Special Report
Space exploration
How to capitalize on today’s commercial real estate market
By Carolyn LaWell
Smart Business Cleveland | October 2009
Page 1 of 4
Savvy CEOs are taking advantage of the slumping commercial real estate market by evaluating whether their space meets their needs while the cost to buy or lease is low.
Commercial real estate prices fell again in the second quarter, showing an 18 percent national decrease compared to the previous quarter, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Real Estate’s index. The drop placed the price index 39.2 percent below its 2007 second-quarter peak.
Clearly, the market is experiencing volatility, but opportunities are present.
“All the gains we made over the last 10 years are gone, so tenants are going to be able to basically live like they did in the late 1990s,” says Alec Pacella, senior vice president, NAI Daus. “I think there’s a clear opportunity if you’ve ever thought about buying. It’s a great time because, again, prices for buildings are also what they were in the 1990s. Your price per square foot is going to be 30, 40 percent less than what it was 18 months ago.”
Whether you’re searching for a new property or hoping to reconfigure space for efficiency’s sake, cost savings can be yours. The first course of action is to connect with an experienced commercial real estate broker to weigh your options because there are plenty of them.
