Western Real Estate Business magazine covers the multifamily, retail, office, healthcare, industrial and hospitality sectors in the Western United States.
Issue link: https://westernrealestatebusiness.epubxp.com/i/595440
www.REBusinessOnline.com Western Real Estate Business • November 2015 • 21 NAIOP'S BUS TOUR SHOWCASES LAS VEGAS' LATEST, GREATEST PROJECTS The 29 projects included in NAIOP's bus tour prove it's an exciting time to be a commercial player in Las Vegas. By Nellie Day A nyone who questions whether the Las Vegas Valley is fnally in recovery mode from the Great Recession need only look as far as the NAIOP Southern Nevada Bus Tour. The tour, which appropriately touted a "Back to the Future" theme, departed from the Rio All-Suites Ho- tel and Casino on Oct. 8 before taking guests on a three-hour journey that highlighted 29 commercial projects in various stages of development. "After a six-year hiatus due to the Great Recession, our chapter is getting back on the buses to tour the future of commercial real estate in Southern Ne- vada," read the welcoming statement put out by NAIOP Southern Nevada co-chairs Bruce Follmer and Garrett Toft and board liaison Mike Mixer. "The mood has certainly changed for the better…As a result of our com- bined member eforts and a recover- ing economy, our market has fnally begun a new development cycle." The tour included 23 industrial projects, fve ofce projects and one retail development. Prologis was one developer extremely active in the Las Vegas region, with six industrial proj- ects showcased on the tour. Jef Foster, vice president and Prologis' Las Vegas market ofcer, said there's a good rea- son for this. "Why is now the perfect time to build industrial product in Las Vegas? It's very simple: market fundamen- tals," he said. "With 11 consecutive quarters of positive net absorption, we have seen the vacancy rate drop signifcantly and traditional ware- house distribution space in nearly all submarkets is extremely limited with very few options available north of 30,000 square feet." The projects on tour included the Desert Inn Distribution Center; Las Vegas Corporate Center buildings 19 and 20; Sunrise Industrial Park; Chey- enne Distribution Center building 3; and Beltway Distribution Center. Las Vegas Corporate Center buildings 19 and 20 have been delivered, while the four remaining projects are still under construction. The former was pre- leased to Global Industrial Distribu- tion, while the latter was pre-leased to Western Packaging Group. Despite having six projects in vari- ous stages of development under its belt, Foster believes Prologis will re- main bullish on Las Vegas' industrial market for the foreseeable future. "We will continue to develop exist- ing land sites and acquire strategic parcels for immediate development to meet the delayed, yet thriving recov- ery that the Southern Nevaeda market is experiencing," he said. "We're play- ing a favorable hand right now!" Though NAIOP traditionally focus- es on industrial and ofces properties, as the name implies, there was one re- tail development included on the tour as well. The Shops at HC is being de- veloped by Equity Ofce specifcally to serve the needs of the surrounding Las Vegas ofce community. This in- cludes tenants at the 68-acre The HC/ Hughes Center, as well as the Univer- sity of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) stu- dent population and travelers to Mc- Carran Airport. "This project serves the 1.3 million square feet of Class A ofce space owned by Equity Ofce," says Matt Bear of CBRE, who serves as the proj- ect's leasing broker. "While the new project will certainly serve the greater population, the reason the project was developed was to serve the 4,000 em- ployees of Howard Hughes Center. Essentially, it's an amenity for the project that can increase the quality of life for employees during the work- day." The new space will contain about 18,000 square feet, and will serve as a supplement to the center's current restaurant oferings. These include Starbucks, Panera Bread, Habit Burg- er, Pieology, Chipotle, Jamba Juice, Ba- hama Breeze, Lawry's, McCormick & Schmick's and Gordon Biersh. "The building will be predomi- nately restaurants focused on seg- ments not being served by the exist- ing tenants," Bear says. "They will be restaurants focused on higher energy concepts that will attract consumers seeking a more modern dining experi- ence." The Shops at HC is scheduled to open in September 2016. Other notable projects on the NAIOP Southern Nevada Bus Tour included a 13,000-square-foot indus- trial facility for Tenaya Creek Brew- ery; the 540,320-square-foot Northern Beltway Industrial Center; and the 312,000-square-foot Konami Gaming mixed-use facility. n Las Vegas Corporate Center building 19 is owned by Prologis. The Shops at HC will accommodate offce tenants at the 68-acre The HC/Hughes Center, as well as the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) student population and travelers to McCarran Airport. The NAIOP Southern Nevada Bus Tour had a "Back to the Future" theme, complete with a Delorean.