We work in the Phoenix market every single day, monitoring trends and staying on top of the latest developments. I wanted to see if the Metro Phoenix office market was any different from the global office market. Short answer: it’s not. The Longer Answer: — Office space was hit hard all over the world … Continue reading Phoenix Office Market vs. the World
We’re halfway through the year and the Metro Phoenix Office market continues to trudge along. I thought 2023 would be a much improved year for the office. However, net absorption went negative for the second quarter in a row, albeit by a small notch, only like in Q1. Net absorption is the net increase in … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q2 2023
Where are office users going? That is a trick question in today’s market. They are still here — they are just changing, and becoming more demanding. Due to hybrid work becoming more common over the past few years, companies have to entice workers to come out of their homes and back into the office. Office … Continue reading The Office Market Reinvention
We write about the state and future of the office market in The C2 Voice weekly. Because we are on the front lines, we see trends happening as they develop. Today, we want to share a great study that just came out from NAIOP (the main association for Office Developers) that mirrors our perspective but … Continue reading Demand for Office Space Expected to Shrink Through Early 2024
This week we have an insightful episode with Thomas Maynard, Senior Vice President at the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC). We sat down to discuss trends in office site selection, a space he lives in every week. We asked Thomas: Who are the key players and what questions are they asking? Here’s a taste of … Continue reading Ten on One – Office Site Selection Insights with Thomas Maynard
The Office market is in a crazy spot and we have been living it for over 3 years and counting. Now, we are starting to get glimpses of the future and, for a ton of office buildings, the future is not pretty. Class B and C office space in particular is getting hurt for a … Continue reading Aging Office Buildings Are Having a Midlife Crisis
We continue to talk about the return to the office in this narrative because it’s at the forefront of our clients’ minds. The below report from Leesman polled real estate leaders on the state of the workplace following the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are a few takeaways I found most interesting: –Almost 40% are planning major changes … Continue reading What CEOs are Saying About the Office
At the Coppola-Cheney Group, we have been waiting for workers to get back into the office since the start of COVID….and now here it is. Companies are making employees come back to the office to work. This isn’t a shock to us because we talk to owners, CEOs, and leaders every day. They want this. … Continue reading Shocker: Workers are Going Back to the Office?
The Metro Phoenix Office Market continues to face significant headwinds in 2023. Net absorption, measured by the net change in physically occupied space, came in at negative 127,468 square feet in Q1. This means the office recovery took a step backward after realizing positive net absorption in the same amount during the last quarter of … Continue reading 1 – Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q1 2023
We are living in the office space reimaging projects every single day. Where is the office going? There are a lot of articles coming out about the demise of office now. I just picked two so you can see what people on the street are saying. As experts in the office world, what do we … Continue reading Office Building Distress
The Metro office market continues to trudge along its own path of an extended (up and down, circular) recovery. Direct vacancy actually decreased slightly to 17.5%, 500 basis points lower than our 20-year average. Meanwhile, average asking rates actually increased by $0.46/SF per year between Q3 and Q4. However, net absorption, the most critical indicator of market … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q4 2022
These are the crazy times in CRE. I have been leasing office space for 38 years and have NEVER seen the discrepancy in Office vs Industrial so great. It’s a tale of two markets for sure. Below, find a list of Office and Industrial buildings under construction as of Q2 2022. The difference between Office … Continue reading Office vs. Industrial 2022
In our latest Ten on One podcast, we spend 10 minutes with John Orsak, Vice President of Development at Lincoln Property Company, Desert Southwest. John oversees a huge office portfolio in Phoenix, putting him in the market seven days a week. He is in the know in all things office. Here are a few nuggets … Continue reading Ten on One- Latest Office Leasing Trends
The Metro Phoenix Office Market hit a small speedbump in Q3 on the path to recovery. After posting a big net absoption in Q2 of +918,413 SF, Q3 slipped to -81,621 SF. This puts year-to-date net absorption at +532,634 SF, on track to finish well below our 20-year average of 2 million SF. What’s going with … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q3 2022
As you might recall, I am a long time Counselor of Real Estate (CRE). This organization puts out some of the most thought-provoking discussions about Commercial Real Estate. The below article is no exception, and is a great summary of the worker shortage, why we have one and what we see going forward. Here are … Continue reading Where Are the Workers?
The world ebbs and flows…the job market is going from being tight to soft. That is a cycle. The young people who have joined the workforce after 2008 have never seen a recession. It looks like one is coming, meaning many of the jobs they took for granted will disappear. A good article from the … Continue reading Job Market Softening
The Metro Phoenix Office Market is in the midst of a recovery. Ok, a slow one BUT still a recovery. Net absorption, the net increase in physical office space occupied, and THE key market indicator, bounced back in a big way in Q2 at 913,413 SF. In Q1 it had slipped to a – 55,390 … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q2 2022
I’ve said it before and it continues to be true: Companies are moving out of California in record numbers. This migration is happening for a myriad of reasons. –rising business costs (taxes, energy, utility costs, etc.) –worker comp litigation and cost issues –cost of talent –cost of simply living The list goes on. Below is … Continue reading CA Companies Moving Out
The majority of companies are back in the office under some sort of adjusted schedule. While work strategies differ, everyone can agree that build-out costs are painfully expensive. This is especially challenging during the war for talent that’s happening, and businesses need every dollar they can get to enhance the employee office experience. Since the … Continue reading 5 Solutions for Saving Money on Office
One huge area of change over the past decade is the amount of amenities tenants want and are now demanding. The competition for tenants remains fierce so landlords are providing more of amenities in their office buildings. The race to provide amenities got so heated over the last few years, we actually created an Amenity … Continue reading Building Amenity Checklist
As companies begin to return to the offices which have largely been left empty since the Covid 19 pandemic started, the first trend we are seeing is companies are going to have to transform the spaces into places where workers will want to be. This is an important move since there is now a shift … Continue reading Are the Suburbs Back? And other Office Trends from NAIOP
Have you figured out how your office will look in 2022 and beyond? Below is cool, quick article from Fast Company illustrating some of the changes happening in the office. Yes, they do mention some pretty big tech names, and we don’t all have the same construction budgets as Salesforce, but there are some great ideas … Continue reading Back to the Office, Differently
Considering how many companies have opted to allow employees to work from home since the pandemic, it’s good to know that many are still investing in workplaces, creating designs that are not only aesthetically pleasing but with features that are beneficial for the employees and the environment. The list below features multiple workplace designs from … Continue reading The World`s Best Workplace in 2021
The pandemic has created some new trends (mask wearing, expanded home delivery, ghost restaurants, etc.). That said, there has been even more acceleration of existing trends including last mile logistics, flex work schedules, and the rise of second-tier cities like Phoenix. Second-tier cities are growing like crazy and drawing the notice of institutional investors as well … Continue reading Second-Tier Cities Thriving
Lee & Associates corporate just released a nice summary called 7 Things to Know About Commercial Real Estate — a national overview of what you need to know about the market going into 2022. Here are my takeaways: –Industrial is ROCKING. And it will continue in 2022. –Multi Family is ROCKING (and has been for … Continue reading Commercial Real Estate in 2022
For the past decade, all eyes have been on the Millennial Generation, the first to grow up in the Internet Age. Now, the next generation after Millennials is graduating college and entering the workforce: Gen Z is starting to make its mark. Comprising 35% of the global population, they are a force to work with. … Continue reading Gen Z
A few weeks ago I wrote a narrative about rankings, and what I look for in markets where I believe companies will thrive. I posed four questions to ask with the number one question being: Is the market growing? Below is a great article from the Washington Post on where America is growing by new land … Continue reading Where America’s Developed Areas are Growing?
Business owners come to us and ask for our guidance and expertise on all things office space. One area that comes up all the time is the decision to lease or buy a building. We received this question so often, we created the below graphic to begin the conversation. While this is a great start, the … Continue reading Lease vs. Own
We are honored to have been chosen as one of five finalists for Broker of the Decade in Metro Phoenix by CEM Magazine. The winner is determined via vote by the readers. We would greatly appreciate if you could take 30 seconds right now and cast your vote by clicking here (we are third in the … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q3 2021 and a 30-Second Favor to Ask
This headline made me laugh: Phoenix was ranked as the least relaxing city in America, according to a recent survey. Factors such as light pollution, green spaces, and coastal proximity all weighed heavily against Phoenix in the survey, which showed the least number of respondents who get 7+ hours of sleep each night. Meanwhile, San Jose, … Continue reading All Kind of Rankings
I recently read a fantastic article from the Wall Street Journal on some of the greater effects of remote work. Being an office broker, I of course am focused daily on the office sector, but this article explores much more as this trend spreads throughout urban geography across the US. Some of my thoughts are below: The … Continue reading Zoom Towns
Office subleases continue to prove a hot topic this year. Tenants in the market are eyeing subleases for their great prices, or are using them as leverage to bargain against traditional options. In the Metro Phoenix market, with 100 million SF of office space, we are now showing over 4.5 million SF of sublease now … Continue reading The Hottest Office Topic in the Valley
You may have noticed that I’ve spent more time than usual passing along information as it pops up. My job is to make sure you and our clients are on the cutting edge of where office space is going and how it is changing. Due to the pandemic, there is a lot of confusing data … Continue reading Reducing Office Space? 74% of Fortune 500 CEO`s Say It`s Likely
The Metro Phoenix Office Market remains in disarray at the midpoint of 2021. Companies (small and medium-sized) are coming back to work, signing new leases and getting back to a new normal. Other companies (often large ones) continue to kick the can with short-term renewals, downsizing as leases roll, or trying the sublease market. The … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q2 2021
I found the below article a nice start to a conversation all of our clients will have over the next year or two. Who will go remote and why should we still have office space? First, as you will recall from last week’s narrative, as few as 34% of jobs can even be considered remote. … Continue reading Office Space to Compete with Remote Working
Conflicting views on the future of the office continue to volley back and forth in the media. Below is the NAIOP research division’s latest forecast for office space demand, which they feel will stabilize by the middle of 2022. NAIOP is the largest commercial real estate trade organization in the United States, carrying a relevant … Continue reading Office Still in Disarray
Over the last year, we have all had to adjust our thinking. Personally, I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about how I could better insulate me, my family, my team at Coppola Cheney and my companies from the scary times created by the pandemic. I settled on the below thoughts and created the … Continue reading SPT for Scary Times
Readers of this narrative know that my team and I represent tenants and landlords primarily in the Metro Phoenix area. Every year we see more and more investors coming to us from outside Arizona, and even outside the U.S. Interest in commercial real estate investing is on the rise in the international community, which is … Continue reading CRE International Investors Coming to the US and AZ
“Messy” is right. Below is an article outlining the conversations we are having 5 times a day right now with our clients. How do we come back to work and what are the rules, office space layouts, and long-term consequences of allowing everyone to partially work from home? Here is what we are telling our clients: … Continue reading Hybrid Works Get Messy
For over 30 years, I have been telling tenants they should use me and my team to represent them. The first question I need to answer is, “why do I need a broker?” Below is a graphic we created for people who want to know why they need to engage a broker for their next … Continue reading Why Use A Broker?
I am still closely watching the work-from-home (WFH) trend that began a long time ago but really accelerated last year when the Covid pandemic first hit. Many businesses are now returning to the office, with optional WFH schedules or reimagined spaces. Every business is handling the return to their office differently, and some have found … Continue reading Who is Going Back to the Office?
The pandemic certainly took its toll on the Metro Phoenix Office Market in Q1. The numbers tell us it was the worst quarter since the Great Recession (2008): Net absorption (new office space taken by job growth) went negative for the third quarter in a row, at -550,000 SF; sublease space increased at the highest … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q1 2021
Below is an older article (9/2016), that discusses the evolution of office space. Why am I sending this now, right after the economy shut down and the COVID-19 pandemic? Because the points made below can and will show you a couple of key topics that are still relevant when discussing commercial office design and investment: … Continue reading The Evolution of Office Space Utilization in the U.S.
We are all getting mixed messages on office space use from the media and our own colleagues. The office market is dead. It will never be the same. Work from home doesn’t work. The market will crash. We’ve already hit bottom. We hear all this and more every day. We call it The Sandstorm. What … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q4 2020
FANG companies (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet aka Google) are dominating the commercial real estate market—Leasing and Buying. How much? Well, they now own or lease almost 600 MILLION square feet of space!! This is more than all the office space in New York City. Five times more than just a decade ago. Read more … Continue reading FANG Companies Are Driving CRE
Today’s graph is messy at first glance. After you read my comments, simply click on the larger version to review in-depth. The colored lines show how fast different technologies have been adapted over time. Here are a few of my thoughts: –In general, we adopt technology pretty rapidly in the US. –Look for the number … Continue reading Technology Adoption Rates
These days, it’s easier than ever to get started in investing. There are apps that let you buy and trade stocks while waiting at the gas station. Real estate, especially residential, has always been an accessible investment vehicle. But these days, even commercial real estate is being disrupted and opening up to the masses, with … Continue reading Investing in Commercial Real Estate
Back in July, I sent out a narrative on one of the coolest buildings I have ever seen being built. The REI headquarters promised to be on-brand and in keeping with their ethos. It blended outdoor and indoor space to create a building that perfectly aligned with the company mission. Well, if you want an … Continue reading REI Headquarters Follow-up
The sandstorm continues. In Phoenix, we call it a haboob. Uncertainty, again, served as the main theme of the Metro Phoenix Office Market in the third quarter. Vacancy didn’t really rise that much in the past 90 days. Rental rates softened only slightly. Sublease space spiked up again this quarter. We are seeing companies who … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q3 2020
The Counselors of Real Estate (of which Andrew and I are proud members) have released their annual top 10 issues affecting real estate. Please read the whole article below. As you can imagine, COVID-19 is currently leading the way on issues affecting real estate. Big shocker. We have written about the pandemic a ton in previous … Continue reading Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate
Not surprisingly, the Metro Phoenix office market Q2 2020 experienced plenty of highs and lows. Office leasing slowed, but it did not stop. Sublease space increased dramatically, but it’s not at an all-time high. Positive COVID cases declined, then spiked here in Arizona, as they did in much of the country. We continue to learn … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q2 2020
Last week, I sent a narrative on some new ways we are working with our clients to measure space utilization (click here to read). I got quite a few responses about the topic from Real Estate facilities people (and a CEO) asking why we would incorporate new measurements into their spaces when they have corporate … Continue reading 10 + 1 Reasons to Measure Office Space Utilization
Below is an incredible graph. States have let their infrastructure go to hell and it is costing consumers a ton of money in car damages. Take a look below to see what your state is costing you.I also pulled cities within the Metro Phoenix market to see what individual cities are costing us. 1—Lack of … Continue reading What is Your State’s Poor Infrastructure Costing You?
I messed up. This is a narrative that edits what I sent over earlier this week. Below is the narrative and orange are my edits. Sorry for sending incorrect information. Craig Over the past several years, one of the trends my team has been tracking is the number of California companies that are moving to … Continue reading Most Expensive U.S. Office Submarkets
I know, we have been sending quite a bit of contradictory information about office space post-pandemic. The situation is extremely fluid and changing rapidly. Below is an article from National Geographic on this very topic. The CDC is also sending out new office guidelines (here is another article from the NYT). IF, and this … Continue reading Goodbye to open office spaces?
We represent tenants looking for office space in metro Phoenix and across the US. Some clients are CRE savvy and others negotiate a lease once every 5 years. One question I hear all the time is, why are rents so high? Or, said another way, how does my rent break down? Below is a cool graphic … Continue reading New Lease vs. Renewal Breakdown
I attended the always-fabulous 2019 Land Advisors Phoenix Land & Housing Forecast back in December and guess what? The U.S. housing market is on a roll and doing just fine, thank you. Bonus: The Metro Phoenix housing market is the #1 market in the country. Why? A decade of not building enough housing to match … Continue reading U.S. and Arizona Housing Market
It’s time for us to look back at the Metro Phoenix Office Market for 2019. Readers of this narrative know that I am an office broker who works every day with tenants and landlords as they navigate real estate nuances and opportunities. I (along with my incredible team) am based in Phoenix but work around the country, … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q4 2019
The last time metro Phoenix office vacancy was 16.1% was in 2007. It took us 12 years to get back to the same vacancy. It was a long, tough road back, but we are finally there. However, this time around, there are some big differences comparing 2007 and 2019: 1-Average rents (not Class A rents which … Continue reading Phoenix Historical Office Statistics
After a quiet second quarter, the Greater Phoenix office market experienced a HUGE third quarter in terms of tenant activity. Over 1 million SF of net absorption (think job growth) was recorded in just a 90-day period, making 2019’s year-to-date net absorption 2.64 million SF – almost matching space absorbed in all of 2018, and … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q3 2019
It’s July in Phoenix and it is hot — both in temperature and in the office market. The office market remains hot but office net absorption (job growth) cooled off in the 2nd quarter, posting just 245,000 SF in Q2. Mid-year net absorption stands at 1.5 million SF and will likely hit 3 million SF … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q2 2019
I keep telling my team: right now is what the top of the market feels like. In the United States, one out of every seven people moving out of state moves to Arizona. The economy is hot. How long can it continue? Who knows, but NAIOP is forecasting another great year for the rest of … Continue reading The National Office Market continues to roll on
The Metro Phoenix Office market continued its trend of positive net absorption this quarter in a BIG way. Fresh off a year of posting 2.8 million SF of net absorption (job growth) in all of 2018, Metro Phoenix hit 1.1 million SF in just the first quarter 2019, sending vacancy down to 16.9% from 17.57%. … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q1 2019
One of the most daunting tasks our national clients face is to quantify the key metrics for making decisions for their office locations. I review no less than 30 different reports a year on this topic and the items people track are, well…daunting. Demographics, traffic patterns, access to amenities, cost of labor, office space costs, … Continue reading Affordability
It’s time for us to look back at the Metro Phoenix Office Market for 2018. Readers of this narrative know that I am an office broker who works every day representing tenants and landlords as they navigate real estate nuances and opportunities. I (along with my incredible team) am based in Phoenix but work around the country … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Market Update: Q4 2018
I’m adding to my narrative two weeks ago (click here to read) on the effects of open office plans. Today is not about the science but rather the complaining and emotional impact on employees after moving to open office space. I’m not taking a side, rather just piling on more information from two weeks ago. Workers … Continue reading Piling On
Below is my quarterly take on the Metro Phoenix office market. Readers of this narrative know that I am an office broker who works every day representing Tenants and Landlords as they navigate real estate nuances and opportunities. I (along with my incredible team) am based in Phoenix but work around the country and internationally as … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Update: Q3 2018
In our ongoing discussion about the future of office space, here is a nice stat: In this cycle, office space users have been taking approximately ½ of the space they took as they grew in the last cycle. We know why—open office, the explosion of the tech companies and shared space environment and all the … Continue reading The “Coffice”
First, let me say, I told you so. I have been saying for some time that the huge shift to urban core will not be sustained. There are companies that want/need to have that environment so I am still bullish on urban cores, but there are others who will reverse the three-decade trend of moving offices closer and closer … Continue reading Suburban Offices are Back
The changing demographics of workers in the U.S. is HUGE and it’s changing everything. This is probably the biggest issue we are facing in office space leasing, and it features predominantly on the 2018 Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate. Below is the release and a link to the full report. I … Continue reading 2018 Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate
Readers of this narrative know that I am an office broker who works every day helping Tenants and Landlords navigate the nuances and opportunities across geographical areas and product types. I (along with my incredible team) am based in Phoenix but work around the country and internationally as well. We get hired for all kinds … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Update: Q2 2018
I come from a family of educators. Both my parents were school teachers. After getting my bachelor’s degree, I felt the need to continue my education. Today I have earned my MBA and the three most prestigious designations in the Commercial Real Estate industry: CCIM, CRE, and SIOR. Andrew has earned the same three designations. … Continue reading Commercial Real Estate Designations
I have been representing tenants across the US and overseas for 34 years. As I write this narrative, I want to provide value, spot trends and get business. If you have a question or need office space, call me. We would love to work with you. One huge trend that has had a meteoric rise … Continue reading The Rise of Collaborative Workspace
In many ways, I am jaded after being in the CRE brokerage business for so long. Representing office tenants means you get to see just about everything. But I also live in an Arizona bubble most of the time. So I was SHOCKED at the amount of property taxes that the highest-taxed buildings in America … Continue reading The Highest Taxed Buildings in America
The long and stubbornly slow recovery continues. Q1 2018 numbers are out and the Metro Phoenix office market absorbed 686,469 square feet of net positive space, lowering overall vacancy to 19.39%. We are now into the 8th straight year of positive absorption in office jobs. Vacancy varies throughout the Greater Phoenix area with a high of 30.5% in the Sky Harbor … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Update: Q1 2018
The biggest waste we consistently see is clients underutilizing their office space. Planning for growth that never occurs, thinking you “need” the space for visiting people, and making work areas and offices too big — there are multiple ways that companies waste money. Office space, and even more important facilities, can significantly reduce costs through … Continue reading Underlying Organizational Costs
t’s always warm in Phoenix. In the summer, we go above 110 degrees on a regular basis. On the other hand, the Phoenix office market continues to move along at a steady pace…like it’s 70 degrees. BUT, all is not lost. Many companies are beginning to realize the true cost of having all their … Continue reading Businesses are Relocating to AZ
Positive and Steady. That’s how I would describe the Metro Phoenix Office market’s performance for 2017. The market posted its 7th straight year of positive net absorption (net gain in office jobs) finishing at 1.83 million SF. For reference, our 25-year average is 2.5 million SF, and 2016 net absorption reached 2.9 million SF. … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Update: Q4 2017
As the wealthiest people in the world continue to grow their wealth, they are looking more and more at Commercial Real Estate for their portfolios. We are now seeing the uber-wealthy put 6-25% of their portfolio into CRE. This is a big trend because the rich are getting richer. Here are a few stats: HNWI’s … Continue reading How High-Net Worth Investors Invest in CRE
One thing I constantly stress to my team is that to be successful in this industry, you have to be willing to learn and adapt to the times, or quickly become obsolete and watch your business disappear. As a 20+ year Counselor of Real Estate (CRE), I love our annual top ten issues affecting commercial … Continue reading 10 Issues Affecting Commercial Real Estate 2017
The Metro Phoenix office market continued on its eight-year positive course, albeit at a slower pace, for the 3rd quarter of 2017. As any athlete will tell you, a win is a win and all the [market] players will take it. The 216,037 SF of office space absorbed fell short of expectations, however, some large leases were … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Update: Q3 2017
By next year, 36 million square feet of retail space could be vacated and returned to the market. It’s official – the global landscape of retail is changing and changing rapidly. These changes are driven by a combination of growing e-commerce use and a demographical shift in consumer behavior, which prioritizes experience over tangible goods. … Continue reading Traditional Retail is Dead
Remember what you paid as rent for your first apartment? That first rent payment probably felt like a real dent in your paycheck. But I guarantee you it’s not anything like today’s rents. Apartments have been on fire for a LONG time this cycle. While I think there is still room for this market niche to … Continue reading US Apartment Rents are CRAZY
The second quarter was not quite as busy as the first, but there is still good news as our market slowly (painfully slow) continues to improve. Vacancy held steady at 18.8% despite new construction, and we continued our streak of continuous positive net absorption (job growth). We haven’t had negative net absorption since 2009. The pace of … Continue reading 2-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Update: Q2 2017
estate are simple. A tenant needs office space. An owner needs to lease their space to a tenant. But once you get into the details of the transaction, things become complicated really fast. A good amount of my time working with clients is spent answering their questions. I even wrote 2 books on the subject … Continue reading 5 Frequently Asked CRE Questions
Whenever a client has a problem with their space or lease agreement, 9 times out of 10 we can trace that negativity back to one thing: a communication failure in the original lease negotiation. Leases are unfamiliar territory for many of our clients. Most of the time, they just don’t know the right questions to ask. Below … Continue reading Office Lease Checklist
Q1 2017 was a very busy first quarter! Metro Phoenix office market experienced 800,000 SF of positive net absorption. Annualized, this puts the market on track to absorb 3.2 million SF for the year, and 700,000 SF over our 25-year average. Vacancy in the first quarter essentially stayed flat at 18.9%, due to new building … Continue reading 1-Minute Phoenix Metro Office Update: Q1 2017
The Metro Phoenix office market’s health continues to improve. Net absorption (job growth) of 2.93 million SF mirrored 2015 figures, which helped push vacancy down to 18.6% (from 19.5% at the end of 2015). Overall, lease rates are higher than they were a year ago with a current average of $24.34/SF Full Service. Rental rates still … Continue reading 1-Minute Market Update: Q4 2016 Report
Starbucks is not office space. Sure you can have a meeting, grab a coffee, and check your email, but it’s not a real office. There are tons of new co-working or shared office concepts. And yet, office space is not going away. Below is a short and sweet article that gives a few reasons why. My top takeaways on why … Continue reading Why We Still Need Office Space
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
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
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?
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
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
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?
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
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
It’s no surprise that square feet per office employee is declining. The open office concept is changing the world and the biggest user of office space in this cycle is…..Tech companies. But this trend has been coming for a long time; see the graph below. In addition to the SF per employee graph there are … Continue reading Trends in Square Feet per Office Employee
Like the national office market, the Metro Phoenix Office Market is rebounding at a gradual pace. Last week Craig sent out a good update on the national office market from The Wall Street Journal. (Click here for his narrative in case you missed it) Today I’m sending you an update on the progress we’re seeing in Phoenix. The WSJ article mentions … Continue reading Market Insight: Q2 2015 Phoenix Office Report
I just got a peek at our Q2, 2015 Metro Phoenix office numbers and once again we are mirroring the national office market. It’s a methodical and frustratingly-slow recovery. Andrew will highlight Phoenix in the next few weeks, but today I am focusing on the National office market. Below is a nice Wall Street Journal update on the national … Continue reading Office Market Is on a Slow Roll
For the past 30 years we have been analyzing operating expenses for the tenants we represent. It’s vital for tenants to understand how operating expenses work because this is a huge potential long term and expensive hidden cost. Here are a few items to watch out for in a tenant lease: –Not getting a grossed … Continue reading Operating Expenses? Yes! And It’s Important.
A lot can happen in a year. Our fourth quarter 2014 Phoenix Office Market Report came out last week and it looks noticeably different than our Q4 2013 report. Below is a link to the report and here’s a brief summary: The metropolitan Phoenix office market absorbed 620,000 net square feet (SF) in Q4 to push … Continue reading In The Know: Phoenix Office Report Q4 2014
Finally, some good news. The Metro Phoenix Office posted just under 800,000 SF of net absorption for the third quarter. A significant number of the tenants I talked to while canvassing buildings have either just expanded or are considering expanding in the near future. Despite the strong absorption, vacancy remains high at 21.6% across the entire market. Except for … Continue reading Market Insight: Q3 2014 Phoenix Office Report
Below is a 2013 article Andy Conlin sent me analyzing high-rise construction in the United States. David Holmes takes an in-depth look at the major economic factors affecting skyscrapers (defined as buildings 18 stories or higher in this article) built since 2000. This timeline would include only one construction cycle and two recessions, but the conclusions are interesting. I’ve … Continue reading An Analysis of U.S. High-Rise Construction Activity in This Century
The Phoenix office market continues to slowly improve. Too slow for my taste, but improvement is always good. Unless you are in Tempe, Chandler or Scottsdale, the market is not improving as fast as owners and investors would like. Lee & Associates Arizona released its second quarter Office Market Update in July and showed that success these … Continue reading Market Knowledge: Phoenix Office Report Q2 2014
Job creation news made headlines a few weeks back touting that the United States had recovered all of the jobs that were lost during the great recession. In Arizona, however, we are still way behind our pre-recession levels. Over the next two weeks, we are going to try to tie jobs, the Phoenix office market, … Continue reading A Look at the Numbers Behind the Current Headlines About Job Creation
Want to know the latest trends in the Phoenix Office market? Here’s what’s going on: Our first quarter Office Market Report was just released this week with some interesting stats. We had an excellent quarter for net absorption, the most important measure of the market’s health. We absorbed 727,000 SF, and if we keep that pace up, … Continue reading Market Insight: Phoenix Office Report Q1 2014
Annually, I review a large number of commercial office research. Below is a link to the UBS Global Asset Management US Real Estate Market Outlook 2014. With all of the cumbersome reports published, I find this one to be very concise and insightful. The entire report is 28 pages but we have included the key office pages below. Many trends … Continue reading Thoughtful Outlook for Office Space in 2014
Our fourth quarter 2013 Office market absorption numbers came out last week. A short summary: We are making progress but absorption fell below expectations. We concluded the year just under 1.3 million SF of net (not gross) absorption. Net absorption is the true measure of a market’s performance. The net absorption in 2013 was down 36% from 2012, however, we beat … Continue reading Q4 2013 Office Market Report