Commercial real estate throughout the state is on a rise, a trend that is being seen in Huntington County as well.
According to a commercial real estate briefing that Cassidy Turley Commercial Real Estate Services provided to Inside Indiana Business, commercial real estate vacancy in Indiana has reached pre-recession levels.
According to the briefing, the office market has grown by around one million square feet, industrial around six million square feet and retail around 750,000 square feet.
While those are statewide figures, area officials say the local market is doing better as well.
Steve Ness, a realtor and co-owner of Ness Bros. Real Estate and Auction Company, said his business had recently sold the former YMCA lot on the corner of Warren Street and Park Drive for the Park Lofts senior living apartment complex. In addition, his business also recently sold the Coach’s Connection building as well.
“People know as an investor that if he wants to make any long-term investment arrangements for a business or anything, you want to do it during a period of time where the interest has been very low,” he said.
The economy and real estate in general has stalled the last six or seven years, including commercial real estate, Ness added.
However, he said the residential real estate has started to bounce back.
“As residential started picking up, I think the confidence level in commercial properties is following that trail,” Ness said. “The commercial business in itself is a slow process.”
While it is slow, he said he is seeing it pick up in all areas of commercial real estate.
This was seen in a commercial property auctioned off in Fort Wayne that sold for around $195,000 when he was expecting something closer to $40,000 to $50,000 because of how long it was sitting on the market, he said.
Mark Wickersham, executive director of Huntington County Economic Development, said the available industrial buildings in Huntington have become more competitive.
“There aren’t very many buildings left on the marketplace that have the amenities companies are currently asking about in the community,” he said. “There are some opportunities, but those opportunities are becoming more competitive and, as a result, the price points that we’ve watched over the past few years are beginning to tighten up.”
There are still green field sites, undeveloped lots zoned for industrial use, available, but those spots will eventually become more competitive as the existing buildings are filled, Wickersham added.
Currently, he said, the he is aware of around 206,000 square feet of available industrial space among six properties.
During his six-year tenure with Huntington County Economic Development, Wickersham said 2.2 million square feet of industrial space has been filled in Huntington County.