91视频

The Oregon chapter of the Society of Marketing Professionals hosted a lively panel discussion earlier this week on growth and suburban revival this week that emphasized the need for more commercial buildings space.

Panelist Josh Bean, a broker with Doug Bean & Associates of Portland, said figures from about a month ago show area vacancy rates are 9.2 percent in the central business district and 8 percent in the suburbs.

鈥淚t’s tough out there if you’re a tenant,鈥� he said.

Other panelists included Tom Parsons, president and head of development for Holland Partner Group, based in Vancouver, Washington; Cheryl Twete, community development director for the city of Beaverton; and Alisa Pyszka, vice president of recruitment for Greater Portland Inc., a regional development partnership.

Parsons said the area is coming out of a 鈥�5- to 6-year dearth鈥� in both residential and commercial leasing, and there are still 鈥渕ultiple opportunities鈥� in the suburban submarket.

He cited his company’s attempts to get Expedia to build a 1-million-square-foot campus in Seattle, but the company chose instead to pay $80,000 more to be in nearby Bellevue.

Parsons said most of his company’s new construction is in the suburbs near transit centers because that’s what the workforce wants.

鈥淎s we’ve come to see, technology-oriented software creative people are driving the core tech of new companies,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey are young urban people and that’s where they want to be.鈥�

Pyszka said timing and availability make it a tight commercial market.

She said a company from the San Francisco Bay Area was recently looking for 30,000 square feet and had only four options in the central business district. It’s even more difficult if the company has a short deadline for locating space. Searches are conducted nationally, she said, and site selectors want as many options as possible.

鈥淲e are really limited in availability plus quick time lines,鈥� she said. 鈥淲here it really hurts us is by not having a lot of options.鈥�

But location is still important, Parsons said, and the biggest challenge is 鈥済etting the math to work鈥� for potential tenants. Total costs of building are up 30 percent from four years ago, he said, including increased municipal and consultant fees.

鈥淲hen everyone rushes to the trough 鈥� people gulp because rent is up 30 percent, but they don’t want to go where land is available,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 see more redevelopment and more repurposing of buildings where you can hedge costs against location.鈥�

But suburban markets have an advantage because of more favorable tax structures and an abundance of parking, 鈥渨hich is huge,鈥� Bean said.

DIFFERENT TENANTS, DIFFERENT DEMANDS

He said tenants are also demanding a different type of building.

鈥淲e are seeing the first cycle where the majority of new product is at a new level,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you’re talking about an office building, it always has sustainability, but also operable windows, higher ceilings and more daylight 鈥� more buildings are being built by those characteristics than ever before.鈥�

Workforce expectations are also affecting Beaverton commercial use, Twete said.

鈥淲hen you hear a CEO talking about proximity to transit or where employees can go on lunch breaks or run errands on their lunch hour, it’s mind-boggling in an exciting way,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t creates a lot of new opportunities.鈥�

Twete said many employers are recruiting young workers right out of college and although Beaverton is 鈥渘ot known as a highly walkable or bikeable community,鈥� the city is taking steps and next year will create its first transportation plan to propose more sidewalks and bike lanes.

鈥淲e have a new urban renewal district just this year beginning to kick out money,鈥� she said. 鈥淚nfrastructure is a big part in the coming years.鈥�

The panelists also touched on the primary factors that bring companies to the Portland area.

鈥淭he driving issue is talent, how to get it and keep it,鈥� Pyszka said. 鈥淭he issue is how to provide alternative transit options.鈥�

Both Uber and Lyft give added transportation options for attracting young employees, she said.

鈥淭hey don’t like to drive; they are about getting into experiences and not about owning things,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey want sidewalks and alternative transportation, whether it’s suburban or urban.鈥�

But those aren’t everyone’s preferences, Bean said, and cited the newly-completed Kruse Village in Lake Oswego, where vacancy rates have dropped to 10 percent, including one building that is still a shell.

鈥淭hese are different industry types 聽鈥� engineers, lawyers 鈥� and (Kruse Village) is a Class A office park,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t attracts a different type of tenant and they don’t want to give up their cars.鈥�

THE SUBURBAN SHIFT

Bean said he sees other shifts in the suburbs and the central business district, though, and companies are looking at bodies per square foot instead of large offices.

鈥淭he shift in the CBD and the ‘burbs is packing more people into less space,鈥� he said.

Portland is unusual in that it has city-run parking garages, Parsons said, a trend Seattle is getting away from, but that proximity to urban transit or a light rail center 鈥渆nhances overall leasibility.鈥�

Incentives by local jurisdictions can also attract companies, Twete said.

鈥淭hey can defer taxes for 10 years and after an abatement period local jurisdictions receive the taxes,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut for tax abatements (some properties) probably wouldn’t get built.

Incentives are very important, Pyszka said, and Portland often competes with Austin, Texas and Salt Lake City, Utah.

鈥淲e won’t win the day if we say we have bike lanes and food carts,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut we talk about costs and the ability to get and keep talent. It comes down to incentives.鈥�

The panelists also discussed enterprise zones, affordable housing, transportation planning and mixed-use developments.

Twete said Beaverton is 鈥渞eady to soar鈥� with development in its Old Town area and three city-sponsored housing projects that will dramatically transform the city over the next five years.

The big takeaway, Pyszka said, is the need for both urban and suburban development.

鈥淥ne of the trends I’m seeing is it’s becoming a bunch of land in the suburban area that drives development or it’s tech in the CBD,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’re becoming polarized but it’s an incredible mix of both of those and we need both.鈥� We need to look at it as a holistic system.鈥�