Retail

Retail Development, Design Trends are Reshaping the Industry

by Haisten Willis December 11, 2015

Convenience, quality and experience are the key deliverables for today’s retail customer. Make it easy, of high value and enjoyable. Today’s shopper has less time, less money and less patience for retailers and developers to “get it right.” They want shopping to be an event and a social experience. They want a reason to get off the couch and go shopping instead of simply buying online. Although e-commerce still accounts for less than 15 percent of retail sales in the United States, it dramatically impacts consumers’ expectations and will increasingly influence retail trends. Shoppers are better informed, often having thoroughly researched the options and narrowed their choices before ever setting foot in the store. Salespersons must be better informed and prepared to successfully engage sophisticated consumers. Sales of consumer goods perceived to be commodities, some of which include books, electronics and office supplies, are continuing to migrate online. Retailers who are able to seamlessly integrate their brick and mortar stores with their online presence have been able to take advantage of shifting trends successfully, while those who haven’t struggle to compete. Omni-channel retailing is becoming more mainstream. Retailers that haven’t adopted omni-channel retailing are racing to catch up to businesses …

December 11, 2015

Market Reports Massachusetts Northeast Northeast Market Reports Retail

Boston’s Battle of the Grocers

by Jaime Lackey December 2, 2015

While demand for all types of retail product has been strong over the past few years, investors continue to have a strong appetite for Boston area grocery-anchored shopping centers in 2015 despite meaningful changes to the food distribution industry. The competitive landscape for traditional supermarkets is evolving as value-oriented grocers such as Market Basket, Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Save-A-Lot lure away price-conscious customers, while service-oriented formats such as Wegmans, Whole Foods and Roche Brothers are expanding and gaining market share with more affluent customers. These chains achieve success by targeting the low- and high-end niches of the market. According to IBISWorld, the online grocery sales industry is projected to increase approximately 9.5 percent annually to become a $9.4 billion industry by 2017. Companies such as Amazon and Walmart are increasing their capabilities for selling food and beverages online, and Ahold’s Peapod service continues to expand in an effort to maintain its position as the leading Internet grocer. The food distribution industry has been further saturated by big-box retailers and national pharmacy chains offering a growing selection of packaged goods and dairy products. These non-traditional grocers and e-commerce providers derive much of their profits from non-food items, allowing them to …

December 2, 2015

Market Reports Retail Southeast Southeast Market Reports Virginia

Grocery Stores, Restaurants, Fitness Are Driving Richmond’s Retail Market

by John Nelson November 30, 2015

This year is shaping up to be very exciting and productive for the Richmond retail market. The Richmond retail market has started at a brisk pace for the first half of 2015, similar to the end of 2014 as it absorbed 111,889 square feet. The vacancy rate has continued to decline over the past 12 months as well. The overall retail vacancy rate in Richmond tightened to 6.6 percent, a 50 basis point improvement over last year. The main drivers of retail activity throughout the Richmond MSA continue to be grocery stores, fitness centers and restaurants. Early this year we saw the commencement of construction at two Wegmans-anchored developments in Richmond, one in Short Pump and another in Midlothian. The Midlothian Wegmans will anchor the new Stonehenge Village and is on pace to open in early 2016. The Short Pump Wegmans will join Cabela’s in the new West Broad Marketplace, a 400,000-square-foot development on the western edge of Short Pump. There has also been solid activity in the market from several other grocers, including Walmart Neighborhood Market and Aldi. Each of these concepts has opened four new stores in the market. Another grocer poised to enter the market is LIDL, …

November 30, 2015

Market Reports Multifamily Office Texas Texas Market Reports

San Antonio Wins the Race with Consistency, Diversified Economy

by Haisten Willis November 20, 2015

The story of the tortoise and the hare can be used to describe the major metros throughout Texas. In recent years, Austin has sprung to life while San Antonio has developed slow and steady. Most recently, however, it appears San Antonio’s office market has received a jolt — the second quarter of 2015 saw three to four times more activity than historic averages indicate — and San Antonio now boasts its lowest vacancy rate since 2008. With a 3.4 percent unemployment rate, San Antonio ranks third on the list of major metropolitan cities across the country with the lowest unemployment rates, trailing only Austin at 3 percent and Salt Lake City at 3.1 percent. These numbers are indicative of a much larger picture of San Antonio. Uniquely positioned to capture the spillover of tech companies and supporting businesses from Austin, its neighbor, San Antonio’s low rental rates for both Class A and B office space along with stable infrastructure make it a viable, attractive alternative for many major businesses looking to expand. But where in San Antonio is all this activity erupting? San Antonio’s newest residents are interested in one area, and you need look no further than the central …

November 20, 2015

Market Reports Michigan Midwest Midwest Market Reports Uncategorized

Downtown Traverse City Leads Commercial Real Estate Growth Spurt

by Christina Cannon November 18, 2015

Traverse City may be known as a small resort town on the shores of Lake Michigan, but each year it grows in popularity. And more commercial real estate players are taking notice. In the past year, Traverse City has been named one of the “Top 20 Best Small Towns in the U.S. to Visit” (Smithsonian); “One of the 50 Best Places to Live in America” (Men’s Journal); “One of the 10 Must See Cities in America” (Horizon Travel Magazine); “One of 10 U.S. Destinations on the Rise” (TripAdvisor); and “One of America’s 20 Most Romantic Towns” (Travel + Leisure). Tourism is on the rise as we become known as a region not only for cherries, but also for great restaurants, wineries, microbreweries, recreational trails for hiking and biking, skiing, festivals and a great place to live. With increasing notoriety comes pressure for development, and Traverse City is no exception. We have seen more development and projects in the pipeline in the past 12 months than we have seen since the height of the real estate boom 10 years ago. Tourists will be happy to note more hotel rooms in the downtown area as the new Hotel Indigo nears completion. The …

November 18, 2015

Industrial Market Reports Multifamily Office Retail Texas Texas Market Reports

Growing Pains — The History, Revitalization and Relocation to Austin’s CBD

by Haisten Willis November 13, 2015

Operating as our state’s political core and as the “live music capital of the world”, Austin’s real estate market is as distinctive as the people that make this city great. Austin is a one-of-a-kind place that’s unique to Texas and the entire country. It defies stereotypes with its progressive and fiercely entrepreneurial spirit, and continually gets top marks for its quality of life, pro-business culture and pro-environment views. WalletHub recently ranked Austin as the 2015 best large city to live in and the data matches up — the city ranks second among 2015’s fastest-growing cities in the U.S., according to Forbes, behind Houston and ahead of Dallas-Fort Worth. In the era of ‘Walker, Texas Ranger,’ Emmitt Smith and ‘the Dream Team,’ and the release of ‘Dazed and Confused,’ the tech boom of the 1990s drove the Austin office market. During that same time, Austin’s total population increased 35 percent and close to 1,750 companies employed over 110,000 people in technology-related jobs in Austin. By the end of the 90s, Texas’ capital city was widely known as Silicon Hills, home to a critical mass of institutional technology knowledge and major tenants like Dell, IBM, Motorola and other software and gaming companies. …

November 13, 2015

Market Reports Western Market Reports

Grocers, Dollar Stores Take Center Stage in OC

by Nellie Day November 3, 2015

The Orange County retail market remains active due to declining vacancies and increasing job creation and housing starts. As a result, enthusiasm was evident at the recent ICSC Western Division Conference in San Diego, as industry colleagues discussed opportunities and challenges associated with the strength of the local market. There has been very little new development recently in Orange County, which has seen more than 3 million square feet of vacant space absorbed since 2011, according to CoStar. There continues to be an unbelievable demand for retail investment properties, while the Fed’s announcement to maintain existing interest rates will only increase competition in this limited market. A dynamic investment market offers both challenges and opportunities for retail leasing. Limited local new development is directly connected to continued instability among major grocery stores and big-box retailers. We might never see another ground-up traditional power center again because of post-recession downsizing and shakeouts among major retailers. While many of the major national retailers remain active, the focus has turned to expansion in smaller urban environments, which are limited in Orange County. Grocery-anchored daily needs centers remain a Class A asset type, though instability within the local grocery sector continues to challenge the …

November 3, 2015

Macerich Closes First of Three Joint Ventures in Shopping Center Sector for $1.5B

by Nellie Day November 2, 2015

SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — The Macerich Company (NYSE: MAC) has closed on the first of three joint ventures in the shopping center sector. The company had previously announced it would form these ventures to contribute interests in eight regional malls, totaling about $2.3 billion. This first joint venture will allow GIC to acquire a 40 percent interest in Lakewood Center in Lakewood, Calif.; Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, Calif.; South Plains Mall in Lubbock, Texas; and Washington Square in Portland, Ore. The cash proceeds to Macerich total $1.5 billion. This includes $964 million in excess loan proceeds. Macerich also expects to close the additional two joint ventures in January. These include a second joint venture with GIC on Arrowhead Towne Center in Glendale, Ariz., as well as a joint venture with Heitman on Deptford Mall in Deptford, N.J.; FlatIron Crossing in Broomfield, Colo.; and Twenty Ninth Street center in Boulder, Colo. The firm’s board of directors also declared two special dividends, each $2 per share of common stock. The first dividend is payable on Dec. 8, 2015, to stockholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 12, 2015. The second dividend is payable on Jan. 6, 2016, to …

November 2, 2015

Market Reports Multifamily New York Northeast Northeast Market Reports

NYC Multifamily Market Shows No Sign of Slowing Down

by Jaime Lackey October 28, 2015

New York City’s multifamily market in the second quarter of 2015 was able to continue the momentum of 2015’s first quarter and generate an impressive $3.30 billion in gross consideration. The quarter also saw 364 properties trade over 225 transactions, which is a 33 percent increase in transaction volume compared to the same quarter last year. Boosting significant growth, both Brooklyn and Manhattan saw a number of institutional and portfolio deals again this quarter. Of the trades in Manhattan, the top 10 percent made up approximately 73 percent of Manhattans dollar volume and four of the five largest multifamily transactions to occur in NYC happened in Brooklyn, which contributed to both submarkets ending the quarter with dollar volumes above $1 billion for the second time in as many quarters. Pricing throughout the city continues to evolve by most measures. Gross rent multiples have increased by 1.4 year-over-year and the average price per square foot in Manhattan has eclipsed $900. Compared to last year, average capitalization rates were down 60 basis points in The Bronx, and are down in Brooklyn and Northern Manhattan. These are the signs of solid fundamentals in the market. Institutional caliber multifamily deals had a big second …

October 28, 2015

Market Reports New York Northeast Northeast Market Reports Retail

Rochester Retail Market Anticipates Continued Improvement Through 2017

by Jaime Lackey October 21, 2015

The total retail inventory in the Rochester market amounts to 62.5 million square feet. Over the past year, the market has seen an overall decrease in the vacancy rate. The vacancy rate went from 8.0 percent in first quarter 2015 to 7.9 percent in the current quarter. Overall net absorption was positive 182,160 square feet. The general retail sector of the market, which includes all freestanding retail buildings except those contained within a center, reported a vacancy of 4.3 percent at the end of the second quarter 2015. The general retail space in Rochester is 34.3 million square feet. Average rental rates are currently at $12.26 per square foot. The shopping center sector — which consists of 19 million square feet and comprises community centers, neighborhood centers and strip centers — posted 10.9 percent total vacancy and average asking rates of $10.28 in second quarter 2015. Power center space is currently reported to be nearly 4 million square feet with a vacancy rate of 7.5 percent, and a slight decrease in rental rates to $13.46 per square foot. Malls in the Rochester market consist of lifestyle centers, regional malls and super-regional malls. The vacancy rate was 21.2 percent at the …

October 21, 2015

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