y Re
Atlanta’s commercial real estate markets are on the mend and that means brokers should expect a busier 2014.
People who work in commercial real estate are, by na-
ture, optimistic: not only is their glass a little more than half full, but the server is on the way with another pitcher. Yet even the biggest Pollyannas had their faith shaken by the Great Recession and the punch in the mouth it deliv- ered to the commercial
markets.Vacancies soared, values plummeted and countless assets moved into foreclosure. For the most part, metro Atlanta’s commercial real es-
tate sectors have taken a while to get up off the canvas, but as 2013 draws to a close, there are finally real reasons to be optimistic about their future. Fueled by a steadily improving economy, metro Atlanta’s office, industrial and retail markets are gaining traction, and its multifamily sector continues to shine. In short, commercial brokers can expect 2014 to be a productive year when it comes to executing leases and selling commercial assets.
OFFICE TURNS THE CORNER Perhaps no commercial real estate sector was hit harder
in metro Atlanta than the office market. While the sector has by no means fully recovered, it is exhibiting significant signs of improved health. For instance, after spending much of the past five years
well above 20 percent, the overall office vacancy rate for metro Atlanta dipped to 19.4 percent in the second quar- ter, its lowest mark since 2009, according to the Cassidy
2 8IGEORGIA REALTOR® INDUSTRIAL ON THE REBOUND Here’s how you knowthe metro Atlanta industrial sec-
tor is well on the way to recovery: developers are warming to the idea of speculative development. That’s a good bell- wether for the health of the market, and just a year ago, people in the industry simply laughed when you men- tioned speculative development.
NOVEMBER I DECEMBER 2013
Turley real estate services firm. The average asking rent for metro Atlanta office space in the second quarter was $19.01 per square foot, the highest amount since 2011, the firm said. Furthermore, investors are once again interested in
buying Atlanta office properties. Office investment sales volume in Atlanta totaled $1.14 billion in the second quarter, a 69 percent increase from the first quarter and a 528 percent increase from one year earlier, according to Real Capital Analytics (RCA). Perspective is important: the metro Atlanta office va-
cancy rate remains above its historical average of 17.9 percent, and the sector is often one of the last real estate markets to recover after a recession because it takes a fair amount of lead time for firms to decide they need to hire more people and thus need more space. However, it seems that more and more businesses are coming to that very conclusion.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39