Office

Houston Office Market, CBD Experiencing a Renaissance

by Taylor Williams January 26, 2018

In recent months, a renaissance in the Houston’s urban core, paired with a flight to quality and focus on sustainable design, has created a perfect storm for the metro’s office sector. This revival has been combined with a renewed focus on living and working in Houston’s Central Business District (CBD), which has simultaneously driven a resurgence in both retail and mixed-use developments. Downtown Houston’s burgeoning multifamily market is one of the key drivers in Class A office development. Since 2013, downtown Houston has seen 3,355 new multifamily units hit the market. And according to industry estimates from the midway point of 2017, the multifamily market will continue to grow significantly — as much as 40 percent — by the end of this year. These trends, paired with a 6 percent increase in construction of new hotels, have created greater demand in the marketplace for mixed-use developments that offer diverse tenant mixes, including high-end retail and dining options. A Flight to Quality These shifting preferences among residents and employees within the city’s urban core has prompted a flight to high-quality, modern and energy-efficient buildings, as more tenants look for office space in Class A developments that boast top-of-the-line amenities. Over the …

January 26, 2018

Illinois Midwest Office Top Stories

Equity Commonwealth to Sell 2.4 MSF Office Portfolio in Chicago, Philadelphia for $670M

by Nellie Day January 24, 2018

CHICAGO and PHILADELPHIA — Equity Commonwealth (NYSE: EQC) has agreed to sell a two-property office portfolio for $670 million. The properties feature a total of 2.4 million square feet and are located in Chicago and Philadelphia. One of the properties included in the transaction is a 1.5 million-square-foot office building located at 600 W. Chicago Ave. in Chicago. Sterling Bay acquired the property for $510 million. The space serves as the headquarters for Groupon. It formerly served as a Montgomery Ward catalog warehouse. The sale marks a full departure from the Chicago office market for Sam Zell, chairman of Equity Commonwealth. Equity Commonwealth also sold an 826,000-square-foot property at 1600 Market St. in Philadelphia for $160 million. The 40-story building was built in 1983 just a block away from City Hall. The asset is 84 percent leased. The buyer was not disclosed. Equity Commonwealth sold off a bundle of assets in the last quarter of 2017. This included a two-property, 15-building office portfolio in Moon Township and Pittsburgh, Pa., for $71 million; a 131,000-square-foot office building at 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway in Ann Arbor, Mich., for $24.9 million; a 175,000-square-foot industrial property in North Haven, Conn., for $10.5 million; and a …

January 24, 2018

Market Reports North Carolina Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Charlotte Sees New Construction, Renovations of Second-Generation Office Space

by John Nelson January 22, 2018

It’s impossible to ignore the ongoing boom of new commercial real estate development in downtown Charlotte. Get a glimpse of the skyline from the Interstate 277 loop and you can see the already-present structures standing tall among the handful of cranes and half-completed construction filling in the gaps. More than a dozen projects are currently underway in Center City, with more expected during the next 12 to 18 months. New and Improved Recently opened towers, like 300 South Tryon and 615 South College, have attracted major corporate relocations to downtown CBD, including Regions Bank and Sitehands. Ally Bank just announced its 400,000-square foot move to Ally Charlotte Center, and Crescent Communities just kicked off development of a new tower in the burgeoning Stonewall corridor for a 2020 completion date. Companies seeking the top-of-market space in the city’s newest downtown office developments want to have a presence in the heart of Charlotte’s energy. There, they can recruit elite talent and build their brand. Of course, that presence comes with the highest rental rates and parking costs, in addition to elevated tenant-buildout budgets in a market where construction costs continue to rise. At the other end of the spectrum, some are finding …

January 22, 2018

Market Reports Midwest Midwest Market Reports Missouri Office

Uptick in Speculative Development Bodes Well for Tenants in St. Louis Office Market

by Kristin Harlow January 18, 2018

Welcome to St. Louis, Missouri. Home to nine Fortune 500 companies and the 11-time world champion St. Louis Cardinals franchise. St. Louis currently lays claim to nearly 3 million residents in the metropolitan statistical area and has exemplified economic stability and consistent growth since the Great Recession. Herein we’ll explore one key indicator of the economic health of the region: the slow but steady growth of the St. Louis office market. Demand drivers With approximately 136 million square feet of space, St. Louis is one of the largest office markets in the Midwest, and it is getting larger. Increased demand in the local office market has been predominantly driven by job growth and the consistent decrease in unemployment since its high mark of 10.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009. As of November 2017, the region’s unemployment rate is down to a healthy 3.3 percent, compared to a national average of 4.1 percent. Consequently, this demand for office space has resulted in decreased vacancy, increased rental rates and, ultimately, new construction. At the end of the third quarter of 2017, the vacancy rate was 7.6 percent, down from 8.7 percent in 2016. Average asking rental rates were up to …

January 18, 2018

District of Columbia Market Reports Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

D.C. Region Sees More Development as Tenants Seek Efficient, Amenity-Rich Office Space

by John Nelson January 8, 2018

On the surface, the Washington, D.C., metropolitan office market has shown little change over the past five years. But dig a little deeper, and some interesting trends emerge. Metro D.C.’s office market totaled 377 million square feet as of the third quarter of 2017 and recorded a vacancy rate of just under 15 percent — inclusive of sublease space — and cumulative net absorption of 600,000 square feet year-to-date. The market has demonstrated little change in major market indicators over the last five years. Notably, three of the last five years (2012 to 2016) recorded negative absorption on a regionwide basis — averaging 82,000 square feet annually. Overall vacancy levels have thus far been held in check in part due to vacant buildings being removed from inventory for renovation and retrofitting or for conversion from office to other uses such as schools and residential. Nevertheless, core submarkets and micro-markets are benefitting from occupancy growth and rental rate increases, with tenants demonstrating a decided preference for amenity-rich areas. Tenant Preferences Regionally, the office segment is characterized by flight to quality and tenant-leaning leasing conditions. Tenants continue to favor efficient space design. They’re relying more heavily on building amenities such as conference …

January 8, 2018

Maine Market Reports Northeast Northeast Market Reports Office

Downtown Portland, Maine, Class A Office Market Remains Tight

by Taylor Williams January 3, 2018

As 2018 begins, it appears that the Greater Portland office market has continued to hold on to low vacancy rates as supply remains low across both Class A and Class B buildings throughout the market. CBRE/The Boulos Co is conducting its annual market outlook; it will be exciting to see the results, which we release in January. I anticipate the numbers to show a steady or slight decrease in vacancy rates across all submarkets but also show a much lower absorption rate, as momentum has appeared to slow down over the last 18 months. Transaction volume is trending far lower than in previous years and could possibly be the lowest number of transactions in the last seven years. However, there were a number a relatively large transactions completed over the last six months that will have a larger impact on the overall vacancy rate than simple transact ion volume. And we must consider that the small number of leases signed could also be due in part to limited supply. The Downtown Portland Class A office market, in particular, continues to operate at historically low vacancy rates. Over the last five years, there has been a steady decline in Class A …

January 3, 2018

Louisiana Market Reports Office Southeast Southeast Market Reports

New Orleans’ Suburban Class A Office Space Still Outperforms U.S. Average

by John Nelson December 25, 2017

The greater metropolitan New Orleans office market contains approximately 15 million square feet of office space segregated into five distinct submarkets. Two major submarkets, the Central Business District (CBD) and Metairie (a suburban market), represent 94 percent of the total square footage. The occupancy rates of Class A properties in these two markets are 87.7 percent and 88.7 percent, respectively. These rates are 1.56 percent lower and 3.01 percent higher than the respective downtown and suburban Class A office averages nationally. The overall vacancy is limited to a select group of buildings resulting in limited options for tenants seeking more than 25,000 square feet of contiguous space. The New Orleans economy typically runs counter cyclically to the rest of the nation. It has enjoyed relative immunity from the lingering effects of the 2008 financial crisis and the relatively stagnant national economy. Over the last several years occupancy rates have trended above national averages and rental rates have experienced modest growth. New Orleans’ office market is performing well, consistently outperforming most national averages and rarely lagging far behind others. This track record of success can be attributed to several different factors. Due to geographic constraints there are limited sites available for …

December 25, 2017

Office Top Stories Washington Western

Takenaka Corp. Buys 290,573 SF Office Building in Seattle for $268.5M

by Nellie Day December 20, 2017

SEATTLE — Takenaka Corp. has purchased Tilt49, a 290,573-square-foot office building in Seattle, for $268.5 million. The Class A building is located at 1812 Boren Ave. in the Denny Triangle area of the city. Tilt49 is triple-net leased to Amazon through 2033. The newly constructed project includes 1,646 square feet of retail leased to Mighty-O Donuts. NKF represented the seller, a joint venture between Principal Real Estate Investors and Touchstone. The firm’s Kevin Shannon, Ken White, Rob Hannan, Tim O’Keefe and Michael Moll executed the transaction. The 11-story creative office property is nearby more than 100 restaurants, 3,000 hotel rooms, 28,000 urban residential units and public transit. The Denny Triangle submarket has experienced a 51 percent increase in average asking lease rates over the past three years, according to NKF. Tilt49 sold for $924 per square foot. This is approximately about $40 per square foot more than the recently sold Midtown 21 office property, which is situated adjacent to Tilt49 and also leased to Amazon. “The buyer [was sourced] via an ad hoc Asia/Pacific roadshow to four countries,” Shannon says. “As a result, we identified a strong buyer and achieved record-setting pricing for a Seattle office property. Takenaka is a …

December 20, 2017

Market Reports Office Texas Texas Market Reports

Urban Renaissance: San Antonio Office Market Gains A New Identity

by Taylor Williams December 8, 2017

Regional investors have always described San Antonio as a steady market with desirable economic indicators. But with the impending delivery of a Class AA office tower and a growing tech presence, the city is on the brink of emerging as a national contender for commercial real estate investment. Historically, San Antonio has posted strong employment figures that have kept it firing on all cylinders and ready for business. The San Antonio-New Braunfels MSA has experienced seven straight years of job growth. The metro’s unemployment rate has dropped 10 basis points quarter-over-quarter to its current level of 3.7 percent, a figure that strongly outperforms the national average of 4.5 percent. By comparison, the MSA’s 10-year average unemployment rate was 5.5 percent and the nation’s 7 percent. As new investors analyze the San Antonio office market’s history, they should consider the similarities and differences between San Antonio and other major Texas metros. Assessing the last peak-and-valley metrics from 2007 through 2010 provides insight into how the market reacts to a changing economy. Vacancy Rate Stabilizes The vacancy rate for Class A office properties in San Antonio peaked in 2009 at 16.7 percent, while vacancy rates in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Houston …

December 8, 2017

Connecticut Market Reports Northeast Northeast Market Reports Office

Connecticut’s Fairfield County Office Market Displays Healthy Indicators

by Taylor Williams December 6, 2017

Connecticut’s Fairfield County ranks among America’s 40 wealthiest counties with a median household income of $81,268 in 2010. And while some of its current office market data stand at low levels, many indicators point to a bright future. Year-to-date office leasing activity reached 1.7 million square feet as of the third quarter. This amounts to a 21 percent increase relative to the same period one year ago. While this figure stands 3.1 percent below the five-year historical average, overall leasing volume does not take into account a 500,000-square-foot, build-to-suit lease undertaken by Charter Communications at Gateway Harbor Point in Stamford. For the quarter, aggregate office leasing in the county totaled 555,629 square feet. Stamford and Greenwich accounted for more than 77 percent of the total. Major transactions included Bank of America’s 166,000-square-foot lease at 600 Washington Boulevard in Stamford and AQR Capital’s 90,000-square-foot expansion at One Greenwich Plaza. In August, Stamford scored its most impactful corporate attraction of the year when the German-based multinational Henkel moved its North American headquarters from Scottsdale, Arizona, to 155,000 square feet within the BLT Financial Centre at 200 Elm Street. The consumer products firm said its laundry, beauty and home-care divisions are employing approximately …

December 6, 2017

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