Warehouses still steady as they go
The leased warehouse market is holding its own in Oklahoma City, as other commercial property sectors take hard hits from the coronavirus and related business shutdowns.
CBRE reports that marketwide vacancy was basically flat at midyear, slipping slightly to 4% from 4.1% at the end of 2019.
The market average asking lease rate crept up 4 cents, to $5.58 per square foot per year from $5.54 at the close of last year, on a triple-net basis (meaning the tenant pays for building insurance, property taxes, maintenance and utilities). It was up 17 cents compared with midyear 2019.
It's been as reliable as the clock: The industrial property market just lumbers along, slow and generally steady, although distributors for online retailers have woken up the giant. Hello, Amazon.
The coronavirus is having a positive impact that could linger. People who never bought anything online and had it delivered to their house have been doing so because concerns over the coronavirus have kept them out of brickand-mortar stores. Shopping ways have surely changed for good for some folks.
"Demand in Oklahoma City's industrial market has remained very steady, with users and investors willing to park money in this preferred asset class amidst the uncertainty brought on by the pandemic," said Randy Lacey, CBRE industrial broker and logistics specialist.
Staying home for the past four months has given some people renewed appreciation for home. That lends additional strength to the industrial sector on increased demand for the things of home.
"We have seen a wide variety of industries seeking industrial space in the market," Lacey said, "with many of these being 'pandemic proof' companies such as last-mile, e-commerce distributors, swimming pool distributors, pet food companies, and other growing businesses."
There was a time not terribly long ago when any speculative warehouse construction in Oklahoma
City — any at all — rated a news story. Spec construction here is still significant. CBRE says more is coming.
CBRE pointed to eight spec warehouse properties that are planned or under construction in Oklahoma City, plus two in Edmond, and on offer in CoStar Group's online marketplace. One is big, the rest are medium- or small-sized:
• 3700 S Purdue Ave, 172,000 square feet.
• 3401 S Council Road, 120,000 square feet.
• 525 NW 11, 39,094 square feet.
• 4700 SW 25 Circle, 30,000 square feet.
• SW 134 and Meridian Avenue, 26,000 square feet.
• 8200 SW 23 Place, 24,508 square feet.
• 1841 SE 66, 16,500
square feet.
• 3617 S Council Road, 11,940 square feet.
• 225 Garage Drive, Edmond, 14,065 square feet and 9,566 square feet.
Spec does mean speculative, and planned means planned, not a done deal. But sustained and new kinds of demand keep the industrial giant stirring.
May they get the tenants they're looking for, and give us more good industrial real estate news to report.
Retail postscript
Price Edwards & Co.'s midyear retail market summary, reported in The Oklahoman last Saturday, is now online at https:// www.priceedwards.com.