MINNEAPOLIS—The Twin Cities metro area has one of the healthiest economies in the US, but even here the northwest suburbs have stood out as especially desirable for industrial users. The Opus Group has responded by launching the development of a 145,800-square-foot speculative industrial office and warehouse facility in suburban Brooklyn Park, its second recent spec development in the region.
The metro area has an extraordinarily low unemployment rate, currently 3.3% according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the lowest of any large region in the US. And its industrial sector has seen 17 consecutive quarters of positive net absorption.
“This submarket has probably been our strongest in the last 12 months,” Tony Phelps, senior director, real estate development of Opus Development Company, LLC, tells GlobeSt.com. Developers started building a collection of new spec buildings, but most were targeted toward bulk distribution users and featured 28' to 32' clear heights.
“Where we saw a lack of product was in the 24' clear market,” he says. Located at the intersection of 85th Ave. and Wyoming Ave. North, the new building will offer a 24' clear warehouse and a significant amount of office space. The submarket has a great number of smaller firms, such as med tech providers, that typically need about 30% of their space devoted to offices, a far higher percentage than needed by bulk distribution users.
“The industrial market has been very strong for about 24 months,” Phelps adds, which gave Opus even more confidence. Rental rates have started to creep up and landlords find they can now fill spaces without offering too many incentives. “It's becoming more of a landlord's market, especially up there in the northwest.”
Vacancy in the industrial market decreased slightly during the fourth quarter of 2014, dropping from 8.8% to 8.6%, according to a new report by Colliers International. “Minneapolis-St. Paul's industrial real estate market is preparing itself for a strong 2015.”
A joint venture partnership between Opus Development Company, LLC and Founders Properties, LLC will own the building. Opus Development Company, LLC will develop the project. Opus Design Build, LLC will be the design-builder and Opus AE Group, LLC will be the architect and engineer of record. Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq will market the property for lease.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
