Don’t fret over speculative construction just yet. CoStar data reveals new speculative office and industrial starts—close to their 10-year peak—and just keeping up with demand.
CoStar director of research Suzanne Mulvee says speculative industrial starts are out in front with over 50% of industrial construction.
But even with a 240% construction hike since 2012, big-box warehouses are barely catching e-commerce demand—and with Amazon’s promised 24-hour delivery, that’s not likely to let up.
Colliers principal David Burden says office sector developers are more tame, depending on the market. With 50% of the new space driven by the tech sector, cities like S.F. are booming.
The hotel sector is market-dependent too—cities like Dallas, Denver and Seattle have seen soaring room revenues, making them hot digs for developers, JLL VP of hotels and hospitality Kent Michaels says.
Select-service hotels are smoking hot right now, making up 75% of new construction.
On the flip side, retail and multifamily are seeing a demand drop. While e-commerce drives new warehouses, it sinks brick-and-mortar retail.
Multifamily is still seeing low vacancies, but units are being filled up by Gen-X'ers and Baby Boomers—the price is just too steep for Millennials. There’ll be trouble (i.e. overbuilding) if vacancies start rising. [NREI]
