The business and employment gains in the Tampa Bay market are helping landlords attract new retail names to the market to fill space and subsequently raise rents. The area shows good signs of a healthy market, with strong leasing activity and a growing need for new development. The retail vacancy rate continues to drop, ending 2014 at 6.3 percent versus 6.9 percent in the first quarter of that year, according to CoStar. Rents are positively going the other way, rising to $13.73 per square foot from $13.57 per square foot over the same time periods. Space is extremely tight in some submarkets, just 2.1 percent in south Tampa and northeast Tampa, and 4.5 percent in the larger I-75 corridor at the end of last year, according to CoStar. The lack of space can be attributed in part to the slow pace of new construction. Developers and their lenders are being more cautious, having learned lessons from the last recession. At the same time, a number of new concepts, all of which are good for the market, are arriving in Tampa Bay. The current situation puts landlords in even more control than they had last year. They’re using this period to …
Despite headwinds from the oil and energy industries’ latest moves, cities throughout Texas continue to boom. Austin and San Antonio have, in recent years, led the charge. However, one city situated along Interstate 35 between those powerhouses is emerging out of its sleepy college town roots and drawing attention from local and national investors. Once the primary destination for weeklong vacation shopping excursions to the country’s fourth largest outlet mall, San Marcos is quickly moving up the ranks. Recently named the fastest growing city in the U.S. by the Census Bureau for the third year in a row, it’s clear that one of Texas’ best kept secrets is out. Spec properties dot the landscape, fueled by the increasing demand for housing, hotels and industrial space, and are often leased before construction has completed. The economic forces driving the city’s growth are many. It is located on the I-35 Regional Growth Corridor between Austin and San Antonio with nearby access to I-10, toll road SH 130, as well as two international airports.It’s home to Texas State University, with more than 36,000 students, and rapidly gaining a reputation for its engineering, materials science and biotech programs. It is home to Tanger’s outlet …
The Cleveland retail market has shown a dramatic recovery over the last five years. The overall vacancy rate has fallen from just over 14 percent in 2011 to slightly under 9 percent at the beginning of 2015, and rental rates have noticeably increased. As a result, there have been some landmark sales as part of a brisk investment market and new retail development has started in earnest. However, there are also some high-profile retail centers that continue to be plagued by a variety of issues, in spite of the market’s turnaround. Nearly $400 million of retail properties have changed hands over the last 12 months and this sector is the most active of all the property types. While local investors have certainly played a part, the majority of the buyers have been from outside the region. Among the most active non-local purchasers has been a pair of REITs — Inland Real Estate Corp. (NYSE: IRC) and Devonshire REIT. Recent purchases by Inland include Creekside Commons, a 200,000-square-foot center that sold for $28.3 million and Cedar Center North, a 60,000-square-foot center that sold for $15.4 million. Meanwhile, Devonshire REIT has acquired The Plaza at Chapel Hills, a 450,000-square-foot center that sold …
Rhode Island’s retail market continues to improve, although not to the point that new ground-up major projects are feasible. There is considerable activity with retailers expanding and absorbing the existing supply of retail space. In the past few years, a lot of the activity has focused on absorbing the mid-size boxes that went dark after the start of the recession, due to the closings of stores such as Circuit City, Linens ’N Things, and Borders. The leasing activity over the last several years seems to be the final stages of the absorption of these vacant boxes. As the supply of these existing anchor spaces continues to be reduced, the health of the retail market continues to improve with the result being a slight upward pressure on rents. The 500,000-square-foot Garden City Center in Cranston, which first opened in 1948, continues to upgrade its tenants, with The Wilder Company’s ongoing multi-year expansion and renovation of Rhode Island’s premier open-air mixed-use shopping center. New tenants opening over the last year include The Container Store, which has taken 25,000 square feet, as well as French natural skin care retailer L’Occitane and natural burger concept b. good. Additional new leases have been signed with …
Job growth in New York City is expected to reach a new high in 2015 with the addition of 92,500 jobs. This spike in employment will bode well for retail owners. Drawn by the strong economy, several retailers are expanding in the city, including Lowe’s, which already has two locations in Brooklyn and one in Queens. In the second half of 2015, Lowe’s will open its first two stores in Manhattan. Apple plans to open shop in Brooklyn; they’ve signed a long-term lease for a 20,000-square-foot store at 247 Bedford Avenue at the corner of North Third Street in Williamsburg. As retailers ramp up their presence in the five boroughs, the vacancy rate is going to reach a new multi-year low. Vacancy for retail properties in 2015 will fall to 3.9 percent on net absorption in excess of 2.8 million square feet. Tightening vacancy will allow for operators to increase asking rents for the fourth consecutive year and will encourage builders to start new projects. Currently, builders are on track to deliver 2.5 million square feet of retail space in 2015, increasing stock by 1.2 percent. The most notable project scheduled for delivery is the Westfield World Trade Center, a …
For the first time in a long time in Central and Northern New Jersey, we can stop talking about the light at the end of the tunnel. The market has emerged into full sunshine, and the lingering aftereffects of the recession are now fully in the rearview mirror. The current strength of the market and robust activity in terms of new commercial development is something we have not seen for some time. Not only are there more opportunities for developers to get financing, but with rates at low ebb as well, developers are moving to take advantage. At the same time, banks and financial institutions are motivated and aggressively looking to make deals. The result is a perfect storm of sorts: the money is there, developers are willing and ready, and retailers are looking for quality space. That dynamic is good news not only for Central and Northern New Jersey, but also for all of the metropolitan New York City market. It is noteworthy that very few of the big box retail spaces that became available in the wake of high-profile closings and bankruptcies from brands like Linens ’N Things and Borders are still available. Slowly but surely, the inventory …
WOONSOCKET, R.I. AND MINNEAPOLIS — CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS) has agreed to acquire Target’s (NYSE: TGT) pharmacy and clinic businesses for about $1.9 billion. The acquisition includes more than 1,660 pharmacies throughout 47 states. They will operate as a “store-within-a-store” format, and will be rebranded as CVS/pharmacy. The purchase also includes Target’s 80 in-store health clinics, which will now fall under the CVS MinuteClinic flag. CVS also plans to open 20 new clinics inside Target stores within three years of this transaction closing. This acquisition helps CVS realize its goal of operating 1,500 clinics by 2017. CVS Health and Target also plan to develop five to 10 small, flexible format stores over a two-year period once the transaction closes. The stores will be branded as TargetExpress. Each will include a CVS/pharmacy. Target and CVS Health will jointly evaluate and select locations for the new outposts. “This strategic relationship with Target supports the highly complementary customer base, brand and culture we share,” says Larry Merlo, CVS Health’s president and CEO. “When we introduced the new name for our company, CVS Health, we began a new era of growth with a broader healthcare focus and an appreciation of the rise of …
A booming Denver economy has strengthened the local real estate market, creating strong demand across all property sectors, including multifamily, housing, office and retail. The wealth effect stemming from robust employment and rising home values will specifically drive retail sales in the Denver metro this year. A thriving retail market will attract new tenants to the metro, and facilitate healthy rent growth. Employers will continue to expand in the metro, pushing total employment to a new high and drawing additional residents to the metro. Hiring will expand 3.3 percent this year as employers are expected to add 45,000 total workers to payrolls. Metro Denver has also attracted high-wage earners. For instance, Lockheed unveiled plans to add 850 high-paying jobs at its Jefferson County facility over the next few years. Meanwhile, rising housing demand has lifted the median price of an existing home nearly 60 percent over the past six years. This has caused Denver to become one of the most expensive non-coastal housing markets in the nation. High home values will positively affect how homeowners feel about their financial situation, encouraging retail spending. Retail construction will slow this year as many developers focus on redevelopment projects like the Southwest Plaza …
Atlanta is experiencing an influx of human capital, corporate relocations and development of distribution networks that are combining to create a robust expansionary cycle in our real estate markets. One of the most positive elements of this expansion is that it appears the underlying structure of the growth is creating stability for our city and state well into the future. It is the structure of the growth that will be a long-term difference maker. CNBC annually conducts a study and ranks the top states for doing business. These rankings are a result of assessing various criteria, including but not limited to the cost of doing business, workforce quality, access to capital and business friendliness. CNBC’s results in 2014 were very telling. Four of the top 10 states are located in the south. The South’s top 10 finalists in CNBC’s study were Georgia (1), Texas (2), North Carolina (5) and Virginia (8). In addition to these empirical studies, major corporations are voting as well. The verdict is that many organizations are choosing to relocate corporate headquarters to Atlanta. Recently, marquee brands such as Mercedes-Benz USA and State Farm all have made plans to open or expand major corporate centers in our …
HOBART, IND. — The Boulder Group has completed the sale of a single-tenant, net-leased Walgreens property in Hobart, Ind. The 15,120-square-foot property is located at 732 W. Old Ridge Road. Walgreens has 16 years remaining on its lease that expires in December 2031. Walgreens has operated at this property since 2001. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of The Boulder Group represented both the buyer and seller in the transaction. The seller was a Midwest-based institution and the buyer was an international investor.