Emergency vehicle maker Frazer moving headquarters to Sugar Land

In an agreement facilitated by the Sugar Land Economic Development and Tourism (SLOEDT), Frazer, the nation’s leading provider of emergency vehicles, will invest $4 million to relocate its headquarters from Houston to Sugar Land, Texas.

The company will occupy a 150,000-square-foot space at 1410 Gillingham Lane and create 286 new jobs with an average annual salary of $71,000.

Frazer has provided vehicles suitable for licensing and use as mobile clinics, mobile stroke units and ambulances to fire and emergency medical services organizations nationwide for over 30 years. The company is leasing its new headquarters from CVH Capital Partners LLC, which was formerly occupied by Thermo Fisher Scientific. The two-story facility sits on a 10.65-acre fenced and landscaped site, minutes to several major roadways, including U.S. 59, and less than 30 minutes from Houston.

SLOEDT facilitated the company’s expansion, working with Frazer’s leadership and the City of Sugar Land on various incentive and financing options.

This news follows Accredo Packaging’s fourth expansion in Sugar Land, representing a $10 million investment, and SouthWest Water Company’s expansion, which created 100 new jobs. SLOEDT incentives and financing accelerated both deals.

Sugar Land is located about miles from Houston.

KDC celebrates topping out of Wells Fargo office campus in Las Colinas

KDC and Wells Fargo celebrated the topping out of the financial institution’s first net-positive energy office campus at 401 W. Las Colinas Blvd. at the northeast corner of West Las Colinas Boulevard and Promenade Parkway in Las Colinas, Texas. The facility will stand one block south of West Northwest Highway.

The 850,000-square-foot facility will allow Wells Fargo to consolidate multiple offices across the Metroplex to the 22-acre Las Colinas site by the end of 2025 when the campus is expected to officially open.

As Wells Fargo’s first net-positive energy campus, it is expected to generate more energy than it consumes with rooftop solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations and native plantings to minimize watering requirements. The campus is targeted for LEED Platinum environmental certification.

Enhanced employee wellness and access to outdoor activities were also top priorities throughout the planning process. The new campus will include well-being rooms and gyms with remotely led classes, as well as nearby walking and bicycle trails, stand-up paddle board rentals, a cycling studio and four golf courses.

The interior design boasts full-scale amenities including barista-style coffee, a world-class food hall with open-view cooking stations and a dining hall overlooking Lake Carolyn. There will also be a library with a high-tech workshop space and a tech express lounge on-site.

Partners on the project include Corgan (CS/TI Architect and Design); Kimley Horn (Landscape, Civil); and Austin Commercial (GC for CS/Site/TI).

Some CRE good news: Report predicts jump in sales activity in all four major asset classes … even office

Brokers, developers and lenders who worked through the challenges presented by high interest rates won’t be surprised to learn that investment sales volume fell for the second consecutive year in 2023.

But what about this year? Will investment sales activity pick up? A new report from Colliers predicts that it will. But how much this activity rises in 2024 is still unknown.

In its most recent Market Snapshot, Colliers points to an unsurprising reason for optimism in 2024: The Federal Reserve Board has signaled that it will no longer be increasing it benchmark interest rate. But while this is good news, there is some disappointment here: As Colliers says, the market initially predicted not just flat interest rates, but significant rate cuts this year. So far, that hasn’t happened.

At the same time, even with the Fed’s decision, borrowing costs will still be well above where they stood when many CRE deals originated, something that will cause challenges for the many refinancings expected this year. An estimated $2.8 trillion of loan maturities are expected through 2028. As Colliers asks in its report, how will these deals be capitalized?

What about individual asset classes? What does the future hold for them?

Multifamily: Colliers says that multifamily remained the most heavily transacted asset class as 2023 drew to a close. At the same time, it also posted the largest annual volume decline in sales activity of all the major asset classes last year.

Colliers reports that a record influx of new supply continues to impact the multifamily sector. This supply boost has resulted in falling asking rents in many parts of the country. Concessions are also on the rise.

However, Colliers says that multifamily is expected to remain the top choice of capital in 2024, leading all asset classes in sales volume. Fewer groundbreakings of new multifamily properties will take place this year, leading to an anticipated window of lower supply in the future, setting the multifamily market up for a new round of rent growth and stronger fundamentals.

Office: Colliers reports that office volume as a share of total sales hit a new low point in 2023, accounting for just 15.1% of all sales activity last year. CBD activity has been hit the hardest, with only $13.4 billion traded in 2023, the lowest volume since 2009.

The good news? Colliers says that the office market has likely hit bottom, and predicts that momentum and deal velocity will accelerate in 2024. Investors and lenders will be forced this year to move underperforming assets.

Industrial: The industrial market has long been a darling of investors. But even this sector saw sales activity fall in 2023, according to Colliers.

Sales volume last year aligned with activity in 2015 through 2019, according to Colliers. But the number of individual deals was lower, with today’s higher pricing propping up aggregate volume.

Sales volume peaked in the second quarter of 2023 and then declined in both the third and fourth quarters. Colliers, though, said that it expects increased sales activity in the industrial sector in the months ahead.

As Colliers says, industrial remains a highly liquid asset class, and should rank as the second-most heavily traded property type in 2024.

Retail: Retail bucked the trend in 2023, showing improved fundamentals last year. That led to an uptick in sales volume. According to Colliers, retail drove 16.7% of all sales volume in 2023, its highest aggregate mark since 2015.

Because of its strong 2023 performance, Colliers predicts that retail will become a potential landing spot for capital in 2024 and beyond.

The positives in the retail sector are many today. Colliers pointed to low unemployment, healthy job gains and wage growth as three of the bigger ones. There are some potential worries: Consumer delinquencies on credit card and auto loan debt have risen. But overall, consumers seem ready to continue spending, Colliers says.

Finial Group closes industrial property sale in Houston

Jason Gibbons and Tyler Holt with Finial Group closed a sale at 12543 Perry Road in Houston.

The industrial property in Northwest Houston totals 21,250 square feet with 5,420 square feet of covered outdoor storage area.

The property features 11 grade-level roll-up doors and has frontage on Perry Road. Holt and Gibbons represented the seller. Jim Rock with Avison Young represented the buyer.

A shortage of skilled labor? It’s still a challenge for the commercial construction industry

It’s not getting any easier for commercial construction companies to find the skilled workers they need to staff their job sites. This shortage of skilled labor ranks as one of the bigger challenges that commercial construction companies face.

That’s the big takeaway from a recent study looking at the hurdles that commercial constructions companies must overcome in today’s competitive construction industry.

A recent analysis by financial services and accounting firm Marcum LLP, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), indicates that despite some economic improvements in 2023, the construction industry remains hampered by a severe shortage of skilled labor.

The annual analysis, conducted by Marcum’s National Construction Services Group, reveals that although the economy showed signs of strength with robust hiring in the construction sector throughout 2023, the industry still grapples with a significant deficit in skilled workers.

Anirban Basu, Marcum’s chief construction economist and the report’s author, noted that despite steady job growth over the past 10 months, the industry remains about 500,000 jobs short of pre-pandemic levels.

According to Basu, the pace of hiring in the construction industry would have been even stronger if not for the persistent shortage of skilled labor that companies face. He highlighted that throughout 2023, an average of 4.6% of construction positions remained unfilled, marking the second-highest level on record, surpassed only by the previous year’s 4.9% average.

While other industries have seen improvements in labor supply imbalances, the construction sector continues to face challenges. This has led to increased labor costs. Basu said that since the beginning of 2022, average hourly earnings for construction workers have outpaced wage growth across all industries, a trend expected to persist into 2024 due to sustained demand for construction services. But even with these higher wages, construction companies have struggled to fill their empty positions.

Marcum’s report wasn’t all gloomy, though. Joseph Natarelli, Marcum’s national construction leader, expressed cautious optimism about the future of the construction industry despite these challenges.

Companies that strive for creative solutions to meet their staffing needs are the same companies that will thrive throughout 2024 and beyond, he said.

“The demographic trends at the heart of labor shortages over the years are likely to continue,” Natarelli said. “With Baby Boomers edging toward retirement and immigration offering limited relief, our industry must navigate these headwinds with innovative hiring strategies and a firm grasp on market forecasts.”

Romina Kadiwal, recognized at Greater Houston Retailers Cooperative Association, Inc.

Romina Kadiwal joined the Greater Houston Retailers Cooperative Association in 2001 when she was 18 and is now the senior most executive team member. She has contributed significantly to the growth and success of GHRA and its membership. As the director of HR and administration, Kadiwal leads HR initiatives, fosters employee development, and addresses compliance and risk management requirements. She has helped to increase employee retention and establish GHRA as an employer of choice.