The office market in 2017 has rebounded from the slowdown of 2016 — suggesting that Manhattan market conditions remain stronger than some might have imagined at the end of last year. Growth in office-using employment has picked up steam this year, and New York’s Gross City Product expanded at a faster rate than in 2016. Buoyed by large transactions in the financial services and government sectors, leasing activity also expanded in the first half of 2017, outpacing 2016’s mid-year leasing activity by 19 percent. Asking rents continued their trajectory of modest growth, though tenant improvement allowances have grown at a far faster rate, suggesting tenants are paying lower net effective rent; meanwhile, the number of upward repricings on existing listings fell off considerably in the first half of 2017, while downward repricings continue unabated from last year. Despite the increase in both leasing activity and velocity in the first half of 2017, Manhattan continues to see negative net absorption this year, largely due to the delivery of new office product in Midtown South and Downtown. This has pushed up the availability rate to 12.0 percent — suggesting increasingly tenant-favorable conditions in the market. New York City Employment After a relatively …
As America’s brick-and-mortar retail sector continues to come to grips with the impact of e-commerce on its long-term future, it is worthwhile to track the progress of the growing number of retailers who have chosen to step away from a web-only platform. These retailers are establishing an omni-channel presence by setting up operations in physical stores, and many are showing signs of success. Many such retailers are choosing to set up shop along the streets of New York City, with its massive and steadily growing population and its broad demographic mix. Despite the recent, well-publicized increase in the city’s available inventory of retail space, New York City remains the preferred market to launch a brand with aspirations of building a meaningful national profile. Considering the more-youthful and trendy profile of a large proportion of online shoppers, these “adding-bricks-to-our-clicks” companies are gravitating toward New York City submarkets that deliver this coveted, younger demographic. Moreover, e-commerce players possess a ton of data profiling their customers — including their buying behavior and their browsing interests and habits — and retailers tap this intelligence when making decisions about where to locate stores as well as how they should be merchandised to best cater to …
With employment representing one of the most critical factors in the health of the office sector, people naturally look to the unemployment rate as a key metric to quickly assess a given market. By this standard, Fairfield County should be thriving, with the unemployment rate at 4.4 percent in April 2017 — just under the 4.8 percent rate reached just prior to the recession. And yet, the availability rate in Connecticut’s largest office market stood at 24.5 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2017 — a far cry from the 15.2 percent rate seen at year-end 2007. There are two reasons for the discrepancy. First, it is far more accurate to look at office-using employment (information, financial, professional services and other industries) versus overall employment as a barometer. While office-using employment has rebounded approximately 4.0 percent since the depths of the latest recession, today’s count is still 8.4 percent lower than the latest peak. Second, a marked shift in the desired style of office and an upswing in remote working opportunities have led to reduced utilization rates in terms of square feet per employee. Today’s employers want to be in buildings that make their employees happy and …
A trend in retail activity in Western New York and the Finger Lakes Region over the past six to 12 months has been the announcement or arrival of a number of high-end or specialty retailers and restaurants. Although traditionally these retailers are more selective about the markets they enter, as they continue to grow nationally they have to expand the list of potential markets they will consider. Some of them find that the Buffalo and Rochester metropolitan areas are markets in which high-end or specialty retailers or restaurants can thrive, particularly when Upstate New York’s lower occupancy costs and lighter competition are sufficient to offset potentially lower unit volumes. Whole Foods’ much-anticipated Western New York debut will be this summer in the Northtown redevelopment project by W.S. Development in Amherst. Whole Foods has also signed a lease in Brighton, a suburb of Rochester, for a 50,000-square-foot store at Palazzo Plaza, a proposed 90,000-square-foot shopping center on Monroe Avenue at Interstate 590. The project, being developed by the Daniele Family Companies, is currently making its way through the entitlement process. In a sign of the renaissance in progress in both Downtown Buffalo and Downtown Rochester, the first-ever national brand polished steakhouse …
NEW YORK CITY — Urban Edge Properties (NYSE: UE) has purchased a seven-property retail portfolio primarily within the New York City metro area and Missouri for $325 million. The portfolio contains a total of 1.5 million square feet. The acquisition includes Yonkers Gateway Center in Yonkers, N.Y.; Manchester Plaza in Manchester, Mo.; and The Plaza at Woodbridge in Woodbridge, The Plaza at Cherry Hill in Cherry Hill and 21 E. Broad Street/One Lincoln Plaza in Westfield, all in New Jersey. The portfolio is currently 83 percent leased. The tenant rosters contain a mix of big-box stores such as Burlington, Best Buy, DSW and Toys “R” Us; grocers like Aldi and Trader Joe’s; furniture outposts like Raymour & Flanigan and Bob’s Furniture; and restaurants like Five Guys, Cake Boss and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, among others. Occupancy rates range from 74 percent for The Plaza at Cheery Hill to 100 percent for the Westfield asset. New Jersey-based Acklinis Realty Holding LLC owned the portfolio for more than 30 years. The contributors exchanged their property interests for about $122 million of Urban Edge operating partnership units, which were valued at $27.02 per unit. Urban Edge assumed about $33 million of existing mortgage debt, …
As the U.S. economy passes through the third largest expansion cycle in the economic history, every sector in the economy has seen phenomenal growth over the last six to seven years. The growth in other industries has had a trickle-down effect on the real estate sector. U.S. real estate has seen rents surging and even surpassing the previous expansion cycle, as well as an increase in leasing and absorption activity and a record rise in the value of sales transactions. Manhattan has always been at the epicenter of this real estate growth. With the combination of developed market and investment-grade properties, Manhattan has regularly attracted the majority of foreign direct investment in the real estate sector throughout the country. Increased demand from TAMI (technology, advertising, media and information) and FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate) sector tenants have made these properties an attractive investment option for both the local institutional investors and foreign direct investment. The Manhattan commercial real estate market has seen a 33 percent (see footnote 1) increase in the transactions above $1,000 per square foot over the last seven years. These values are no longer limited to only trophy properties in Midtown but have spread across both Midtown …
The news is rife with stories regarding retail bankruptcies, store closures, challenges facing conventional shopping centers, and consolidations by department and specialty stores. Although not immune to some of these challenges, the Manhattan retail environment has enjoyed much activity during the second half of 2016 and the first part of 2017. To be sure, some submarkets and certain retail corridors have seen an increase in vacancies and a corresponding fall in asking rents. However, a number of new retailers have entered the market and certain strong retail brands have right-sized or repositioned themselves in the market. One high-profile shopping center opened its doors, and there is considerable retail development underway. It’s a big story but here are some highlights. Lower Manhattan There has been considerable focus on Lower Manhattan in the past several years, and this continues. On the grand scale, the opening in August 2016 of Westfield’s World Trade Center was the culmination of years in planning, constructing and leasing this $1.4 billion development. This multi-level project contains an assortment of national and international tenants, including fast fashion and better retail stores, such as Victoria’s Secret, Sephora, H&M, John Varvatos and London Jewelers. A 60,000-square-foot Eataly is the principal …
EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. – HFF has secured the $15.1 million sale of Columbia Plaza, a 137,647-square-foot grocery-anchored retail center in East Greenbush. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a partnership between Capstone Realty Group and WP Realty. Nigro Cos., based in Albany, N.Y., purchased the asset free and clear of existing debt. Anchored by Price Chopper, Columbia Plaza is 89.3 percent leased and home to Peebles, Dollar Tree, Pet Stop, Vineyard Wine & Spirit, Nishiki Sushi, Hair Studio One, Liberty Tax Service, Quality Hearing, NBT Bank and Computer Answers. The three-building center was completed in 1988. Situated on 14.6 acres at 501 Columbia Turnpike, Columbia Plaza is located 3.5 miles southeast of Albany. The center’s Columbia Turnpike location places it in one of the main retail corridors in East Greenbush, a community located along the Hudson River. Columbia Turnpike is accessible from Interstates 8, 787 and 90 in addition to State Highways 151, 43 and 9J. The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by Jose Cruz, Kevin O’Hearn, Michael Oliver and Stephen Simonelli with assistance from Andrew Scandalios.
GLEN COVE, N.Y. — RXR Realty has broken ground on Garvies Point, a $1 billion waterfront redevelopment in the Long Island city of Glen Cove. The project will restore 56 acres of Glen Cove’s waterfront, creating more than 1,100 LEED-certified residences and 75,000 square feet of shops and restaurants. The project will also feature approximately 28 acres of public open spaces with parks, playgrounds, esplanades, marinas, an amphitheater and dog park. The residential units will include 569 condominiums and 541 apartments for lease. Garvies Point will also feature thee separate marinas with a total of 120 boat slips. Garvies Point is a partnership between RXR Realty and the City of Glen Cove. The project represents the culmination of a 20-year, $120 million effort to transform Glen Cove into a sustainable community. The first phase of Garvies Point, which includes 28 acres of public open space and amenities, is scheduled for completion in 2018. The entire project will take between five and seven years to build, according to RXR. RXR Realty is a private real estate company that specializes in investment management, property management, development, design, construction, leasing and financing. RXR’s growth strategy is focused on New York City and the …
Rochester’s story is similar to those of other cities with once prominent downtowns. Starting in the 1970s, businesses and families largely fled to the suburbs as newer and nicer suburban offices were built. Larger companies, including many staple downtown dwellers such as large law and accounting firms, left the downtown in search of free parking, shorter commutes and a suburban lifestyle for their employees. Yet Rochester was a small city with big businesses. Bausch & Lomb was founded in Rochester in 1853. Eastman Kodak started business there in 1888 and beginning in 1906, Xerox Corporation was formed. Kodak is still based in Rochester, though it is a much smaller entity than it was before the digital era, and Xerox moved to Norwalk, Connecticut, years ago. However, the core technology culture never left Rochester. Over the past few years the University of Rochester — the area’s largest employer — received more than $1.9 billion in research money, most of it from the federal government. Organizations like High Tech Rochester, Greater Rochester Enterprise and the Rochester Downtown Innovation Zone have played important roles in the region’s comeback. In 2015, the Rochester region won a nationwide competition and was named the site for …