By Cindy Gonzalez
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
http://www.omaha.com/article/20111209/M ... te-revival
Pretty Good Article:
.With the nation's sixth-lowest vacancy rate for warehouse space, a steady retail market and demand for offices, the Omaha area's commercial real estate scene looks encouraging compared with the rest of the country.
Concerning, however, is the shortage of new apartments, particularly for the poor, the ongoing crackdown on loans that can hamper development and even a threat of bedbugs.
Those were among highlights shared as about 50 industry leaders met during the 2012 Industry Forecast breakfast hosted by the local Institute of Real Estate Management
.Overall, about 670 apartments were built this year in the Omaha area, he said. While that is more than last year's 572 or the 284 added the previous year, it is well below the 1,379 of 2008 and below the 1,150 annual average of the past decade.
The greatest demand has been for larger apartments with two or more bedrooms, Lenhoff said.
And there's been a shift toward renting, at least in Douglas County, Lenhoff said. In 2011, he said, census figures show that 37.5 percent of the county rented, up from 34.1 percent in 2006. In 2011, 62.5 percent of the county owned a home, down from 66 percent in 2006.
Kyle Peterson, senior vice president and managing director of brokerage for Colliers International in Omaha, said activity in the industrial, office and retail real estate markets reflect general improvement, particularly in relation to the nation.
Colliers data shows Omaha's vacancy rate among industrial, manufacturing and warehouse space as being the sixth-lowest rate in the country, 5.9 percent. That's down from about 10 percent in 2004.
Among Colliers' industrial transactions this year: the sale of the former Caterpillar 210,000-square-foot warehouse in Bellevue to an investment group for a pet food company; the Connectivity building at 120th and I Streets to a California investment group; and a 94,000-square-foot building at 91st and F Streets to Nebraska Machine Products.
On the retail side, Colliers reported in its third-quarter summary that the Omaha retail market is "holding tight" with vacancy rates that have held steady for four quarters near 11.6 percent. While lower than 2010, the rate remains higher than 8 percent in 2004 or about 10 percent in early 2008.
"There just wasn't a lot going on for two years," Peterson said after the meeting. "We're starting to see some of that come back. Not as robust as in the mid-2000s but nothing in our business is."
On the office side, Peterson said the 16 percent vacancy rate has improved since earlier this year yet still is higher than 2008, when it was around 14 percent.
He said that Colliers, however, has "a lot more office deals getting done."
Peterson expects building and the commercial activity to perk up further. He referred to three construction projects that he said together contain nearly a million square feet — TD Ameritrade's in Old Mill, CSG Systems at 180th Street and West Dodge Road and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska at Aksarben Village.