Each year I read tons of reports, market studies, and research. One of the best in the business is Gensler’s workplace survey. This year, Gensler takes a deep dive into innovators–how they work, how design drives innovation, and what is happening for the individual worker. At the end of this email is a link to … Continue reading Innovators and Office Space
Happy Holidays from Coppola-Cheney! We are grateful for all of you who have made 2016 one of the best years for a number of reasons: — We grew our family. Andrew and Chelsea both had their first children this year. — As a team, we visited seven different countries. — Oh, our team was also … Continue reading Happy Holidays from Coppola-Cheney!
This week’s narrative features some brand new “WOW” technology. In early 2017, Amazon is opening the first store without any checkout lines. You scan your smartphone on the way in, shop, and walk out when you are done. Watch this short video to see how it works: What will this do to shopping? … Continue reading Shop and Leave…No Checkout Line
Everyone talks about the negatives that happen in our lives. But some of the most incredible transformations are going on right in front of our eyes as well. A few months ago, I shared with you Dr. Peter Diamandis’ email about how the world is getting better (Click here to read that post). Today’s topic also comes from Diamandis, and … Continue reading Demonetized Cost of Living
Commercial Real Estate is notorious for NOT being market leaders in technology adoption. Why? The Urban Land Institute has an interesting article below that includes these explanations: Old Timers. The industry is full of dinosaurs. Senior Real Estate professionals are the key to developing successful products, having the industry knowledge and expertise that tech companies don’t have. As we see … Continue reading CRE Lagging in Tech Adoption – Why?
Once a year, we take time out from our weekly narrative to enjoy the holidays, say thank you to our clients and readers, and share Jason Gay’s hilarious rules for Thanksgiving Touch Football. This year, here are a couple of our favorites: –This is Peyton Manning’s first Thanksgiving as a retired football … Continue reading 27 More Rules of Thanksgiving Football
Crowdfunding Commercial Real Estate acquisitions is all the rage. However, like everything, there are opportunities and liabilities in placing your investment dollars in a crowdfunded deal. Below are two different articles with highlights. But first, a quick summary: Liabilities: Investors lack the industry knowledge and experience needed for real estate investments Too many uncommitted investors High legal fees … Continue reading CRE Crowdfunding
The current recovery has been anemic, not just economically but in terms of new office construction as well. Long term, the lack of new buildings is good as overbuilding is not a concern. With the emergence of millennials in the work force and live/work/play environments, suburban office markets have been even slower to recover. As the Central Business District … Continue reading Suburban Office Markets
Artificial Intelligence (AI) used to be the stuff of science fiction. But today, it’s becoming a rapidly-evolving technology with massive implications for many industries. Below is an article about the world’s first AI lawyer. Why would this make me think about commercial real estate? We represent a large number of law firms. (Check out our Law Firm Experience.) This … Continue reading World’s First AI Lawyer Hired
Steady net absorption (more space being leased due to job growth) continues to chip away at Metro Phoenix’s office vacancy as we head into Q4 2016. This quarter, Phoenix benefitted from medium-sized companies expanding. We hope these companies continue to grow. The metro Phoenix office market is on pace to perform roughly the same as 2015, i.e. … Continue reading Metro Phoenix is Getting Better…Slowly
Despite a drop in funding, tech startups are still disrupting the market at a fast rate. Below is a great article highlighting the biggest disruptive startups in commercial real estate. Read on to see what segments of the market VC money is flowing to. Not totally surprising, the tech market is down from 2015. Though … Continue reading Where VC Money is Flowing For CRE Startups
With recent massive growth in online shopping, retailers are making drastic changes to their in-store strategy. Currently, one-third of all malls cannot afford to pay for just the maintenance of their properties. This is causing a huge shift in how tenants change their value proposition. – Brands are putting more of an emphasis on in-store experiences. – … Continue reading American Malls Are Changing
A few weeks ago, I shared my thoughts about driverless cars hitting the roads and the issues office space will be facing (click here to read). Now, that technology is working with the trucking industry, and as the below article shows, it’s going to have a huge impact on many parts of our lives. Recently a platoon of driverless trucks drove across … Continue reading Driverless Trucks
Anytime you look to the future, the word disruption always enters the conversation. I spend way more time now looking at companies that are trying to disrupt the brokerage business than I ever did in my entire career. As a 25-year CCIM, I found the below article worth sending out as one of my narratives. Many … Continue reading Who Will Be the Uber of CRE?
The world is continuously becoming a better place to live. You may not know that from the news, but below I will show you why (with the help of Dr. Peter Diamandis). Peter is a true visionary. Because I am part of his A360 group, I have a cool offer for you today. His biography, How … Continue reading The World IS Getting Better!
The next five years will bring tremendous change in our lives. Part of this narrative is to look out for changes in the Commercial Real Estate industry. Virtual Reality (VR) tours are coming, and fast. Imagine being able to walk through a proposed building, pick from a variety of office furniture and layouts, choose from a detailed … Continue reading Virtual Reality Property Tours?
Today is a quick reminder to all readers (including me) about risk. As humans, we tend to minimize risk. Below is a chart from a 2012 Harvard Business Review article on risk bias. (Click here to read the full article) Here are 5 ways to mitigate some of the risks you take when leasing or acquiring … Continue reading Looking at Risk and Risk Bias
Arizona is growing again. Of all the states boasting job growth, we are at the top. We have been doing it with regional headquarters relocations, internal growth, and a robust tech market. I give a lot of credit for this growth to our pro-business Governor Doug Ducey. This narrative is decidedly not political, but our growth … Continue reading Finally AZ is Growing Again!
I have talked about autonomous cars previously. All of the coming disruption is just the next evolution in transportation. If you think driverless cars won’t happen in your lifetime, you’re wrong. Here is a link to a New York Times article about Ford putting these automobiles on the road in less than 5 years (click here to read). Starting in … Continue reading Autonomous Cars
Some of the best entrepreneurs in the United States live right here in Arizona. Instead of sharing an article this week, I thought you would enjoy a video getting inside the minds of some successful businesspeople, like my business partner Craig Coppola. “INSPIRE: Stories of the American Dream in Arizona” was created by The Arizona … Continue reading Learn From Arizona’s Top Entrepreneurs
Below is a great summary of political issues facing the real estate industry. I have highlighted some key issues specifically for commercial real estate. These include: Ongoing tax reform may make “Like Kind Exchanges” more difficult to close and lose tax benefits drying up volume. New standardized accounting principles for leases could decrease cash … Continue reading Political Real Estate Issues
We are again, happy to have helped another non-profit find the right space. Congratulations to Children’s Action Alliance, on their new space in the CopperPoint tower.
We know technology is disrupting business at an incredible rate. One big area is using drones. There has been a lot of controversy and excitement about introducing drones to business, the military, and more. This technology has the potential to disrupt many industries. Below is an article detailing some companies that have already begun testing drones, including … Continue reading Using Drones in Business
Positive and steady. Those are the two words I would use to describe the office leasing market in Metro Phoenix as of mid-year 2016. The numbers in the below report also reflect this sentiment that I see every day on the streets of the market. Across the entire portfolio of buildings my team leases, we … Continue reading Positive and Steady: Q2 Office Market Insight
All of us at C2 are thrilled to welcome Security Title Agency, Inc. to their new office in Camelback Commons building 4722. Congratulations.
We have talked a lot about open offices and collaborative work spaces in this narrative. Today’s article discusses the latest buzzword, Collaboration. While collaboration is important, the real question is: At what cost? The below article succinctly lays out the disadvantages of collaboration in the office. My takeaways: -Less deep work -Longer time to complete a task … Continue reading The Collaboration Curse
Thank you for reading my weekly narrative. Some of you have been with us the entire five years. I have been blessed to get tons of great feedback, be recognized for an award, and actually get some business out of this weekly email. See below for a graph charting our progress over the past 5 years. Here … Continue reading 5 Year Email Anniversary
Big cities like New York, San Francisco, and LA have always fascinated me from a real estate perspective. To buy land, design and build buildings is a complex process. Zoning and city planning alone create innumerable obstacles for developers due to the limited amount of space. New York City’s zoning code turns 100 this year, and below … Continue reading 17,000 Manhattan Buildings Could Not Be Built Today
Sustainability is a huge priority for many in commercial real estate these days. The movement towards green, sustainable buildings has opened the doors for new innovations. The below article highlights a building in Amsterdam that received the highest score for sustainability in the world from BREEAM, the world’s leading assessment for sustainable buildings. Even more exciting for … Continue reading World’s Smartest Building
With all the new open office environments, our clients are having to work with their associates to manage the inevitable issues that arise. We have discussed these issues in previous narratives like noise, lack of privacy, no storage space, etc. Today we wanted to share a few ways to work with your team as you make the transition. These … Continue reading How Leaders Prepare for New Workplace Environment
It seems like I am stalking all Millennials these days. Readers know why. They are changing the way we do business. Below is an article on how they are changing Commercial Real Estate. Here are a few takeaways for me: Smartphones are here and they are being used for EVERYTHING. All our websites, media, packages, flyers etc. need … Continue reading Stalking Millennials and CRE
1,000 cars valet parked in a garage. No humans. Unreal. See the story below and if you are really interested, check out the two minute video of the largest parking garage in Europe that is completely run by robots. I have sent some previous narratives on robotics and how it is eliminating jobs. This is one area it will change – … Continue reading Robotic Parking
While we specialize in leasing commercial office space, we watch the housing market very closely. Housing is a precursor to office space growth. Regular readers know this housing market recovery has been slow and multifamily has been on fire for the past 5-6 years. While there are lots of reasons for this, affordability may be one of them. The below … Continue reading How Much You Need to Make to Buy a Home
Our team handles 50+ tenant advisory assignments every year. Why? We like to think it is because we are really good. But there are many other reasons to hire a broker including: Researching and looking into office space takes up a large amount of time. Do you have the luxury of stepping away from your immediate job responsibilities … Continue reading Why Use a Broker?
I follow housing trends. I used to follow homebuilding, but now I follow housing. It’s a little like saying I used to follow Global Warming but now I follow Climate Change. Here’s why—Millennials. Today there are 9 million more renters than just a decade ago. That is a ton, but what really caught my eye was that … Continue reading 49% Of All Renters Are Cost Burdened
Workspace design continues to be a hot topic. Last week, I talked about the huge issues that come with open design that we are now discussing with all of our clients. Below my comments is an infographic on a survey that Cort Furniture compiled on workplace trends. I follow it up with a bonus article on how designers are … Continue reading Boosting Productivity in the Office
Yes, open office is all the rage. But there is fallout (as I get older, I can now see there is good and bad in literally everything). Below is a contrarian view on the whole open office collaborative space perspective. Around 70% of all offices are now building open office environments. And with all this openness comes … Continue reading The Open Office Trap
Office leasing is off to a good start in 2016. Here in Metro Phoenix, the market saw 641,000 square feet (SF) of net absorption (office jobs added) recorded in the first quarter. This means Metro Phoenix is on track to absorb approximately 2.5 million SF for the year. That would mean another year of consistent, average … Continue reading Understanding The Office Market: Q1 2016 Phoenix Office Report
Each January, I attend Abundance 360 produced by Peter Diamandis. One takeaway this year was how fast driverless cars are becoming a reality. This will happen in our lifetime. Google autonomous cars have over 1,000,000 miles in Palo Alto (click here). Tesla has a new package that will drive your car on the highway (click here) and there are at least … Continue reading Game Changing Trend is Happening Right Now
I spend a ton of time working with my team on growing their individual skills, increasing our deliverables and really making sure we are engaged. As we work with big and small companies and I talk to our clients, engagement has become one of the most desired (and least attainable) traits in companies today. A few … Continue reading Employee Engagement Sucks. Why?
This narrative is focused on all things commercial real estate. We also like to look outside our world to see what will be coming soon to a commercial project near you. Below is a short article about a building currently under construction on Cornell Tech’s Roosevelt Island Campus. In short, it is the first high-rise residential building … Continue reading Passive House Residential Ups the Ante
The amount of office space allocated for each employee continues to fall. Below is a graph and a short description why from Of Interest Today. While we all know it is happening, how does it affect landlords, tenants and investors? Depending on your perspective, you get massive differences: Owners: Issues with parking shortage, not enough A/C to cool all … Continue reading Square Feet Per Employee Continues to Drop
The Wall Street Journal did a detailed study on the urbanization of our world, and the challenges and strengths that come from this growth. Below are several interactive maps worth clicking on. Skip the first video unless you are into the topic, but be sure to pay attention as: –The world urbanizes –Key cities grow –Manhattan becomes Gotham … Continue reading Cities as Digital Laboratories
I have been watching this trend unfold in the residential construction industry for the past year. Now it is spreading to all sectors. Contractors and subcontractors are having a heck of a time hiring to fill needs. In fact, 50% or more of all contractors and subcontractors are having issues. What does this mean for the market? My … Continue reading Massive Construction Labor Shortages
Last week, I sent an infographic on the huge wave of Millennials and what that means to the workforce and real estate industry. Today, I want to take that discussion a step further and talk about how Millennials design and influence the workplace. Lisa Bentley with McCarthy Nordburg, provided me with two insightful articles below that you can … Continue reading Millennial Design Influence in the Workplace
Below is a great infographic from UpNest on Millennials and buying residential real estate. Here are some stats that stand out: –25% of all Americans are Millennials (between 18 and 34 years old)–44.2% are minority or belong to an ethnic group—Within 10 years, 75% of the US workforce will be Millennials–75% want to buy (when they buy) a … Continue reading The Real Estate Industry & Millennials
Want to know a disconnect between Commercial office developers and job creation? Developers are building bigger floorplates while job creation is coming from small companies. When I got into the business, office floorplates in Metro Phoenix averaged 10-15,000/sf. Today, new construction is looking at floorplates with a minimum of 25,000/sf all the way to 40,000/sf for multi-tenant office … Continue reading 47% of Jobs Created by Companies with Under 50 Employees and 9 Other Trends
Below are a couple of handy charts. First, a graphic that shows the top 10 and bottom 10 states for taxes. I have also pulled a chart that shows state-by-state comparisons well. Not too many surprises, but here are a few highlights: –California and New York have the highest taxes. –Arizona is in the middle, ranked 24th. –Texas has been … Continue reading State By State Business Tax Climate
2015 was another great year for our team. Please see below for a recap of our year by the numbers. As we head into our 25th year at Lee & Associates Arizona, we are excited about new opportunities and blessed to have great clients. Thank you for being a part of our future. Craig 602.954.3762 ccoppola@leearizona.com P.S.- In … Continue reading Coppola-Cheney: A Review of a Strong 2015
In 10 short years, what will work look like? Gensler interviewed four futurists on this topic and below is the outcome. I have highlighted my biggest insights including these: –45% of Millennials are nonwhite. How will that affect the commercial real estate industry? Certainly the retail sector will be turned around as will all marketing campaigns. –How do real … Continue reading Work in 2025
Seeing Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens recently I cannot help but draw a parallel to the world of Metro Phoenix office leasing. Why? Because, like “the force,” net absorption awakened in 2015 posting 3.4 million square feet. This is the highest absorption since 2005 and has pushed our vacancy rate below 20% for the first time in eight years. (By … Continue reading How Do Star Wars and the Phoenix Office Market Relate? Q4 2015 Phoenix Market Report
Several weeks ago, I talked about the PC 16 (please click here for the narrative) and how Mexico was one of the 16. I grew up in Sierra Vista, Arizona less than 20 miles from the Mexican border. I follow Mexican manufacturing, its economy and the maquiladora program very closely. The 50 year old maquiladora program allows a factory in Mexico, run by … Continue reading Maquiladora- What does that mean?
Time flies. The market changes. Cycles occur. AND as of today, this is our 300th narrative. We have grown from 700 to over 28,000 weekly readers with an open rate that is double the industry standard. Thank you for your support and readership. For 2016, we are going to add some humor throughout the year…Please watch this thirty second preview before … Continue reading 300 and Counting
Some good news for Arizona job growth (my key indicator for office space net absorption). In November, Forbes projected Arizona to lead the United States in job growth for the next couple years. Traditionally, Arizona has been a boom/bust cyclical state. Readers of this narrative know that this cycle, for the first time, we have not been in the top … Continue reading Arizona to Lead in Job Growth