Kentucky

Steady Demand, Available Labor Prepare Louisville’s Industrial Market for Success

by John Nelson December 2, 2018

Strong market performance has allowed the Louisville industrial market to recently post the highest quarter of positive net absorption in market history during the second quarter of 2018, which occurred on the heels of the second-highest quarter of positive net absorption recorded just one quarter earlier. This outcome has been the result of recent build-to-suit projects, the availability of quality product and growing demand by new and prospective tenants in the Louisville market. Beyond healthy supply and demand fundamentals, Louisville is achieving great balance with access to available labor along with low utility costs. Tenant Demand Picks Up There are currently over 20 active prospects considering 200,000 square feet or larger in the metro Louisville market. Much of this demand is attributed to the high level of activity at the two local Ford Motor Co. plants, as well as the proximity of the UPS Worldport, the 5.2 million-square-foot-core of UPS’s global air network located in the heart of metro Louisville. Along with the natural interest from companies in the automotive supply chain and e-commerce companies benefiting from the proximity to UPS, we have recently seen an increase in pharmaceutical and food-related companies considering Louisville for a location. Strong Labor Force …

December 2, 2018

Hospitality Kentucky Market Reports Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Make it a Double: Entertainment, Hospitality Firms Invest Heavily in Louisville

by John Nelson November 26, 2018

The face of Louisville is changing rapidly, but it has leveraged what the state of Kentucky is historically known for best, bourbon. Louisville is a short drive from most of the legendary distilleries in the Commonwealth. However, the downtown Urban Bourbon Trail is booming with tourism and many brands actually distilling their spirits onsite. Jim Beam’s Urban Stillhouse, the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, Copper & Kings, Angel’s Envy Distillery and Rabbit Hole Distillery are locations where patrons can sample and buy their drink of choice and learn about the history of these companies and the evolution of the industry as a whole. Most recently in June, Brown-Forman Corp. opened its Old Forester Distilling Co. experience at the newly restored Whiskey Row on Main Street. The company is not only distilling and sharing its history at the site, but like others on the Urban Bourbon Trail there are areas to host receptions and parties. Duluth Trading opened next door on Whiskey Row late last year to begin to fill a growing need for retail space downtown. Convention Center, Hotels After two years being closed, earlier this month Louisville celebrated the reopening of the $207 million renovation and reconstruction of the Kentucky …

November 26, 2018

Kentucky Market Reports Multifamily Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Louisville Renters Absorb Cycle-High Development, Pushing Vacancy Rate Down

by John Nelson November 19, 2018

For the remainder of 2018, positive demand drivers will alter new apartment supply’s impact on operations in Louisville. The metro has had a large volume of new apartments to open this business cycle. Since 2013, an annual average of 1,500 units has been completed, totaling approximately 7,400 apartment units. As this new supply entered the market, initially strong leasing helped push vacancy down 100 basis points to 4.6 percent at the end of 2016. However, absorption of apartments softened last year as new units continued to open, lifting vacancy back up 90 basis points to 5.6 percent. This year, approximately 2,800 apartment units will be completed, further testing demand for luxury rentals in Louisville. A team of factors should fuel positive absorption, preventing an alarming uptick and keeping the vacancy rate in the mid-5 percent range. Payroll expansions by tech firms, manufacturing companies and hospitals will support consistent year-over-year hiring and income growth this year. Sub-4 percent unemployment suggests employers will recruit from outside the market to fill open positions or hire recent graduates from the University of Louisville and other local colleges. These job gains should increase the rate of household formations and bolster the market’s millennial base, an …

November 19, 2018

Kentucky Market Reports Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Louisville’s CBD, Suburbs Offer Good Landing Spots for Office Tenants

by John Nelson November 12, 2018

Louisville’s office landscape can be described as a tale of two distinct submarkets woven together by a common thread of consistency. In the central business district (CBD), Class A vacancy rate stands at approximately 13 percent while the suburban Class A vacancy rate hovers around 8.5 percent. As can be noted, there is a substantial gap in occupancy between the two submarkets — 450 basis points. The thread of consistency in the Louisville office market lies in the fact that both are within 100 basis points of those vacancy rates for the same quarter of last year. The suburban office market continues to see healthy rental rate increases driven by the low rate of delivery for new product, coupled with consistently lower vacancy rates. Newer projects are advertising rates in the range of $24 to $28 per square foot, while second-generation, Class A product has quoted rates in the high teens and low 20s. Many companies such as Thornton Oil, BrightSpring Health Services (formerly ResCare) and V-Soft have chosen to grow their headquarters presence in Louisville, which is helping maintain stability in the suburban market. As in most markets, Class B and C product continues to struggle as functional obsolescence, …

November 12, 2018

Industrial Kentucky Market Reports Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Louisville Industrial Market Benefits from its Interstate Connectivity

by John Nelson November 13, 2017

Louisville has a lot going for it when it comes to logistics. In addition to its prime location on the Ohio River, the city benefits from three major interstates running through it: Interstates 64, 65 and 71. I-65 is considered a Tier 1 Corridor due to the high volume of trucks that travel over this route, connecting Chicago and Indianapolis through Louisville to the Southern states. Louisville’s location also allows companies to reach 60 percent of the country’s population within a 12-hour drive. Perhaps most importantly, Louisville is home to UPS Worldport, the largest automated package handling facility in the world, and the center point of UPS’s worldwide air network. More than 300 flights arrive and depart daily, and the hub processes roughly two million packages a day and more than 4 million during peak holiday shipping season. E-commerce lives here and UPS offers customers the ability to drop shipments at Worldport much later in the day, compared to other cities, while still providing next morning/day delivery. Louisville is not only a great logistics hub, it has a strong manufacturing base. Louisville is home to GE Appliance Park and two Ford Plants: Louisville Assembly Plant and Kentucky Truck Plant. Louisville …

November 13, 2017

Kentucky Market Reports Multifamily Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Louisville’s Multifamily Market Proves It’s Better to Arrive Late than Never

by John Nelson November 6, 2017

Sometimes there are benefits to being late to the party. Louisville, having lagged behind larger surrounding cities in multifamily development post-recession, is now experiencing a boom in apartment construction, much of which is being supplied by out-of-state developers. For similar reasons, including Louisville’s sustained economic growth fueled by continued strength as an international distribution center alongside a stable manufacturing base, national investor demand for Louisville multifamily properties has intensified. Traditionally known for the Kentucky Derby and the bourbon industry, Louisville is now raising eyebrows with a growing population, robust job growth and balanced multifamily supply and demand. Big Business, Jobs At the heart of this burgeoning story is UPS Worldport, the primary global air hub for the world’s largest package delivery company. UPS, the largest private employer in Kentucky, continues to expand its presence in Louisville, having recently announced a $310 million expansion of its Centennial hub sorting facility. Ford Motor also recently announced that it is investing $900 million in its Kentucky Truck Plant, in addition to the $1.3 billion and 2,000 jobs created at that plant in late 2015 to build Ford Super Duty trucks. Additionally, Qingdao Haier Co., having acquired Louisville-based GE Appliances in June 2016, announced …

November 6, 2017

Kentucky Market Reports Retail Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Louisville Experiences New Retail Development Across the Metro Area

by John Nelson October 30, 2017

Louisville’s evolving retail market has presented a mix of new development and infill redevelopment opportunities that have created a substantial amount of activity in targeted areas. While rents and absorption activity have fluctuated, several of these new developments have proven that well-designed, experiential retail projects can still gain traction and create the buzz necessary for successful brick-and-mortar retail. No project in Louisville encapsulates this more than the Whiskey Row project that is taking place downtown in the central business district (CBD). It has been several years since retail development or retailers have ventured downtown, but this new project has created the level of excitement that has attracted national retailers. The driving force behind Whiskey Row is the tourism industry centered around Louisville’s well-known bourbon scene. The $30 million mixed-use project will be a redevelopment of former distilleries, with the developer preserving and restoring the historic facades, while building out world-class retail, restaurant and office space in the existing structures. The entire project will consist of 24,000 square feet of retail. With new distilleries and restaurants opening around the mixed-use development, retailers have been drawn by the foot traffic that will undoubtedly be delivered by tourists traveling to Louisville for the …

October 30, 2017

Georgia Kentucky Multifamily Southeast Top Stories

The Scharf Group, Besyata Investment Group Acquire Multifamily Portfolio in the Southeast for $74M

by Nellie Day March 22, 2017

LOUISVILLE, KY., AND LITHONIA, GA. — The Scharf Group and Besyata Investment Group have acquired a two-property multifamily portfolio in the Southeast for $74 million. The portfolio boasts a total of 1,033 units. Properties included in the portfolio include the 689-unit Park at Hurstbourne in Louisville and the 344-unit Woodcrest Village in Lithonia. Park at Hurstbourne is a garden-style apartment complex situated on 44 acres at 5555 Big Ben Drive. It was built in 1972. Community amenities include an indoor pool, basketball court, two clubhouses and a daycare. Park at Hurstbourne is situated near notable employers such as GE, Ford and UPS, which have been expanding operations within the area. Woodcrest Village is a garden-style apartment complex situated on 34 acres at 2325 Woodcrest Walk in the Atlanta suburb of Lithonia. The community is about 20 miles east of downtown Atlanta. It was built in 1990. Besyata and Scharf Group plan to modernize the amenities and undertake gradual unit renovations at both properties. The buyers invest in value-add, Class B multifamily communities in suburban markets near growing cities. BH Management, Besyata’s longstanding partner, will oversee the day-to-day property management and leasing for both assets. The groups also partnered with national real …

March 22, 2017

Kentucky Market Reports Multifamily Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Louisville’s Multifamily Market Goes from Hot to Hotter as City Flourishes

by John Nelson December 12, 2016

Louisville is no longer simply a city known for horse races, bourbon and tobacco. It has become a city with a diverse and growing economy with heavy concentrations of medical employment, an international logistics hub and a stable manufacturing base. It has grown to become the dynamic northern edge of the Southeast, and investors from all over the nation are flocking to it. Louisville is an established riverfront city in the Southeast with a growing population, diversification of employment and an attractive multifamily supply/demand balance. The area is home to 12 Fortune 500 companies, three of which are headquartered in the city. The metro is a nationally recognized regional distribution and warehousing hub serving major operations such as Ford Motor Co., General Electric and many others. The city has seen steady job growth since the recession. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that between July 2010 and July 2016, 80,000 new jobs were created. With a very successful series of major distribution facilities now open and future capital investments in distribution parks planned, Louisville continues to be a hotbed in the logistics industry. Leading this remarkable transformation to a logistics giant is the development and expansion of …

December 12, 2016

Kentucky Market Reports Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Expect Louisville’s CBD to Soften Despite Major Commercial Projects Underway

by John Nelson December 5, 2016

As one project finishes, another one is soon to begin. The $2.3 billion Ohio River Bridges Project its nearing its December 2016 completion, and Louisville commuters are yearning for a return to normalcy and enhanced transportation options. The East End Crossing will link Louisville’s fast-growing suburban markets to Southern Indiana’s burgeoning distribution hub at River Ridge. The new Abraham Lincoln Bridge parallels the John F. Kennedy Bridge downtown and carries I-65 across the Ohio River. After three years of disrupting traffic in metro Louisville, both projects are entering their final phase of construction. Just as the Bridges Project nears completion, two major projects in Louisville’s central business district (CBD) may have an impact on the office market. The Kentucky International Convention Center closed in August for a two-year, $200 million renovation project. Sections of 3rd and 4th streets will close during the construction, which could have a drag on downtown commuter traffic. In addition, Louisville will welcome a 600-room, $289 million Omni Hotel in 2018, but not before the major project squeezes Liberty Street and Muhammad Ali Street traffic. Both significant projects will bring dividends to Louisville’s CBD when completed, but the market will have to endure some disruption in …

December 5, 2016

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