Nashville CRE Week in Review: Week of June 24

Nashville CRE Links

1. Brentwood planners consider Virginia Way office buildings — Tennessean (link)
2. Fontanel owner buys MetroCenter warehouse — Nashville Business Journal (link)
3. Hickory Hollow’s revival needs heart (and money) to succeed — Tennessean (link)
4. Nashville commercial real estate sales activity up 77 percent — Nashville Business Journal (link)
5. Report: Nashville’s office and industrial real estate markets see growth — Nashville Business Journal (link)

Nashville CRE Week in Review: Week of May 13

Nashville CRE Links

1. Demand climbs for Nashville warehouse, distribution space — Nashville Business Journal (link)
2. HealthSpring’s local job growth on track — Nashville Post (link)
3. Medical Mart backers shake off rumors — Nashville Ledger (link)
4. Nashville-area transit projects receive $1.65M — Tennessean (link)
5. Report: Nashville manufacturing ranks in the middle of the pack — Nashville Business Journal (link)

2012 Sectors Outlook

Survey: Majority Believe Middle Tennessee Commercial Real Estate Climate is Improving

(third of three posts)

This is our last post detailing the results of our CRE survey. Responders were asked to predict how each sector of Middle Tennessee commercial real estate will preform in 2012 compared to 2011.

Multi-family topped the list of commercial real estate sectors, with 79 percent of responders predicting that the multi-family sector will perform better or much better in 2012 than last year. The office and retail sectors were also viewed favorably, with 66 and 58 percent expecting better or much better performances in 2012, respectively.

Commercial real estate insiders are least optimistic about the land and industrial sectors, with eight and seven percent, respectively, of responders banking on a worse performance in 2012 compared to 2011.

When compared to other sectors, the outlook for land sales looks a bit less promising, but when put into the context of last year’s survey, optimism appears to be rising slightly in this sector. Last year, only 24 percent of survey takers felt that the land sector would perform better or much better than 2010. This year, that statistic has jumped 13 percent to 37.

A majority (56 percent) of responders believe that the real estate-owned (REO) sector will remain constant in 2012.

Check out the 2012 Sales Outlook.

Check out the 2012 Leasing Outlook.

Nashville CRE Week in Review: Week of Jan. 1

Nashville CRE Links

1. Nashville apartment building boom hits pivotal year — Nashville Business Journal (link)
2. November construction spending up 1.2 percent — Tennessean (link)
3. Region’s real estate markets carrying momentum in ’12 — Nashville Post (link)
4. Report: Nashville’s industrial market rebounds — Nashville Business Journal (link)
5. Report: Office market continues to improve — Nashville Business Journal (link)

Welcome Lee White as our new Property Manager

Join us in welcoming Lee White to Southeast Venture. Lee recently joined the firm as a property manager.

He will handle the day-to-day operations of over 400,000 square feet of office and industrial space located in Brentwood, LaVergne, Antioch and the Nashville submarkets of Belle Meade, MetroCenter, the Gulch and the airport.

Lee comes to Southeast Venture from Cassidy Turley, where as assistant property manager, he aided in the supervision of multiple portfolios, consisting of over 2,000,000 square feet of office, retail and industrial properties.

He also worked as a tenant field researcher at the Costar Group, where he collected information on commercial tenancy in office, industrial and retail spaces for 12 counties in Middle Tennessee.

In 2008, Lee received a bachelor’s in construction management and land development from Mississippi State University. While in college, he completed two internships with Southeast Venture, first as a brokerage assistant and then as a development project manager.

He is a licensed affiliate broker in the state of Tennessee.

Welcome Lee!

Nashville Retail Sector Among the Top in the U.S.

According to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) Real Estate Investor Survey of commercial real estate sectors and markets, Nashville is projected to be one of the top-three performing retail markets in the U.S. through 2012.

The other two markets are Long Island and Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Taken from a PwC press release that summarizes the survey:

For the retail market, inconsistent consumer spending and inflationary fears will keep the majority of retail stock (76.6 percent) in recession through 2012. A recovery will materialize by year-end 2013, with 77.1 percent of retail inventory in that phase. Individual retail markets that are expected to perform better than this sector as a whole include Long Island, Nashville, and Fairfield County, which are each expected to be in recovery through 2012.

A Southeast Venture survey conducted at the beginning of 2011, predicted similar, yet more muted trends. Of the 80 local and regional commercial real estate brokers, developers, building owners and investors that we polled, 66 percent expected the retail market to perform better in 2011 than 2010. Interestingly, the multifamily and office markets were both polled to perform stronger than the retail market, with 75 percent (multifamily) and 72 percent (office) of responders predicting a stronger 2011.

Additional highlights from the PwC survey include:

• Due to a lack of supply and decreasing vacancy, most office stock will be in recovery by the end of 2011. The office markets in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angles and Tampa are supposed to perform below trend.
• Up to 86.2% of industrial stock is supposed to be in recovery in 2011 and 2012, with growth expected in 2013 and 2014. Again the Tampa market will lag behind, this time joined by Akron, Cleveland and Minneapolis.
• Driven by tight lending and pent-up demand, the PwC Barometer expects the multifamily sector to perform the best with a portion of multifamily stock expanding through 2014. In this sector New Orleans and Syracuse are expected to perform below trend.

Sectors Outlook

2011 Middle Tennessee Commercial Real Estate Survey

(third of three posts)

This is our last post detailing the results of our CRE survey. Responders were asked to predict how each sector of Middle Tennessee commercial real estate will preform in 2011 compared to 2010.

Within the sectors, multi-family (75%), office (72%), retail (66%) and industrial (53%) are expected to perform better, while land (75%) and real estate owned (52%) are expected to perform the same or worse this year.

The survey also asked responders to describe the best thing that could happen in 2011 to strengthen Middle Tennessee’s commercial real estate market. Responders hoped most for the relocation of new business to the area (26%), corresponding job creation and stability (21%) and the availability of lending (20%).

Check out the Sales Outlook.

Check out the Leasing Outlook.

Local Update: Retail, Development, Industrial

Over the weekend, a series of articles came out that discussed the retail, development and industrial sectors of Nashville commercial real estate. Links to, and highlights from the articles are listed below.

Retail

The GlobeSt.com interview with David Baker, principal of Nashville X Team partner firm Baker Storey McDonald, “Retail Guru Discusses Nashville Market Outlooks” talks about the past, present and future of retail.

• Nashville Q3 2010 retail vacancy rate was 7.49%
• Fast-growing “quick serve restaurant industry”
• Industries that make Nashville an attractive market: healthcare, automotive, tourism, higher education and pro sports

Development

The Tennessean’s assessment of development opportunties pits metro against suburb communities, “Nashville region poised to attract more development, relocations.”

Comments from multiple public officials, including Metro Mayor Karl Dean, Nashville and Rutherford County chamber representatives, county and city economic development directors.

• In the last six years, 90% of “big relocations” have gone to suburban sites
• Nashville development opportunities include Buchanan Point and Seven Springs
• Continued development expected in Williamson, Rutherford, Sumner and Wilson counties
• Weighs in on the fairground debate

Industrial

Tennessean Q&A with Whitfield Hamilton, regional director of Panattoni Development Co., “Calif. partnership feeds local real estate buys” talks broadly about CRE in southeast states.

• CalSTRS joint venture with Panattoni
• Historically, 60% of Panattoni’s holdings are in industrial and warehouse space
• For the Nashville market, Whitfield sees “a lot of automotive-related deals continuing to come”