The story of available but expensive Vegas land, and Kansas City’s office conversion trend
Jan 29, 2016
Here are the news stories you might have missed this week:
The Kansas City Star: Kansas City’s downtown revives empty office towers with ‘adaptive reuse’
Kansas City has transformed an excess of office vacancies into towers bustling with activity. That’s because tax incentives and new opportunities have resulted in developers transforming office towers in the city’s central business district to condos and apartments, or even hotel rooms. Many of these buildings were seen as outdated for office space, but perfect for apartments, for example. There’s another reason the city likes this move: it reduces office space vacancies, improving the city’s reputation in the eyes of investors and lenders. Visit KansasCity.com to read more about this office space trend.
The Salt Lake Tribune: Commercial real estate booming in Utah
There’s a lot of excitement about Utah’s commercial real estate markets. Investors put more than $1.8 billion into Utah’s commercial properties in 2015, and the multifamily sector — the hottest CRE segment in Utah – added more supply while vacancy remained low. There’s also a lot of optimism around the retail and industrial segments, and office rents in Salt Lake City’s downtown have hit first-time highs. Click through to SLTrib.com for a more detailed read.
GlobeSt.com: Auto sales drive Detroit industrial sector to historic high
The car industry is hot, and that’s impacting Detroit’s industrial spaces – vacancy and net absorption are at levels not seen in two decades. More than 2.5 million square feet were absorbed in Q4 alone, and the strength of the segment is fueling new construction. Vacant land both in Detroit and out in the suburbs is being scooped up to build modern industrial buildings. Some experts see greater demand than the late ‘90s construction renaissance, when much of the new construction was done on spec. See how the auto industry is impacting Detroit’s industrial market at GlobeSt.com.
Finance and Commerce: Vegas land neither cheap nor selling quickly
Land speculators and developers once gambled on land in Vegas and lost, and now they’re reluctant to ante up again. Land in Las Vegas is slow selling but is more expensive than boom times, and many factors are dampening interest. However, some experts think it’s a good thing, and land prices are actually normalizing. In some cases, attractive parcels are rare, so developers are reluctant to pay a premium and impact their profit margins. Learn more about Vegas’s land issues at Finance-Commerce.com.
