At the Bisnow “State of the Market” event Wednesday in Carlsbad, representatives of the region’s biggest developers said there are challenges in San Diego, but also many opportunities to get big tech companies into new developments.
It’s been boom time for San Diego developers for several years, but how long it will last is up in the air.
Some of the region’s top developers gave mixed answers about the future of real estate investment at an event Wednesday in Carlsbad to discuss the state of the market. Attended by about 150 people, the occasion was hosted by digital media company Bisnow and held at the newly constructed Create building.
In general, developers saw potential in bringing big tech firms to the region, especially in new office space. However, they were concerned with high housing costs pushing out potential buyers, as well as talented workers tech companies will need.
The region has also experienced several years of strong investment, but it is unclear if things will significantly slow down. Nathan Moeder, principal with real estate analysts London Moeder Advisors, said it was not surprising that some analysts predict real estate is at its peak, meaning things will go downhill from here. “We really have reached maximum employment,” he said. “We have reached maximum price evaluations.”
Speculative Building
Developers said building office space in San Diego County means constructing new complexes with no set tenant in mind. It can be risky, because lenders typically would like to see a tenant already signed on before they finance a huge project. Greg Williams, a managing director at Stockdale Capital Partners, said it’s necessary for big projects in San Diego County to take a gamble on new office supply because tech companies are not completely sold on the region yet.
Stockdale is working toward a major speculative project — turning Horton Plaza into a tech campus. Williams said once the project is completed, it can have the effect of increasing office rents and demand.
“We are really having to work hard to convince tech companies that are in San Francisco how much talent there is” in San Diego, he said, “what the quality of life is like.”
Williams said he was amazed how quickly Silicon Valley tech companies were willing to go out of state without looking at the value of San Diego.
He said downtown San Diego reminds him of Austin a few years ago, which has now seen a major influx of tech companies into its downtown. Like San Diego’s downtown, he said many of Austin’s businesses wanted to be outside the city center with a reverse commute of many residents out to the suburbs to work.
John Kenney, principal at the Casey Brown Company, said the future was unknown when it began work on the $40 million project to turn the former San Diego Union-Tribune building into high-end office space called Ampersand.
It started work on the project without a major tenant, but in September welcomed its first big tenant — Encore Capital Group, which takes up the entire third floor. He said the company was confident it would be a prime location for businesses, even if others weren’t so sure.
“We took people on tours early on and people looked at the printing press and dirt everywhere and they were like, ‘You are crazy. This will never work.’” he said. “I think to get people to buy into it, they need to see” the final product.
Residential Investment
A lack of high paying tech jobs means the county’s largest working generation, millennials, cannot afford new developments, said Brad Termini, co-founder of Zephyr Partners.
Zephyr is now selling condos at The Park development in Bankers Hill. Units start at $1.4 million. He said 75 percent of the building is sold, but only two buyers were under 50 years old.
“Our average buyer is 60 years old,” he said. “That’s a problem for our community.”
Paul Kaseburg, chief investment officer at MG Properties, said a way to attract tech workers is having places to live in a place people want to be, like San Diego. That works well for real estate investment, but only if enough of those jobs exist.
He said the problem is younger, low-income workers are leaving the region because they can’t afford high housing costs. That means a housing market that won’t grow as much as lower cost places like Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Benefits of San Diego
San Diego County’s real estate market has been busy for years with high-rise residential, and the occasional new office or mixed-use building. Seth Grossman, senior managing director at Meridian Capital Group, said its not as easy to finance a big deal as it used to be, but deals are to be had with enough effort.
“2011, 2012, 2013 2014: I didn’t see a deal I didn’t like,” he said. San Diego developers wonder when boom time will end on, he said things started to get a lot more expensive and the main complaint from his clients are that deals aren’t penciling out to make a good enough profit. He said people are still getting deals done, it just is taking a lot longer.
Grossman said the economy is going well enough that investors have not lost their appetite and low interest rates are sometimes too good to pass up.
In many ways, the San Diego region is still cheaper than much of the West Coast, said John Kenney, of the Casey Brown Company. He said big projects, like the Ampersand project and the Horton Plaza effort, are beginning to change people’s minds about what is available.
“There is starting to be the beginnings of opportunities for those type of larger projects to come into San Diego,” he said. “There’s a really good nexus of components coming together to make this an attractive place for capital to be placed.”
Article Via: The San Diego Union Tribune
DISCLAIMER: This blog/article has been curated from an alternate source and is designed for informational purposes to highlight the commercial real estate market. It solely represents the opinion of the specific blogger/author and does not necessarily represent the opinion of Pacific Coast Commercial.
All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner of will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.
Keywords: San Diego Commercial Real Estate For Sale, Commercial Property In San Diego, Commercial Real Estate In San Diego, San Diego Investment Real Estate, Commercial Property Management In San Diego, San Diego Commercial Property Management, Commercial Property Management San Diego, Managed Commercial Property San Diego, Commercial Property For Sale San Diego, San Diego Commercial Real Estate Leasing, Top Real Estate Agents in San Diego, Commercial Property in San Diego, Property Management Company San Diego, Real Estate Agent in San Diego, San Diego Commercial Real Estate
Comments