NAI Carolantic Realty Broker Speaks at CCIM Forecast

Raleigh, NC – April 6, 2009 - The North Carolina Chapter of CCIM recently held its 2009 Annual Commercial Real Estate Market Forecast at the Embassy Suites Raleigh-Durham/Research Triangle. Ed Brown, SIOR, CCIM, who has been a broker with NAI Carolantic for 20 years, was one of the featured speakers at the March 19th luncheon.

Mr. Brown shared his expertise in industrial leasing and sales by giving a review and forecast of the industrial warehouse and flex market in the Triangle area. His review of the warehouse market spotlighted a fundamentally healthy market despite the economy. Brown admitted that demand had slowed resulting in higher vacancy, negative absorption and lower rental rates. However, in a market of 23 million square feet, the good news is that there is a diversified tenant base and limited new construction. The lack of construction is due to several reasons: there are few remaining sites with water and sewer; the market rental rates do not justify building at current land and construction costs; and limited financing availability. For the future, Mr. Brown anticipates demand will be from commodity distributors as consumers start to spend again and from third party logistics (3PL) companies winning contracts as businesses outsource various operations to save money.

As for the flex market, Mr. Brown indicated that the office/flex vacancy rate had increased for the first time in five years with no significant new construction. This is in part due to competition with Class B and mid-rise office buildings. According to Brown, warehouse/flex will also continue to see a vacancy increase due to the economy and construction/building industry slow down. It is expected that the flex market vacancy will increase over the next several months due to the national economy. Brown closed by saying, “If you are a Landlord, the name of the game now is keeping your existing tenants. If you are a Tenant, you want to leverage the market for favorable lease terms”.

For additional information, Mr. Brown can be reached at 919-832-0594 or by email at ebrown@naicarolantic.com.

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NAI Carolantic is the Raleigh/Research Triangle area’s leading commercial real estate firm with sixteen brokers, a full-service property management division, as well as an experienced marketing and research division. Established in 1972, NAI Carolantic is a member firm of NAI, the leading international provider of commercial real estate services and solutions. NAI has over 5,000 real estate professionals in over 325 markets worldwide serving corporate, institutional and government clients through its offices strategically located in major, secondary and tertiary markets. NAI is the leader in real estate technology and provides a sophisticated online transaction and portfolio management system to manage assignments and existing locations.