MIAMI—What lies ahead for Jacksonville's industrial market? And how does that fit into the larger Florida and national commercial real estate picture?
GlobeSt.com caught up with Terry Quarterman, first vice president of CBRE Jacksonville, to get some answers. If you missed part one of our exclusive interview, be sure to go back and read his thoughts on how Jacksonville's industrial market is changing.
GlobeSt.com: What lies ahead for industrial market activity?
Quarterman: No one really knows what lies ahead. Since 2011 most real estate experts have predicted leasing activity would return to near normal levels experienced before the great recession. This has occurred in limited markets across the county while the majority of markets are seeing limited activity, the number of completed leases and sales well below pre-recovery levels.
GlobeSt.com: How does that fit into the larger Florida and national commercial real estate picture?
Quarterman: Other than south Florida most Florida markets are still lacking activity as most other markets are around the country. There are only a few markets that have returned to pre-recession growth such as, Dallas, Southern California and Miami/South Florida. Until we see pronounced industrial expansion most markets will remain slow. We see many users looking only to put their plans on hold fearful of an economic crisis and the resulting consequences. Users and well capitalized developers/investors remain suspiciously cautious.
GlobeSt.com: What about spec development? And what's the appetite for risk?
Quarterman: Developers and users don't want to get caught with their pants down if the market goes the wrong way. Small and local speculative development can't get financing. Banks aren't lending. The speculative sector is on hold waiting for vacancy to drop further, lease rates to climb back close to 2008 rents and tangible evidence that U.S. growing for the long term and will not slide back into recession.
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