Category: NAI Martens

The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) confirmed this week that construction activity on New York City’s Manhattan Island had – predictably – slumped in 2020, to almost its lowest level in a decade. The World Property Journal detailed the findings of REBNY’s Q4 2020 New Building Construction Pipeline Report, highlighting that “new building filings in 2020 represented a proposed 42.67 million construction square feet, which is an approximately 28% decline compared to proposed construction square footage in 2019”. This was, the report said, the lowest total since 2012.…

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Pivoting from in-store sales to tech-enabled sales was one of the saving graces of retail in 2020 when stores emptied out, and shelter-at-home orders dragged one. The data now shows that companies and markets better positioned to shift to e-commerce fared better than those that didn’t.  The upside to shifting sales online, though, was that it contributed to a longer holiday shopping season, and drove record-breaking extension in e-commerce market penetration, with some reporting as much as 70% e-commerce sales growth last year.  When a door closes… On the commercial real estate (CRE) side of…

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It seems Texas is the darling of commercial real estate (CRE) and tech giants at the moment, as several corporations recently shared their intent to head south-east in 2021. As you know, Silicon Valley has long been known as the home of tech, but recent CRE news shows many companies are moving away from the Golden State and heading for the Lone Star one. Just last month – December 2020 – Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE) announced their plans to relocate the corporate headquarters to Houston, Texas. In a media statement,…

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Green and sustainable retail has been a talking point for at least two decades, but it has previously been characterized as “unachievable” and even “unaffordable” with some of the big brand retailers detailing how they experienced push back from consumers as greener principles led to increased prices, especially in the early 2000s. This is, however, a very different conversation today in 2021, with Gen Z and younger millennials sustainability-minded. There is a long-overdue green movement in retail, and adoption is often rewarded with customer loyalty. So how can you make…

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In 2019, there was so much discussion surrounding the topic of automated vehicles. Electric trucks, self-driving cars, and autonomous delivery trucks were all the rage within CRE conversations… So what’s happened since? Let’s take a look at how things have changed over the last year regarding self-driving cars, paying special focus to how these developments are set to impact commercial real estate. Where 2019 Left Off In 2019, the self-driving car topic was blazing across the industry. However, without a tangible product or service model to look at, many of…

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As the old saying goes, hard times foster growth. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that the hospitality sector is changing so rapidly. Hotels have had a tough year. 2020 introduced challenges for every facet of commercial real estate – but travel-based industries saw unparalleled disruption. For the first time, travel bans and market closures put all tourism on hold. Whether for work or play, there were no guests to be found in vacant hotels for months. Reopening markets brought reprieve for many CRE sectors, but hotels still had…

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Over the past few months, office owners and team leaders have been doing everything they can to make their workspaces safe and healthy. Office buildings have undergone massive alterations to prepare for the full-scale return to the workspace… but when will that happen? Changes to the Office Space Today’s offices are contactless, tech-powered, and socially distant. Commercial property owners and residing tenants have teamed up to build an office space that does not put occupants at risk. This required immense investment on the part of CRE and individual companies, but…

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Since the pandemic, planning for the future has become incredibly difficult. Whether it’s the one-month outlook or one-year forecast, uncertainty looms over every prediction. 2020’s widespread barriers to foresight have been causing troubles across the board. However, the impacts have been particularly intense for commercial real estate leasing. As a result, today’s leases are more creative than ever: new clauses have been added, lease timelines have adjusted case-by-case, and a general atmosphere of openness is reshaping CRE.   This flexibility has given rise to new leasing trends that vary sector-by-sector. Unique…

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Everyone loves their pets – especially your tenants. Today’s multifamily residents want to live in a building that rolls out the red carpet for fido. These demands are increasing, prompting the multifamily sector to reanalyze how they’ve been defining “pet friendly.” Is your multifamily community showing its furry friends enough love? Beyond just allowing pets to live on the property, it’s important to start considering ways that you can make your multifamily building extra pet friendly. If you’re thinking this isn’t such a big deal, it’s time to think again.…

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2020 was far from a year of jet setting and traveling. On the contrary, people all over the world were hunkering down in their homes to ride out the coronavirus pandemic. The travel industry’s decline seeps into the commercial real estate arena through hotels and short-term rentals, like Airbnb and Vrbo. Now that we’re on the apex of a new year, are we finally ready to travel again? Hotel Hardships in 2020 Without guests to fill their rooms, CRE’s hospitality sector was in hot water. Data showed that COVID’s impact…

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