Archive for the ‘Leased’ Category

Office Demand Still Catching Up With Job, Business Growth

Friday, May 3rd, 2013

Although the average employment rate of nationwide office is growing at a little over 2%, demand for that space grew at half that rate during the first quarter. According to the CoStar Group, despite moving in fits and starts, the recovery has helped stabilize the office market and support relatively high property valuations, but at the same time, modest job growth seen to date has yet to translate into meaningful demand for office space, causing rents to remain at ‘discount’ levels.

In order for things to really turn around, and for office operators to be able to charge higher rents, a lot of the excess space left over from the downturn must be eaten up. This process could take some time. Many believe that the office vacancy recovery is less than halfway done, and as it stands, there is more upside in the office sector than other areas of commercial real estate.

To read the full article from the CoStar Group, featuring insight from Paradigm Tax Group, click here.

Posted in Economy, Leased, Office, Paradigm Info, Real Property, Western | No Comments »

Medical Offices Grow in Favor among Net Lease Investors

Wednesday, May 1st, 2013

Demographics, federal legislation and technological advances are all working in favor of medical office, generating growing attention from net lease investors. According to the National Real Estate Investor, the aging populace is expected to increasingly seek medical services, and the Affordable Care Act will expand insurance rolls, while improvements in medical services will also heighten demand, a situation that is not expected to go away any time soon.

Another attractive feature of medical office properties is the fact that tenants tend to be highly stable due to their high costs in establishing offices and moving equipment. These investments are usually only made because the tenants plan on staying there for long periods of time. In addition, medical tenants tend to have good credit and leases that provide for rent growth over their duration.

To read the full article from the National Real Estate Investor, click here.

Posted in Economy, Leased, Medical, Office, Real Property | No Comments »

Downtown Pittsburgh Class A Office Vacancy Below Five Percent

Friday, March 8th, 2013

The Class A office market in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is now the tightest in the country with less than five percent vacancy. According to the Pittsburgh Skyline Review for Spring 2013 by Jones Lang LaSalle, the majority of demand is coming from the top 16 downtown skyline buildings in the city, driven largely by financial institutions, health care companies and law firms.

The office market in downtown Pittsburgh was further tightened due to a host of major renewals and new leases, with four of the five biggest lease agreements in 2012 being renewals. As space continues to become scarcer, rents are also beginning to see significant increases. The average asking rents for Class A office space in Downtown Pittsburgh was slightly under $27 per square foot at the end of 2012, marking the third straight year of rising rents.

To read the full article from the Pittsburgh Business Times, click here.

Posted in Eastern, Economy, Leased, Office, Real Property | No Comments »

Medical Office Buildings Outperforming General Office

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012

Medical Office Buildings, along with Technology Facilities, have become the hottest commodity in the general office sector. According to GlobeSt.com, industry experts are agreeing that medical office is simply more stable than general office, and medical office investment represents a high percentage of overall office investment. Currently, medical office buildings are operationally outperforming general office in terms of occupancy, presenting a superior position of supply and demand to general office.

Investors are continuing to turn their sights towards medical office due to their consistent supply of stable tenants and a predictable income stream. Healthcare reform is bound to bring a dramatic shift in the way healthcare is delivered and to the medical office environment in general, as the traditional medical office building could become a thing of the past lending to a more patient-centric delivery system stemming from hospitals.

To read the full article from GlobeSt.com, click here.

Posted in Leased, Office, Real Property | No Comments »

Office Market Recovery Continues in Third Quarter

Friday, October 26th, 2012

Office space demand across the country over the third quarter remained constant while absorption of available space continued to gain momentum. According to the CoStar Group’s Third-Quarter 2012 Office Review & Outlook, the overall U.S. office vacancy rate edged down and net absorption rose to 15 million square feet during the quarter from 13 million square feet at mid-year 2012. Little new supply and construction helped balance the supply and demand.

It still remains a tenants market however as there has been a lack of rent increases in most markets. Leasing activity in general is expected to exceed 135 million square feet nationally for the third quarter, eclipsing the 130 million leased during the second quarter. After a weak start to the year, landlords are beginning to see office-using job growth translate into leasing decisions and momentum.

To read the full article from the CoStar Group, click here.

Posted in Economy, Leased, Office, Owner Occupied, Real Property | No Comments »

Office Sector Soft in Chicago Central Business District

Monday, October 8th, 2012

Even though Studley’s Q3 office report showed a vacancy decline to 17.2% from 17.6% for Chicago’s Central Business District, things may not be as good as the numbers are portraying. According to GlobeSt.com, there are pockets of demand in Chicago’s CBD from the technology sector, and this is where the city is experiencing a tightening of space and some possible new construction, but outside of the tech world, activity remains sluggish.

The suburbs of Chicago are not doing much better than the non-tech areas of the city’s CBD. Overall, office space across the entire area mirrors the national trends. Companies across the country, just like in Chicago, are using this time to modernize their space while being mindful of their balance sheets. Correspondingly, landlords are looking to prolong or get out of their debt situations, which require credit tenants with long-term leases, something that does not create absorption.

To read the full article from GlobeSt.com, click here.

Posted in Economy, Leased, Mid America, Office, Real Property | No Comments »

Washington D.C. Office Market Slows

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012

An uncertain short-term economic outlook has caused leasing activity to slow and vacancies to rise in the Washington, DC office market. According to the Washington Business Journal, although the area remains one of the healthiest office markets in the country, net leasing absorption was a negative 2.5 million square feet through the first nine months of 2012, compared to a positive 1.1 million square feet during all of 2011.

Vacancies in the area have risen a full percentage point from a year earlier to 13.1%, but still remains one of the lowest rates in the nation and is well below the national average of 17.1%. Much of the struggling fundamentals in the area can be attributed to demand being hit by Base Realignment and Course-related move-outs to government-owned space. This has limited leasing activity due to uncertainty about sequestration and tenants consolidating operations or downsizing space.

To read the full article from the Washington Business Journal, click here.

Posted in Eastern, Economy, Leased, Office, Owner Occupied, Real Property | No Comments »

Office Leasing Enters Internet Age, Threatens Old Guard

Thursday, August 30th, 2012

New companies are starting to offer services and information that is leading to putting office tenants and landlords together without brokers. According to The Wall Street Journal, the new companies are targeting different parts of the leasing process. One, View The Space, allows landlords to post videos of their spaces online, while another, CompStak, is creating a database of confidential details of leasing deals through crowd sourcing. This is where brokers and other real estate professional gain access to the database in exchange for anonymous information.

These start-ups pose challenges to major brokerage firms and commercial-property-data companies like CBRE and CoStar. CompStak alone already has a database of over 10,000 comps, which include more information than CoStar, a perceived monopoly of commercial real estate data, offers. Still, brokers are not yet concerned as they believe their services extend those of these companies, beyond showing off the space and listing the rent.

To read the full article from The Wall Street Journal, click here.

Posted in Leased, Office, Real Property | No Comments »

Office Tenants Have the Real Estate Advantage

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

It continues to be a tenant’s office market as they are enjoying their pick of nicer, cheaper spots rather than building or leasing new space. According to Philly.com, almost the only places in the US where office demand and rents are rising are the usual primary markets of Silicon Valley, New York City, and San Francisco. Even Washington, DC is seeing a more pessimistic attitude to the office sector due to cutbacks and fear of continued divided government.

Property owners in the majority of major markets are currently looking for growth in occupancy gains, while abandoning hope for rental rate growth in the near future. Many companies are beginning to shift out of small market offices and into warehouse and industrial properties, a trend that could continue into the future as warehouse and distribution companies are still running despite finance and government remaining weak.

To read the full article from Philly.com, click here.

Posted in Eastern, Economy, Leased, Office, Real Property | No Comments »

Honolulu, HI Office Vacancy Rose in the First Quarter

Friday, June 15th, 2012

Honolulu, Hawaii saw its office vacancy rate rise to 14.6% during the first quarter of 2012. According to the Pacific Business News, the overall market lost 16,929 square feet of occupancy during the quarter. Downtown Honolulu specifically lost 43,091 square feet of occupancy in that time, but was saved somewhat by an existing tenant expanding their space by nearly 28,000 square feet. The central business district area of downtown showed a 16.1% vacancy in the first quarter.

Despite the higher vacancy numbers, the Honolulu office market should be making a turn as start-ups are looking for small space and tenants are willing to move, suggesting they want to lock in good deals before the market turns. Still, despite job growth projections for the area, significant gains in office occupancy are not expected to be realized until the state’s construction and real estate markets recover.

To read the full article from the Pacific Business News, click here.

Posted in Economy, Leased, Office, Real Property, Western | No Comments »

« Older Entries