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Real estate experts forecast growth
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Nov. 7, 2005 -- Forget the I-4 corridor. Interstate 10 and this area of North Florida are poised to be the next hot spot for real-estate development, according to some real-estate experts.
That's because lack of available land and water supplies as well as growth-management problems are continuing to plague South Florida.
"We've recently become a part of Florida now," said Will Butler, of the St. Joe Land Co. Butler was among the real-estate experts and more than 500 attendees Friday who shared their knowledge of the industry at Florida State University's Real Estate Trends & Networking Conference.
The conference, in its 11th year, was held at the University Center Club.
"I believe - whether we want to see this area of the state change or not - we will see unprecedented growth along I-10," Butler said.
But that growth will come in stages, experts say, as many residents still want to live in bigger cities in Central and South Florida.
Currently those cities are seeing exponential growth in condominiums. But many additional condo projects might not get off the drawing board, according to real-estate officials.
They see a slowdown of more expensive condos, and more affordable ones may come into the market. But sales, said real-estate officials, didn't seemed to have been affected by the hurricanes.
The rental market, however, has seen a backlash.
The demand for more condos means more condo conversions. Tampa Bay, said Michael Slater, with TRAIAD Research & Consulting, has lost at least 25,000 rental units because of conversions.
And that's too bad because "it's a good time to own rental assets," Slater said, "They're just hard to find."
Historically, Florida's rental market growth has been faster than that of the nation. Nationally, the growth rate was around 2.45 percent. Most Florida metro markets realized growth of about 4 percent a year. But now the rate is 6 percent to 10 percent a year.
Similar growth rates also are being seen in the retail office market area.
Trend watchers reported that the Florida office market is outperforming that of any other state. Only Washington, D.C., is doing better. Statewide, vacancy rates hover at about 13.7 percent.
In Florida, retail office space still can be rented around $20 a square foot, according to Paul Ellis, of the Trammel Crow Co.
Because of Florida's low office rental rates, more companies are doing regional relocations. The state's natural resources and lack of a personal income tax are also attractive to companies. It also has a strong labor pool. There are at least 50 colleges and universities in the Orlando area alone.
Prices for office space will rise, said experts, because of land and construction costs and operating expenses, as reasons. But the good news, they say, is that the market will remain competitive.
George Banks, Summit East's operations manager, believes he's seeing that already.
Banks handles leasing for the technology park at U.S. 90 East and Interstate 10, which plans to build at least 10 to 12 other buildings. Currently, its three buildings are 100-percent leased.
"The demand is there for our product," Banks said. "And based on this, it looks like it will continue to be strong."
Copyright ? 2005 Tallahassee Democrat, Juana Jordan. All Rights Reserved.
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Real estate experts forecast growth
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Nov. 7, 2005 -- Forget the I-4 corridor. Interstate 10 and this area of North Florida are poised to be the next hot spot for real-estate development, according to some real-estate experts.
That's because lack of available land and water supplies as well as growth-management problems are continuing to plague South Florida.
"We've recently become a part of Florida now," said Will Butler, of the St. Joe Land Co. Butler was among the real-estate experts and more than 500 attendees Friday who shared their knowledge of the industry at Florida State University's Real Estate Trends & Networking Conference.
The conference, in its 11th year, was held at the University Center Club.
"I believe - whether we want to see this area of the state change or not - we will see unprecedented growth along I-10," Butler said.
But that growth will come in stages, experts say, as many residents still want to live in bigger cities in Central and South Florida.
Currently those cities are seeing exponential growth in condominiums. But many additional condo projects might not get off the drawing board, according to real-estate officials.
They see a slowdown of more expensive condos, and more affordable ones may come into the market. But sales, said real-estate officials, didn't seemed to have been affected by the hurricanes.
The rental market, however, has seen a backlash.
The demand for more condos means more condo conversions. Tampa Bay, said Michael Slater, with TRAIAD Research & Consulting, has lost at least 25,000 rental units because of conversions.
And that's too bad because "it's a good time to own rental assets," Slater said, "They're just hard to find."
Historically, Florida's rental market growth has been faster than that of the nation. Nationally, the growth rate was around 2.45 percent. Most Florida metro markets realized growth of about 4 percent a year. But now the rate is 6 percent to 10 percent a year.
Similar growth rates also are being seen in the retail office market area.
Trend watchers reported that the Florida office market is outperforming that of any other state. Only Washington, D.C., is doing better. Statewide, vacancy rates hover at about 13.7 percent.
In Florida, retail office space still can be rented around $20 a square foot, according to Paul Ellis, of the Trammel Crow Co.
Because of Florida's low office rental rates, more companies are doing regional relocations. The state's natural resources and lack of a personal income tax are also attractive to companies. It also has a strong labor pool. There are at least 50 colleges and universities in the Orlando area alone.
Prices for office space will rise, said experts, because of land and construction costs and operating expenses, as reasons. But the good news, they say, is that the market will remain competitive.
George Banks, Summit East's operations manager, believes he's seeing that already.
Banks handles leasing for the technology park at U.S. 90 East and Interstate 10, which plans to build at least 10 to 12 other buildings. Currently, its three buildings are 100-percent leased.
"The demand is there for our product," Banks said. "And based on this, it looks like it will continue to be strong."
Copyright ? 2005 Tallahassee Democrat, Juana Jordan. All Rights Reserved.
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