Real Estate Beckons A Suburban Office Revival and Avoids Anti-Biz States

NEW YORK CITY – Suburban office is getting its groove back as Millennial demand for walkable live-work-play amenities spill out into the burbs with an urban core not too far away. Suburban investors showing up to the party are not pressed to glance back at urban investment, especially in states where taxes have increased, and where private and public partnerships are unaligned on social infrastructure, according to panelists at the Capital Markets Symposium sponsored by Transwestern and Real Estate Forum at the Penn Club of New York in Midtown on Dec. 11.

A lot of the movement to the suburbs has been driven by Millennials who do not want to drive and generally do not own cars and prefer flexible transportation options, such as ride-shares, which is beneficial for a transit-oriented development in a suburban setting, according to panelist Nicki Livanos, director of real estate investments at AXA.  If it’s “close enough to an urban environment, or looks and feels like an urban environment, it is doing fairly well,” said Livanos.

Steve Pumper, executive managing partner of Transwestern’s Capital Markets and Asset Strategies Group, seconded Livanos’ point. “Even in a suburban market where there’s light rail, you’ve seen a positive impact,” he said. “Dart has had a positive impact on Dallas.”