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Last year marked a turning point for the economy and the national industrial sector, but the future looks even more challenging. CBRE Torto Wheaton Research’s Spring 2009 Industrial Forecast indicates that this global economic crisis will have a deeper impact on the national industrial sector than any recession since the late 1980s.The market experienced a total negative net absorption of 95 million square feet during 2008. With 168 million square feet of new space completed, the availability rate increased 190 basis points to 11.4 percent. The pace of deterioration does not match that of the 2000-01 recession, in which availability…

As the vacancy rate for distribution facilities edged up nationwide in 2008, one category beat the long odds. Almost all the locations that trimmed warehouse vacancy were hundreds or thousands of miles removed from the nation’s struggling coastal ports.Inland markets were the surprise standouts during a year when the national warehouse rate rose from 7.9 percent at the end of 2007 to 9.1 percent during the fourth quarter. Of the 54 major warehouse markets surveyed by Colliers International, 12 reduced vacancy last year. Detroit cut vacancy from 13.2 percent to 11.5 percent, Minneapolis vacancy dropped 60 basis points to 10.4…

Las Vegas’ economic travails have led to a spike in Las Vegas apartment vacancies and tumble in rental rates. According to research firm Applied Analysis, demand for professionally managed apartment communities in the area fell to its lowest level since the beginning of 2003.The market recorded average occupancies of 92 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, down from the previous quarter’s 93.7 percent and from the 92.3 percent reported during the fourth quarter of 2007. The rates also fall considerably below the historical five-year historical average of 94.6 percent and 10-year average of 94.4 percent.Additionally, average asking rents reached…

In light of slowing freight demand, BNSF Railway Co. is putting the brakes on plans for a 2008 construction start of a 500-acre intermodal hub in Gardner, Kans., about 25 miles southwest of Kansas City. Together, the intermodal center and a neighboring 600-acre logistics center make up the $735 million Logistics Park Kansas City. Still, BNSF insists that the move marks only a delay, not a cancellation. “We’re still proceeding with the project,” a spokesperson for BNSF told CPN. “We’re not to stick with the previous 12- to 18-month time frame.” The spokesperson explained that BNSF will eventually need the…

Economic turmoil has touched every segment of real estate, but there are signs that some sectors, like life sciences, are faring better than others. According to civil engineering firm Giffels-Webster Engineers’ list of top five real estate and development trends, life sciences is the fourth hottest growth market. And BioMed Realty Trust’s closing of a $203 million refinancing of a loan for a 600,000-square-foot portfolio indicates that lenders still have faith in the market. With KeyBank National Association acting as the administrative agent of a syndicate of lenders, BioMed refinanced what was originally a $550 million secured acquisition and interim…

The U.S. Department of Commerce had a bit of a surprise to share on Thursday, reporting that American retailers reported a 1 percent gain in sales in January compared with the month before, reflecting somewhat higher gas prices but also more spending on food and clothing. It’s the first time in six months that retail spending has increased, and the question now is whether this is a mere fluke of post-holiday bargain-hunting or the beginning of the bottom for retail spending. Many economists, glum sorts that they are, opine that it’s a fluke. The National Association of Realtors has reported…

Maui Land & Pineapple Co. scored big recently when it secured a new loan agreement through the United States Bankruptcy Court to fund the complete construction of its joint venture project, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences at Kapalua Bay, after its main investor filed bankruptcy. But other resort projects haven’t been as lucky. Last month, Revel Entertainment’s developers of the planned beachfront casino entertainment resort on 20 acres of land along the Atlantic City Boardwalk said they would suspend work on the interior of the project and lay off workers. “This modification to the construction timeline will allow the project…

Less than two months ago, CPN reported that real estate owned (REO) sales may be a driving force in sales volumes rebounding in the coming year. Sperry Van Ness brokered an REO deal just a couple of weeks ago and now Mission Capital Advisors L.L.C. is hoping to get bids for a $221 million commercial mortgage loan and REO portfolio secured by assets in multiple states. The commercial real estate mortgage loan and REO portfolio has an outstanding balance of $221.3 million. The sale includes assets in bankruptcy and sub- and non-performing assets secured by a variety of collateral types…

Commercial real estate development is on life support in the United States, but in parts of Canada, like greater Toronto, construction is still alive and kicking, and Aecon Group Inc. is among those companies that are in the midst of building. Acting through its Buildings and Concessions divisions, Aecon just wrapped up the financial close on the $91.5 million Lakeridge Health Oshawa hospital redevelopment project in Oshawa. Located within the Regional Municipality of Durham, an eastern submarket of Toronto, the Lakeridge Health Oshawa endeavor is a build-finance project that is being implemented through the Ontario government’s Alternative Financing and Procurement…

Are grocery stores and grocery-anchored centers immune to the slings and arrows of outrageous economic fortune? Or at least better prepared to weather the recession by virtue of the fact that people have to eat? Maybe, maybe not. Earlier this week, Citigroup downgraded Kroger to “hold” and Safeway to “sell,” and share prices in those companies and other grocery specialists fell in response. The thinking is that imminent price wars among the major grocery chains are going to hurt the business, with the likes of Costco already cutting prices on staples such as milk and eggs. Still, retail space brokers…