Office

Office Redevelopments, Leasing Key to Downtown Atlanta’s Re-emergence

by John Nelson December 31, 2018

The vitality of Downtown Atlanta is exciting. In response to a wave of revitalization efforts and substantial investment from corporations, universities and the public sector, the submarket’s fundamentals are rapidly strengthening. As tenants have reprioritized their desires for office locations to include access to public transportation, walkable retail and proximity to cultural attractions and an educated workforce, Downtown has gained tremendous traction in demand and re-emerged as an affordable and authentic urban work setting. Model Project: 100 Peachtree While new development activity is primarily focused on housing, much of the bustle in Downtown Atlanta’s office market is focused on redevelopment, renovations and repositioning. For instance, our team is transforming 100 Peachtree, a 32-story office tower, into a modern, transportation-oriented workplace destination with upgraded amenities, enhanced connectivity with Woodruff Park and new community activations. 100 Peachtree’s timeless Meisian design functionality provides a workplace for tenants ranging from traditional corporate headquarters to tech startups. Changes at 100 Peachtree reflect a broader story about shifting expectations for workplace environments. Employees increasingly desire to work at a “go-to” office building with access to transit in an amenity-rich setting. Office amenities have evolved from providing convenience like a café or sundry shop to blurring the …

December 31, 2018

Market Reports Massachusetts Northeast Northeast Market Reports Office

Boston Relishes Status as Hot Spot for Tech, Life Science Firms

by David Cohen December 19, 2018

The Boston office market continues to see established out-of-market tech users from a diverse group of industries take large blocks of space. In the Seaport District, Aptiv, a division of the car technology company Delphi Technologies, took 93,000 sq. ft. at 100 Northern Avenue. In the central business district, Spotify, a digital music service company, opened its first Boston location and leased 73,000 sq. ft. at Center Plaza. Verizon’s Oath, the digital publishing arm of the company, inked a 440,000 sq. ft. lease at North Station’s The Hub. And Bose, a consumer electronic products company, recently took the remaining available space at Boston Landing, bringing its leasing total to 145,000 sq. ft. at the project. The diversity of this new crop of tech entrants into the market solidifies the strength of Boston’s growing technology cluster. Innovators aplenty In a city once dominated by financial service and insurance firms, Boston is now home to a world-class entrepreneurial ecosystem. This is important as established companies across industries race to innovate in the digital age. The juxtaposition of Fortune 500 companies such as Optum and Amazon next door to newly funded and rapidly expanding home-grown startups such as Draft Kings and Toast makes …

December 19, 2018

California Market Reports Office Western Western Market Reports

Spec, New Development Continue in Orange County’s Office Sector

by Taylor Williams December 18, 2018

The Orange County office market continues to remain healthy with an unemployment rate of 2.6 percent in the second quarter of 2018. This is down from 3.2 percent 12 months prior. The driving industry sectors for Orange County that occupy a large portion of office space include financial services, information technology, logistics and healthcare. We are currently seeing vacancy rates around 11.7 percent, which is about a 10 basis point increase from the second quarter of this year. The main reason for this increase has been momentum in completed construction projects with more than 2.2 million square feet that has been delivered over the past 12 months. At the mid-year point of 2018, more than 808,000 square feet of office space was under construction — the majority of which was speculative. The largest office projects under construction right now include Flight at Tustin Legacy in Tustin and the Quad at Discovery Business Center in Irvine Spectrum. There are four Class A, institutional-quality office projects currently under construction in the county that total nearly 1.3 million square feet — 75 percent of which is pre-leased to tenants. All this bodes well for the continued confidence in the Orange County market. We …

December 18, 2018

Market Reports North Carolina Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Tech, Co-Working Shine in Raleigh-Durham’s Downtown Submarkets

by John Nelson December 9, 2018

The question today for office tenants and investors is not why Raleigh-Durham, but why not. The Raleigh-Durham market is defined by continued job growth and a thriving technology sector. The Triangle is enjoying significant rent growth, strong absorption and major construction that now has a Downtown Raleigh and a Downtown Durham. Raleigh-Durham’s overall growth continues and was recently ranked No. 1 in the Southeast in projected population growth, posting a 10.3 percent growth rate from 2017 to 2022. This figure is nearly double the 5.5 percent average growth rate for Southeastern cities. Job growth is the primary driver of the region’s expanding presence with over 30,000 jobs added in 2018 through the first half of the year, already surpassing the 24,000 jobs added in all of 2017. Over the last year, we have seen Infosys (2,000), Credit Suisse (1,200), LabCorp (400) and Ipreo (250) announce major job additions to the area. Most recently, Amazon announced 1,500 jobs that will be required for its new fulfillment center. The tech sector is a major contributor to those jobs, and there is a lot of talk about a well-known e-commerce giant and a major technology giant bringing a significant presence to our market. …

December 9, 2018

Market Reports Office Texas Texas Market Reports

Houston Office Market Is In Full Rebound Mode

by Taylor Williams December 7, 2018

Like most major cities, Houston has had its fair share of market cycles. However, this most recent decline in the local economy’s growth rate that was caused by a steep drop of oil prices put a heightened level of stress on the Houston office market. Fortunately, the energy sector has turned the corner, and, paired with the ever-diversifying economic base, the Houston economy is buzzing again. As such, Houston’s population and job growth have translated into early signs of improvement in office market fundamentals. The metro’s employment base, which is currently seeing some of the highest employment numbers in history, is growing at more than twice the national rate. This rapid rate of expansion has provided the office market with much-needed positive momentum as we look toward the new year. Improving Fundamentals The much-anticipated turnaround in the office market is here. Asking rents, occupancy rates and absorption are all increasing across the metro area and across all building classifications. In the third quarter of 2018, the office market posted approximately 1.1 million square feet of positive net absorption. This is a significant improvement compared to the negative net absorption of roughly 1.1 million square feet in the first quarter of …

December 7, 2018

Market Reports Multifamily Nevada Western Western Market Reports

Record Occupancy, Job Growth Bolster Reno Multifamily Market

by Taylor Williams November 27, 2018

It’s starting to feel like the 1970s all over again in Reno’s multifamily market. This is particularly true in terms of occupancy. A recent report from RealPage noted the current market’s eye-popping 97.3 percent multifamily occupancy level. This figure was only eclipsed once, nearly four decades ago, at a double eye-popping 97.9 percent when the region experienced a spike in new jobs. Reno’s total job count continues to grow at a record pace, fueling a nearly full apartment market. But, of course, the housing and job markets in Reno are both much larger than they were in the ‘70s, though there are similarities. In fact, current market conditions bring to mind the ages-old adage, “Those who fail to heed the lessons of the past are condemned to repeat them.” Developers cannot build multifamily units fast enough to sate demand. New residents arriving for new jobs cannot easily find an apartment, and those who do may have to pay a higher-than-expected rental rate. Consider this from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Reno’s economy expanded during the four years ending in May 2018 (the latest statistics available from the Bureau) by a steady 4.2 percent. This was an enviable gain for …

November 27, 2018

Market Reports Nevada Office Western Western Market Reports

Reno Office Market Tightens With Lack of New Supply

by Taylor Williams November 13, 2018

The northern Nevada office market is picking up steam, despite still lagging behind the robust growth taking place in the industrial and multifamily sectors. Year-to-date net absorption of 136,607 square feet has brought overall market vacancy rates down to 10.1 percent. Rates are well below that in the more desirable office submarkets. South Reno, once plagued with vacancy rates exceeding 30 percent during the downturn, now hovers at a rate of 6.3 percent. Downtown vacancy rates currently sit at 7.9 percent with no new supply on the horizon. In fact, no significant office property has been built in downtown Reno since 1981. Reno is a market in need of new office supply; however, new office construction is challenging to build on a speculative basis except in the most amenity-rich locations that offer visibility and accessibility. The lack of incoming supply and rising demand has caused office lease rates to increase. Rates have generally remained stable over the past few years with the exception of Class A office lease rates, which have climbed steadily over the past 12 months. There is a gap between existing Class A office lease rates, which range from $2 per square foot to $2.50 per square …

November 13, 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

Indiana Market Reports Midwest Midwest Market Reports Office

Don’t Nap on Naptown: Indianapolis Office Market Is Actively Transforming

by Kristin Harlow November 8, 2018

You would be hard pressed to find another city more excited about transformation than Indianapolis right now. Previously known as “Naptown” by outsiders due to the sleepy feel the city exuded, those days are long gone. Indy has experienced incredible transformative activity in the past decade, and that extends to the commercial real estate office sector. For the 18th consecutive quarter, this sector has experienced positive net occupancy gains, and 14 of those quarters have fallen below the 10-year average vacancy rate of 18 percent. Average asking rental rates have experienced healthy growth, with five-year rental rate growth at nearly 14.3 percent. Changing ownership According to colleague Bennett Williams, director, the office landscape is really about change right now. “Long-term Indianapolis owners, such as Duke Realty, historically have developed and held their assets, but now that they are selling off their product, national and international firms are entering the market,” he says. “These new firms have been pushing all facets of the deal to maximize the return for their investors.” Within the past five years, Indy has experienced many ownership changes of large office assets both in the suburban markets and the central business district (CBD). Cushman and Wakefield research …

November 8, 2018

Market Reports Northeast Northeast Market Reports Office Pennsylvania

Lehigh Valley Office Market Continues to Grow

by David Cohen November 7, 2018

From large publicly traded companies to mid-size tech companies and small professional services firms, companies are taking notice of the office development and vibrant live-work communities being built in the Lehigh Valley. Located one hour north of Philadelphia and 90 minutes west of New York City, the Lehigh Valley is a two-county region in eastern Pennsylvania consisting of 62 municipalities and the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton. It is the 69th largest metropolitan region in the United States, with a $39.1 billion GDP larger than that of both Wyoming and Vermont. The Lehigh Valley’s total office market inventory currently stands at 26.8 million square feet. There have been 281,250 square feet of office market deliveries in 2018 so far, and another 329,000 are currently under construction. A total of 669,832 square feet of office space was under construction in the Lehigh Valley as of the first quarter of 2018, with the majority of that development in the region’s urban centers. Ninety-six percent of the office buildings constructed in the Lehigh Valley so far this year have been built in either Allentown, Bethlehem, or Easton and all of the 329,000 square feet of office space currently under construction are in …

November 7, 2018

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