Tolliver: Record Stretch For Commercial Real Estate
Cushman & Wakefield Regional Vice President of Research Jason Tolliver has high hopes for the commercial real estate market in Indiana in 2018. Tolliver says 2016-2017 represents the best two-year stretch ever in Indiana and will lead into a "Goldilocks" scenario for next year. "I think you’re going to have strong demand. I don’t know that it’s going to be as strong as what we’ve seen this year, but it’s not going to overpower the amount of supply that comes online," Tolliver said. "By the same token, you’re not going to have supply that washes over the market."
In an interview on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick, Tolliver discussed the hot markets throughout the state. He expects demand in Indianapolis to continue to be high, driven heavily by needs in the technology sector, which Tolliver adds will have ripple effects in multi-family, retail and mixed-used spaces — especially downtown. He says other markets like Fort Wayne and Evansville have also had big years. "Probably the strongest performers across the state are some of your secondary and tertiary markets," Tolliver said.
The industrial sector was another area that boosted the most recent figures. "You would be hard-pressed to find a market where the industrial market is not strong in Indiana," Tolliver said, crediting segments like ecommerce, advanced manufacturing, as well as logistics and distribution. Out of all of the markets in the nation over the next decade, Tolliver believes Indianapolis will be among the top 10 for ecommerce.
Finally, Tolliver discussed the retail segment, which he says is defying popular perception. "Retail is not dead, it’s just different. So, it’s all about omni-channel retail. You have individual retailers who continue to struggle and close stores– that has as much to do about leverage as it does about kind of retailer demand," he says. He predicts consumer spending, especially during the holidays, to drive more retail space demand for a "much improved" forecast.