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Piedmont Capital Partners acquires former Children’s Hospital building
Piedmont Capital Partners acquires former Children’s Hospital building Piedmont Capital Partners, the investment arm of Piedmont Real Estate Group has closed on its acquisition of a former Childrens’ Hospital of Atlanta (CHOA) facility at 2201 Mount Zion Parkway in Morrow, Georgia. Piedmont has signed a long term lease with
We are here.
By now, you have heard or spoken all the words. Words and phrases like: Unprecedented. Unforeseen. Without context. The new normal. Shelter in place. Re-start and when? The current pandemic is re-ordering our lives. And it has led all of us to ask a range of questions, ones that you
Multifamily Market Investments for 2019: Believe the Naysayers or Invest Today?
You have to live somewhere… One of the fundamentals to consider in real estate investments is that residential properties are less subject to economic forces than office and industrial. Even in recessionary cycles, residential rental properties tend to fare well. The risks of residential are the costs associated with re-tenanting
Piedmont Real Estate Group Assists in Relocation and Expansion of Hearts and Hands Therapy Services, Inc.
Piedmont Real Estate Group recently represented Hearts and Hands Therapy Services, Inc. in the negotiations for its relocation and expansion of the firm’s counseling service footprint in Woodstock, GA. Hearts and Hands is a leading provider in the Atlanta metro for counseling and therapy services for children and adolescents with
Piedmont Real Estate Group
For further information, contact:
David Hacker david.hacker@piedmontcap.com
Jeff Pittman jeff.pittman@piedmontcap.com
Metro Market Report – Northern Suburbs
Piedmont Real Estate Group presents the following office market report for the third quarter of 2018. The information in this report is focused on market conditions in Cherokee County, East Cobb, the Kennesaw/Town Center area and North Fulton/Forsyth County. The information provided comes from Costar’s submarket reports and other services that we subscribe to.
Office fundamentals are strong for existing assets with increasing rents but land costs and new construction costs are high, which is limiting new office development except for large Class A office buildings or for user specific needs.
Of particular note is the overall vacancy rates in these four submarkets. Three of the four submarkets are remarkably healthy, with all three below 10% vacancy with only the Fulton/Forsyth market edging above that number to 11.5%. This submarket is the most volatile of the four, with the highest inventory of Class A space, and historically sees more competition against the Perimeter submarket.
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Cherokee County Office Submarket
Leasing Indicators:
- 12 Mo Deliveries in SF – 36 K
- 12 Mo Net Absorption in SF 40.3 K
- Vacancy Rate 5.4%
- 12 Mo Rent Growth 2.4%
Current Quarter | RBA | Vacancy Rate | Gross Asking Rent | Availability Rate | Net Absorption SF | Deliveries SF | Under Construction |
4 & 5 Star | 345,918 | 10.8% | $28.07 | 11.3% | 0 | 0 | 12,841 |
3 Star | 1,695,883 | 6.8% | $18.24 | 9.0% | (8,951) | 0 | 0 |
1 & 2 Star | 1,977,509 | 3.1% | $14.83 | 4.4% | 7,234 | 0 | 0 |
Submarket | 4,019,310 | 5.4% | $17.44 | 7.0% | (1,717) | 0 | 12,841 |
Sale Comparables :
- Cap Rate 52 – 8.7%
- Price/SF $163
- Vacancy At Sale 5.1%
East Cobb Office Submarket
Leasing Indicators:
- 12 Mo Deliveries in SF: 0
- 12 Mo Net Absorption in SF: 6 K
- Vacancy Rate: 3%
- 12 Mo Rent Growth: 6%
Current Quarter | RBA | Vacancy Rate | Gross Asking Rent | Availability Rate | Net Absorption SF | Deliveries SF | Under Construction |
4 & 5 Star | 277,000 | 0% | $27.47 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
3 Star | 1,043,332 | 6.1% | $19.98 | 11.4% | (3,718) | 0 | 0 |
1 & 2 Star | 2,084,626 | 7.2% | $15.04 | 8.6% | 28,727 | 0 | 0 |
Submarket | 3,404,958 | 6.3% | $17.57 | 8.7% | 25,009 | 0 | 0 |
Sale Comparables
- Cap Rate : 9.0%
- Price/SF: $103
- Vacancy At Sale: 10.8%
Kennesaw / Town Center Submarket
Although I-75 forms the spine of the Kennesaw/Town Center Submarket, its relatively far-flung location limits accessibility from other parts of Atlanta compared to more established office nodes. Some of the largest office users here include a Home Depot call center, CarMax Auto Finance, and Enercon Services, Inc., but leases over 50,000 square feet are rare.
The submarket has a low concentration of 4 & 5 Star office buildings, which keeps average rents lower than the metro. However, Kennesaw/Town Center does have one of the largest concentrations of healthcare-related employment in the metro, and the medical office share of the total inventory here (nearly 20%) is more than double the metrowide benchmark. Much of that space is centered on WellStar’s Kennestone and Cobb hospitals. With demand drivers for medical space, below-market rents, and a lack of new development this cycle, vacancy is well below the metro average. These fundamentals have attracted some institutional investment as of late, and 2017 saw investment volume quadruple historical averages.
Leasing Indicators:
- 12 Mo Deliveries in SF : 8 K
- 12 Mo Net Absorption in SF: (56.1 K)
- Vacancy Rate: 4%
- 12 Mo Rent Growth: 0%
Current Quarter | RBA | Vacancy Rate | Gross Asking Rent | Availability Rate | Net Absorption SF | Deliveries SF | Under Construction |
4 & 5 Star | 1,612,472 | 4.6% | $27.09 | 6.7% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
3 Star | 4,613,162 | 11.9% | $18.95 | 17.9% | (70,102) | 0 | 0 |
1 & 2 Star | 5,662,326 | 6.6% | $15.03 | 8.4% | 4,582 | 0 | 0 |
Submarket | 11,887,960 | 8.4% | $18.19 | 11.9% | (65,520) | 0 | 0 |
Sale Comparables:
- Cap Rate: 8.2%
- Price/SF: $241
- Vacancy At Sale: 6.4%
North Fulton / Forsyth County Office
The North Fulton/Forsyth County Submarket is one of the most premier suburban office nodes in Atlanta, surrounded by affluent communities like Alpharetta and Johns Creek. It is the largest office submarket in the metro and was also one of the fastest growing until this cycle. But North Fulton has experienced limited construction since 2009, as significant deliveries really just returned in 2017. Vacancies have continued to tick higher over the last three years, while 18Q3 marked several notable move outs. Both State Farm and Comcast vacated 100,000 SF+ blocks of space as they moved to new offices closer in-town.
Despite rising vacancy, rent growth has remained healthy, on par with the metro average at 2.9%. Asking rents trail the metro average, and the submarket is much more affordable compared to the premier office nodes of Buckhead and Midtown. Investors have found much to like, as investment volumes are more than double historical averages.
Leasing Indicators:
- 12 Mo Deliveries in SF: 434K
- 12 Mo Net Absorption in SF: 1 K
- Vacancy Rate: 5%
- 12 Mo Rent Growth: 9%
Current Quarter | RBA | Vacancy Rate | Gross Asking Rent | Availability Rate | Net Absorption SF | Deliveries SF | Under Construction |
4 & 5 Star | 14,337,962 | 12.5% | $28.02 | 17.6% | 31,580 | 0 | 788,308 |
3 Star | 14,673,732 | 12.3% | $20.45 | 14.9% | 58,790 | 38,500 | 41,800 |
1 & 2 Star | 8,244,650 | 8.4% | $15.75 | 9.7% | (13,525) | 0 | 0 |
Submarket | 37,256,344 | 11.5% | $22.44 | 14.9% | 76,845 | 38,500 | 830,108 |
Sale Comparables:
- Cap Rate: 8.8%
- Price/SF: $149
- Vacancy At Sale: 14.0%
Leasing
The Atlanta office market is in a solid position, in part because of competitive advantages compared to major metros in the US. Office rents in Atlanta are about 15% lower than in Chicago, 40% less than in Los Angeles, and 60% below New York rates. The general cost of living in Atlanta is also less for workers compared with the average among the top 12 U.S. metros, and such affordability will help fuel late-cycle gains in white-collar job growth. And despite a rise in office deliveries, demand has been strong enough to keep vacancies flat the last few years.
Demand is diversifying across industries and submarkets . While Buckhead and Midtown will always attract big tenants, such as NCR’s new Midtown headquarters, many of the largest leases signed in Atlanta over the past several years have involved large national companies in submarkets outside the core. Most notably, the Cumberland/Galleria Submarket, initially a laggard in the recovery, has recently experienced a surge in leasing. Comcast inked a deal for 260,000 SF in the SunTrust Park development to consolidate some of its Atlanta area offices and add an innovation center. While HD Supply signed a lease for 222,000 SF in a build-to-suit just down the road that will accommodate its HQ expansion in Cumberland/Galleria, which is expected to create hundreds of additional jobs. State Farm has been moving into its new campus in Central Perimeter, and while the locations and industry types have been varied, one theme remains consistent: Quality product is winning out. New and recently renovated buildings continue to capture a large share of major leases.
Large deals in Atlanta have varied by industry, but tech and IT leasing are accelerating absorption in multiple nodes. Midtown has been the big winner in recent quarters. Among large leases executed over the past two years, Midtown has captured much of the space filled by tech-leaning companies or divisions across the metro. NCR (consumer transaction technologies) is relocating thousands of employees from Gwinnett County to its Midtown build-to-suit, and Kaiser Permanente has announced that it will hire 900 IT workers in Midtown by 2019. Other IT operations of Fortune 500 companies that recently announced a move to Midtown include Honeywell, Anthem, and GE. Hometown-startup SalesLoft recently announced an expansion to 70,000 square feet at its current office at Regions Plaza in Midtown, which will occupy the top three floors. Motivations cited for such moves include proximity to Georgia Tech and increasing the companies’ appeal to a young, tech-oriented workforce.