IAMC News Briefs—Week of May 1, 2023
By John Salustri
IAMC CORNERSTONE—“Coming up for air.” That’s how Cresa describes a current slight cooling in the industrial marketplace after two years of record-breaking growth. The firm’s Occupier Outlook points to the ripple effect of a struggling economy as the main culprit, putting the squeeze on capital markets, raising the cost of construction goods and, most disturbingly, shuttering banks. “Economic conditions are beginning to signal higher risk for tenant demand, although retail sales have continued to be steady despite inflation increasing the cost of goods,” says the report. In the face of climbing rents, many tenants are optimizing their current locations. The Cresa report also tracks absorption, availability and vacancy.
https://cornerstone.iamc.org/viewdocument/cresa-occupier-outlook
URBAN LAND INSTITUTE—As if the Cresa news were not enough, ULI has polled real estate economists to gauge their view of the economy, and it ain’t good news. Fiscal situations will worsen through 2024, they say, and we will start to see light the following year. Some 41 real estate economists and analysts participated in the survey, which revealed a sort of yin/yang of balancing conditions. For example: “The 2023 GDP growth forecast improved to 0.9% from 0.5%, while the 2024 GDP forecast fell to 1.5% from 2.1%, leaving the two-year average nearly the same,” says the report.
https://urbanland.uli.org/public/uli-forecast-shows-economic-and-real-estate-slowdown-likely-in-near-term-with-recovery-expected-in-2025/?utm_source=realmagnet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HQ%20Urban%20Land%2005%2E01%2E23
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY EXECUTIVE—Windsor Commerce Park is the latest project to come out of the ground by Lincoln Property Co. The firm’s Southwest division, LPC Desert West, is overseeing the 1.6-million-square-foot industrial campus in North Las Vegas. The firm paid a reported $22 million for the site, which will support eight buildings on 86 acres when it goes online in Q3 of next year. The class A buildings will range from just under 50,000 square feet to 397,440 feet and offer 36-foot clear heights and touchless technology. CBRE is helming the lease activity.
https://www.commercialsearch.com/news/lincoln-property-breaks-ground-on-1-6-msf-las-vegas-project/
SMART AUSTIN—There’s a new industrial complex coming to the Austin suburbs in the form of a 663,460-square-foot project dubbed San Marcos Business Park. Partners Ledo Capital Group and St. Clair Commercial Real Estate plan to break ground in the fourth quarter. The three buildings will feature rear-load configurations, 32-to-36-foot clear heights, ESFR sprinkler systems and ample parking. Kimley-Horn is the civil engineer on the project with Stream Realty Partners handling the leasing. ARCO/Murray will oversee the design/construction process.
https://smartaustinrealty.com/exciting-new-industrial-development-san-marcos-business-park-breaks-ground-soon/
GLOBEST.COM—Mega-investor Blackstone has disposed of six logistics assets in Japan for more than $800 million. GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, has picked up the assets with a total of four million square feet. For GIC, the buy fits into its strategy to play in “tailwind sectors such as hospitality and logistics,” says Goh Chin Kiong, its deputy chief investment officer for real estate. As for Blackstone, Japan has been a focus for the past 16 years. In 2022 alone, it completed sales and acquisitions in all the major food groups—including industrial—to the tune of more than $2 billion.
https://www.globest.com/2023/04/28/blackstone-sells-logistics-portfolio-in-japan-for-over-800m/