What a Bargain

When I look at what most items cost now, and I think about what we paid for them when I was younger, most things seem very expensive (gas especially--there was a gas station near my high school boyfriend's house that was having a gas war with another station, and it was 16 cents a gallon!).  A few seem not to have gone up nearly as much, but I'll bet that New Haven commercial real estate ranks right near the top.

In the late 70s and early 80s, industrial real estate rates were around $4/sf, and today you can still find places for under $5/sf.  Office space in the 80s could go for around $20/sf, and you can find some in that range now.  The comparisons may not be building to building, but the value of today's pricing is clear, especially when you look at the expenses added on.  Taxes, insurance, and utilities are vastly more now than they were then, and can dwarf the actual rental payment.

So, if you are, like I am, getting to the point when you are in danger of sounding like an old coot when you talk about the "good old days", don't forget to think about real estate prices.  You'll sound current instead!

Office Space Update

CoStar, our national research tool, has found that the rebound in large company profits and sales is beginning to  expand to smaller employers.  Nationally, office space use is creeping up, and vacancy rates--already low due to lack of construction in recent years--are low.  This is in marked contrast to what we have been seeing in the past couple of years.  In our region, we have been noticing a bigger number of startups, maybe a natural  result of people being laid off from their jobs, but also a sign of confidence in the future of industry here.

If you are a tenant, now is the time to renew, expand, or lengthen your lease, before concessions disappear and landlords look to recover some of what they've given back recently.  If you are a landlord, good news appears to be around the corner.  And not a moment too soon for us!