Middle Market Digest: This Week in the South and Mountain Regions

The US economy passed another milestone before the Fed meets in December to consider resuming interest rate hikes. In October, 161,000 jobs were created nationwide, modestly below projections for 175,000 positions. Digging deeper into the Bureau of Labor Statistic's jobs release, wage growth soared 2.8% year-over-year, nearly double the inflation rate. The jump in wages is the largest since the US emerged from the Great Recession, and has been repeatedly mentioned as a concern for the Fed. Higher wages are anticipated to continue into 2017 as the overtime exempt threshold doubles on December 1 to nearly $48,000. Approximately 4 million workers will become eligible for overtime with the change. With the economy expanding, many employers will either increase employees' salaries or pay overtime wages rather than taking on additional workers. For the most part, all signs point to a rate hike that will put upward pressure on interest rates, according to a report by HomeUnion.—Lisa Brown

BY THE NUMBERS

HOUSTON—Houston's office market continues to struggle due to the downturn in the energy industry, leading to negative net absorption and decreased leasing activity, according to Colliers research. Leasing activity has dropped by 28.6% since third quarter 2015 and by 13.8% during the quarter. Tenants are renewing existing leases, but more companies continue to contract than expand. Houston's office market posted 0.4 million square feet of negative net absorption during the third quarter. Even with the positive absorption year-to-date, because of the additional space completed and added to the market, Houston's city-wide office vacancy rate rose from 16.2% to 17.1% during the quarter, and the annual rate rose significantly, increasing by 260 basis points from 14.5% in third quarter 2015.

NEW ORLEANS—The average asking rental rate per square foot per year for office properties as of midyear was $17.22. This represents an increase of 3.5% compared to the prior three months, with an increase of 3% year-over-year. Countywide average rental rates in New Orleans are 4% higher at $17.47 per square foot per year for office properties currently for lease, according to LoopNet.

NEWS AND NOTABLES

DALLAS—Diane Butler was honored with the Entrepreneurial Spirit Impact Award by CREW Network at the organization's national convention last month in New York City. Butler is chairman of Butler Burgher Group. The Entrepreneurial Spirit Impact Award honors a CREW Network member who has achieved a unique career success or milestone as the result of taking a risk. The individual is willing to step outside of the box to create something new or different, and provide services, develop products, or improve practices by organizing, developing or deploying available resources in an innovative way.

HOUSTON—Berkadia has officially relocated its Houston operations in order to accommodate the growing team of investment sales and commercial lending experts. The Houston Berkadia team relocated from a 6,200-square-foot space at 2200 Post Oak Blvd. to an 18,000-square-foot at 2229 San Felipe St. At the same time, its mortgage banking team reached a milestone in its production volume, on target to hit $3.5 billion in debt production volume alone during the last 18 months. To accommodate this massive growth in production, Berkadia's Houston team has added approximately 30 new professionals during the past 18 months, warranting the more expansive office space for the larger team.

DEAL TRACKER

ALBUQUERQUE—Wienerschnitzel, a 785-square-foot net-leased property sold for $1 million. Jamie Medress and Mark Ruble, investment specialists in Marcus & Millichap's Phoenix office, had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a developer.  The buyer, a limited liability company, was secured and represented by Chris Lind, Jamie Medress and Mark Ruble. Matthew Reeves, broker, assisted in closing this transaction. The Wienerschnitzel ground leased building is located at 2551 Corona Drive NW. 

EDMOND, OK—Tealridge Assisted Living and Memory Care, a 52,283-square-foot senior care facility, has sold. MOC Assisted Living sold the property for $6.75 million to a nonprofit private investor looking to establish a presence in the Oklahoma market. Tealridge Assisted Living and Memory Care is located at 2200 NW 140th St. at the intersection of E Memorial Road and N Eastern Avenue near the Oklahoma Christian University Campus. The facility was constructed in 2010 and has 65 units. Daniel Morris with CBRE's Oklahoma City office represented the buyer in the transaction.

AUSTIN, TX—CBRE Capital Markets has assumed the marketing for Chase Tower, a 22-story, 389,503-square-foot class-A office tower. Todd Mills, Hunter Mills and Casey Knust with CBRE capital markets' institutional properties are marketing the asset on behalf of Dallas-based Spire Realty. Chase Tower, located at 221 West Sixth St., is home to the private Headliners Club on the 21st floor and is 99% occupied. The tower was built in 1974 and renovated in 2007 with a full floor of on-site amenities, including a new fitness center, tenant lounge, conference facilities and deli.

AUSTIN, TX—ECR provides project marketing and leasing services for Monterey Oaks, a 75,000-square-foot office building in Southwest Austin. While negotiating a lease extension with a tenant for approximately 15% of the office space in the building, another significant tenant defaulted on its lease at the building, which could have resulted in the building going from 100% occupancy to approximately 70% within a few months. The ECR team worked very quickly with the ownership to finalize lease terms with the existing tenant, increasing the tenant's in-place lease rate by more than 20% with very minimal refurbishment to the space. In regards to the vacated space, a leasing special was offered and, within three weeks, the ownership had the choice of a handful of prospective tenants interested in moving into the space with quick commencements and minimal improvements. ECR's strategic and proactive leasing approach to these opportunities helped meet the ownership's goal of retaining 100% occupancy while substantially increasing the net operating income for the property.

BUILDING BLOCKS

EL DORADO, AR—Deltic Timber Corporation released net income for the third quarter of 2016 at $1.5 million, $.12 a share, compared to net income of $.1 million for the third quarter of 2015. The improved results were primarily due to increased operating income from Deltic's Manufacturing segment, resulting from an increased average sales price for lumber, combined with a lower per-unit manufacturing cost for the medium density fiberboard sold during the third quarter of 2016, partially offset by increased corporate general and administrative expense for incentive plan cost and professional fees.

DENVER—Summit Materials Inc., a construction materials company, released results for the third quarter of 2016. The Company generated basic earnings per share of $0.61 and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.73 on adjusted net income of $73.5 million, an increase of more than 15% when compared to the prior year period.

The US economy passed another milestone before the Fed meets in December to consider resuming interest rate hikes. In October, 161,000 jobs were created nationwide, modestly below projections for 175,000 positions. Digging deeper into the Bureau of Labor Statistic's jobs release, wage growth soared 2.8% year-over-year, nearly double the inflation rate. The jump in wages is the largest since the US emerged from the Great Recession, and has been repeatedly mentioned as a concern for the Fed. Higher wages are anticipated to continue into 2017 as the overtime exempt threshold doubles on December 1 to nearly $48,000. Approximately 4 million workers will become eligible for overtime with the change. With the economy expanding, many employers will either increase employees' salaries or pay overtime wages rather than taking on additional workers. For the most part, all signs point to a rate hike that will put upward pressure on interest rates, according to a report by HomeUnion.—Lisa Brown

BY THE NUMBERS

HOUSTON—Houston's office market continues to struggle due to the downturn in the energy industry, leading to negative net absorption and decreased leasing activity, according to Colliers research. Leasing activity has dropped by 28.6% since third quarter 2015 and by 13.8% during the quarter. Tenants are renewing existing leases, but more companies continue to contract than expand. Houston's office market posted 0.4 million square feet of negative net absorption during the third quarter. Even with the positive absorption year-to-date, because of the additional space completed and added to the market, Houston's city-wide office vacancy rate rose from 16.2% to 17.1% during the quarter, and the annual rate rose significantly, increasing by 260 basis points from 14.5% in third quarter 2015.

NEW ORLEANS—The average asking rental rate per square foot per year for office properties as of midyear was $17.22. This represents an increase of 3.5% compared to the prior three months, with an increase of 3% year-over-year. Countywide average rental rates in New Orleans are 4% higher at $17.47 per square foot per year for office properties currently for lease, according to LoopNet.

NEWS AND NOTABLES

DALLAS—Diane Butler was honored with the Entrepreneurial Spirit Impact Award by CREW Network at the organization's national convention last month in New York City. Butler is chairman of Butler Burgher Group. The Entrepreneurial Spirit Impact Award honors a CREW Network member who has achieved a unique career success or milestone as the result of taking a risk. The individual is willing to step outside of the box to create something new or different, and provide services, develop products, or improve practices by organizing, developing or deploying available resources in an innovative way.

HOUSTON—Berkadia has officially relocated its Houston operations in order to accommodate the growing team of investment sales and commercial lending experts. The Houston Berkadia team relocated from a 6,200-square-foot space at 2200 Post Oak Blvd. to an 18,000-square-foot at 2229 San Felipe St. At the same time, its mortgage banking team reached a milestone in its production volume, on target to hit $3.5 billion in debt production volume alone during the last 18 months. To accommodate this massive growth in production, Berkadia's Houston team has added approximately 30 new professionals during the past 18 months, warranting the more expansive office space for the larger team.

DEAL TRACKER

ALBUQUERQUE—Wienerschnitzel, a 785-square-foot net-leased property sold for $1 million. Jamie Medress and Mark Ruble, investment specialists in Marcus & Millichap's Phoenix office, had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a developer.  The buyer, a limited liability company, was secured and represented by Chris Lind, Jamie Medress and Mark Ruble. Matthew Reeves, broker, assisted in closing this transaction. The Wienerschnitzel ground leased building is located at 2551 Corona Drive NW. 

EDMOND, OK—Tealridge Assisted Living and Memory Care, a 52,283-square-foot senior care facility, has sold. MOC Assisted Living sold the property for $6.75 million to a nonprofit private investor looking to establish a presence in the Oklahoma market. Tealridge Assisted Living and Memory Care is located at 2200 NW 140th St. at the intersection of E Memorial Road and N Eastern Avenue near the Oklahoma Christian University Campus. The facility was constructed in 2010 and has 65 units. Daniel Morris with CBRE's Oklahoma City office represented the buyer in the transaction.

AUSTIN, TX—CBRE Capital Markets has assumed the marketing for Chase Tower, a 22-story, 389,503-square-foot class-A office tower. Todd Mills, Hunter Mills and Casey Knust with CBRE capital markets' institutional properties are marketing the asset on behalf of Dallas-based Spire Realty. Chase Tower, located at 221 West Sixth St., is home to the private Headliners Club on the 21st floor and is 99% occupied. The tower was built in 1974 and renovated in 2007 with a full floor of on-site amenities, including a new fitness center, tenant lounge, conference facilities and deli.

AUSTIN, TX—ECR provides project marketing and leasing services for Monterey Oaks, a 75,000-square-foot office building in Southwest Austin. While negotiating a lease extension with a tenant for approximately 15% of the office space in the building, another significant tenant defaulted on its lease at the building, which could have resulted in the building going from 100% occupancy to approximately 70% within a few months. The ECR team worked very quickly with the ownership to finalize lease terms with the existing tenant, increasing the tenant's in-place lease rate by more than 20% with very minimal refurbishment to the space. In regards to the vacated space, a leasing special was offered and, within three weeks, the ownership had the choice of a handful of prospective tenants interested in moving into the space with quick commencements and minimal improvements. ECR's strategic and proactive leasing approach to these opportunities helped meet the ownership's goal of retaining 100% occupancy while substantially increasing the net operating income for the property.

BUILDING BLOCKS

EL DORADO, AR—Deltic Timber Corporation released net income for the third quarter of 2016 at $1.5 million, $.12 a share, compared to net income of $.1 million for the third quarter of 2015. The improved results were primarily due to increased operating income from Deltic's Manufacturing segment, resulting from an increased average sales price for lumber, combined with a lower per-unit manufacturing cost for the medium density fiberboard sold during the third quarter of 2016, partially offset by increased corporate general and administrative expense for incentive plan cost and professional fees.

DENVER—Summit Materials Inc., a construction materials company, released results for the third quarter of 2016. The Company generated basic earnings per share of $0.61 and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.73 on adjusted net income of $73.5 million, an increase of more than 15% when compared to the prior year period.