www.REBusinessOnline.com March 2022 • Volume 18, Issue 1 WHAT’S NEW WITH INDUSTRIAL DEALS IN TEXAS? Interviews by Taylor Williams Brokers across the state’s four biggest markets dish on deal requirements, barriers to entry and much more. W NAI Robert Lynn recently negotiated a 162,000-square-foot lease expansion at 4717 Plano Parkway for third-party logistics fi rm JB Hudco. With online shopping in a perpetual state of growth, tenants like this one are requiring more space to fulfi ll orders and distribute goods. ith each year that passes in the current cycle, industrial real estate, along with multifam-ily, becomes more deeply ingrained as darling asset class among commercial developers, lenders and investors. For all the talk about Americans be-ing social creatures, there remains a massive contingent of the population that, when it comes to shopping, over-whelmingly prefers the convenience and relative anonymity of e-commerce. What started out as pandemic-related justifi cations for buying goods online as opposed to in-person has given way to a full-fl edged, tacit acknowledgement of a trend that was already in place pri-or to February 2020. As such, demand for facilities — not just traditional, pure-play industrial spaces — that can function as e-com-merce fulfi llment and distribution cen-ters continues to skyrocket. This trend is even more pronounced in markets with surging populations like those of major Texas cities. Industrial brokers are the ones who see it all. These professionals talk to ten-ants about acute real estate needs that are critical to serving customers with-out accruing exorbitant transit costs. Brokers work with developers who must build and price their spaces in ac-cordance with their own escalating cost SEE INDUSTRIAL page 20 SELF-STORAGE PRESENTS HIDDEN OPPORTUNITIES By Joseph Woodbury of Neighbor ver the past two years, millions of Americans have drastically altered their work styles and consumption behaviors, which has re-sulted in commercial landlords, prop-erty owners and real estate portfolio managers adjusting their operating strategies. Businesses of many sizes are capi-Particularly for owners of offi ce and retail assets that are struggling with occupancy issues, conversion plays with this property type can create short-term relief. O talizing on hybrid or remote work models by reducing their offi ce foot-prints and reevaluating real estate needs moving forward. During the fi rst quarter of 2021, U.S. offi ce vacan-cy exceeded the amount of space that was leased by 34.8 million square feet, according to analysis from The Wall Street Journal . SEE STORAGE page 22 Pictured is a 650-unit self-storage facility in Garfi eld, New Jersey, that is a redevelopment of a former macaroni factory. While industrial properties often lend themselves to self-storage conversion plays more easily from a design standpoint, in the current environment, offi ce and retail properties are increasingly presenting the same kinds of opportunities. INSIDE THIS ISSUE San Antonio’s Multifamily, Retail Markets Ascend to New Heights pages 14-15 Multifamily Developers Weigh Pros, Cons of Various Product Types pages 16-17
Texas Real Estate Business March 2022: Page 1
