenwall Capital Management advised CDS in the transaction, and Kapp Morrison LLP provided legal representation.
LPC Southeast Inks 38,451 SF Office Lease in Midtown Atlanta With Coworking Firm Spaces
by John Nelson
ATLANTA — Lincoln Property Co. Southeast (LPC Southeast) has negotiated a full-building, 38,451-square-foot lease at 1372 Peachtree St. in Midtown Atlanta. The tenant, coworking provider Spaces, offers office rental options, including coworking space, virtual workspaces and communal breakout areas. The building is located near Colony Square, Midtown Arts District and the Arts Center MARTA Station and has undergone $7.5 million of improvements. Michael Howell, Hunter Henritze and Caroline Fisher arranged the lease on behalf of the landlord on an internal basis.
— 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 …