For a third straight year, the vacancy rate of major retail space in the Rochester region remained largely flat a big improvement from a recent five-year stretch that saw the rate grow rapidly.

Commercial real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis this week put out its 2014 market outlook for the Rochester region. The report looks at the state of and expectations for the commercial, office and industrial real estate markets in Rochester and several surrounding counties.

According to the report, the areas roughly 22.3 million square feet of major retail space retail spaces of 30,000 square feet or more ended 2013 with a vacancy rate of 11.2 percent. That was up just a fraction of a percentage point from 2012 and 2011. Thats down from 2010, when the rate peaked at more than 12 percent and marked the apex of a five-year span that saw the vacancy rate climb steeply from about 8 percent.

The amount of major retail space has been hovering at slightly north of 22 million square feet since 2010. During 2013, the Rochester region saw more than 250,000 square feet of new retail space added, with the biggest drivers of that being the East Avenue Wegmans grocery and the new Van Maur department store at Eastview Mall. Meanwhile, according to CB Richard Ellis, those new spaces were largely offset by the removal of a similar amount of square footage from inventory.

This year is expected to see a number of new major retail spaces open their doors, including the 150,000-square-foot Costco store under construction at East Henrietta and Westfall roads and the University of Rochester College Town development along Mt. Hope Avenue. However, according to CB Richard Ellis projections, Continued stability may be reasonably forecast for inventory and vacancy.

The areas industrial real estate portfolio of roughly 81.7 million square feet (with about a quarter of that Eastman Kodak Co. and Xerox Corp. space) ended 2013 with a vacancy rate of roughly 10.9 percent up about half a percentage point from the year before. However, for industrial space just within Rochester city limits, the vacancy rate was up more than 1 percent in 2013, to 13.2 percent.

Major industrial developments in 2013 included Xerox undertaking a major expansion of a toner plant at its Webster campus and bow hunting and target shooting company Outdoor Group LLC breaking ground on a 70,000-square-foot plant in Henrietta.

The suburban office space market saw a decent 2013, according to CB Richard Ellis, with the vacancy rate there down 1.3 percentage points to 13.8 percent. There is roughly 8.7 million square feet of competitive office space in the areas suburbs. In the citys 7.4 million square feet of competitive office space, the vacancy rate in 2013 was 19 percent down slightly from 2012.

The areas office space supply is going through a big transition, from redevelopment plans for downtown Rochesters Sibley Building that will see some of its empty office space converted into housing to Monroe Community College purchasing more than 500,000 square feet of Kodak headquarters space for its new downtown campus.

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Report: Retail vacancies up slightly in 2013

Two Dallas construction workers were released from the hospital Tuesday after falling from the fourth floor of the Northpoint Crossing Apartments at the corner of University Drive and Texas Avenue, according to safety specialists overseeing the construction site.

Both men were treated for incapacitating injuries. A 35-year-old man was taken to the College Station Medical Center while a 33-year-old was treated at St. Joseph hospital, according to College Station police.

The pair had been on scaffolding installing sheets of siding when they fell just before noon, said Bill Landers, president of Construction Enterprises Inc., the general contractor on site.

Landers said both had been wearing harnesses, according to the supervisor at the site who saw pictures of firefighters cutting harnesses off the men.

The men had been working at the site for about two weeks for a subcontractor from Overland Park, Kan., Landers said.

Construction on the Northpoint Crossing Apartments began in the spring, with Phase 1 expected to be completed in August. The 11.5-acre development will have 603 units, 1,900 bedrooms and retail space.

Tuesday's incident was the fourth construction accident in the Bryan-College Station area since May 2013.

A 49-year-old man died when two shoring panels fell on him while working on a wastewater lift station near the Texas A&M Health Science Center in late May. Four men were injured in June when the steel frame of a barn being built as part of the Texas A&M Equine Complex collapsed. In December, a 25-year-old construction worker died after falling four stories from Kyle Field.

"With the other [construction] accidents in the area, we clamped down on safety," Landers said, adding that his employees receive 30 hours of OSHA training.

Falls are among the top hazards on construction sites, making up almost 36 percent of all construction worker deaths in the U.S. in 2012, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's website.

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Workers released from hospitals hours after falling from construction site

Jan 21, 2014 - 02:22 PM

Work on Trek Apartments, a five-story, mixed-use retail/residential building at the former Cavanaugh block site in downtown Auburn, is progressing rapidly, City Economic Development Manager Doug Lein said today.

Speaking at the Auburn Chamber of Commerces January Business Insider Luncheon, Lein told attendees that the project is moving about three weeks ahead of schedule, according to Landmark Development. The Auburn-based firm broke ground early last October on Trek, which is to be comprised of 128 units of market-rate residential over 12,000 square feet of retail space.

They are currently putting the micro-pilings into the foundation right now, said Lein. They feel that will be done in about two weeks They expect, by the first of March, to be doing all the underground work and getting ready to start pouring concrete. Theyre moving along very, very well.

He added that Landmark currently has two letters of intent from restaurants interested in locating at the retail space on the projects first floor, although nothing has yet been finalized.

Lein also spoke about the pair of neighboring blocks acquired by Seattles Teutsch Partners LLC, which plans to develop the two properties with similar mixed-use retail and residential buildings. Teutsch, in partnership with Pillar Properties and Merrill Gardens retirement communities, is looking to populate the space with a combination of apartments and independent senior living; the exact split, according to Lein, is currently being programmed.

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Three mostly vacant buildings at the corner of Canal and Camp streets will be combined into one luxury apartment building with retail shops in a $15 million project.

The Times-Picayune reports the project by the firm Woodward Design+Build brings together 600 Canal St., 604 Canal and 113-117 Camp St. into one development.

The buildings are clustered near the Central Business District and the French Quarter.

The development will have 44 apartments and 8,000 square feet of retail space.

Construction of the project - branded as the Giani Building - is expected to be completed by the beginning of 2015.

The announcement marks the latest in a wave of downtown apartment projects to meet growing demand as the Central Business District's evolution into a more residential neighborhood continues.

The owner of the property is listed as Canal@Camp Apartments LLC. A spokesman for the owners declined to give more details.

The registered manager of Canal@Camp Apartments is Chandru Motwani, according to Louisiana secretary of state records. Motwani could not be reached for comment.

"When The Giani Building opens in January 2015, it will add luxury housing supply to the foot of Canal Street," Darren Pellegrin of Woodward Interests, the owners' representative, said. "It's all part of the movement to make downtown New Orleans a 24-7 neighborhood."

The seven-story building at 600 Canal St., which dates to 1889, was designed by New Orleans architects Thomas Sully and Theodore Toledano. It was one of the first high-rises on the major thoroughfare, developers said.

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Buildings to combine in retail-residential project in New Orleans

Rendering courtesy of The Noannet Group

The Belclare Wellesley will feature 30 condominium units starting at $1.4 million, as well as various shops and a restaurant.

By Jaclyn Reiss, Town Correspondent

Construction crews broke ground today on the $35 million Belclare mixed-use development, which will feature 30 luxury condominiums and 9,500 square feet of commercial space.

The development will be built on the Wellesley Inn site on Washington Street in Wellesley Square, which has been a vacant lot for years.

The market-rate Belclare condominiums are set to sell for between $1.4 million to over $3 million, and will feature two and three bedrooms ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 square feet, according to a statement sent on behalf of developers from The Noannet Group. There will also be five affordable units on-site, developers said.

The commercial space will include shops and a restaurant, though developers did not specify further details. Representatives did not say when they expect the development to be completed.

The construction comes after a embattled history for the site of Wellesley Inn, whose development dates back to the late 1800s. The historic building was sold to a developer in 2005 who demolished the building in preparation for a new project. However, the plans were put on hold, leaving a vacant lot in the center of town.

Developers from Noannet bought the land in 2012 and received the town permits necessary to build the new complex this year.

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Belclare Wellesley to feature retail space, 30 condos starting at $1.4m

On the threshold of a tough trail but retailers are optimistic

Higher prices of goods and services as a result of subsidy cuts may pave a tough trail for businesses in the year ahead. However, retail operators in Sarawak are bracing up with a dollop of optimism.

They are quietly confident that sales for the year will be a bit more bustling compared to last year, in spite of the generally perceived gloomy business climate.

Their buoyant sentiment is supported by a few factors such as, more gains from higher number of tourist arrivals during Visit Sarawak Year 2014, the changing lifestyles of people as they demand better quality goods and services and demographic factors such as a spike in population in Kuching and other parts of Sarawak as a result of the states urbanisation agenda.

With new trends in population growth in urban hubs such as Kuching, industry players believe that a ready market is available with an enormous growth potential. This is besides the expectations of capturing a larger aggregate of shoppers in the form of tourist-spending in the coming months. The relatively young retail industry in Sarawak adds another plus factor to perk up current industry confidence.

Meanwhile, retail players are seeking new ways and ideas to draw shoppers to their outlets through various advertising and promotional campaigns as well as point-of-sale events. The Summer Mall managing director Dato Lee Chee Fui said 2014 is going to be a turning point for the local retail industry, although it will be a very challenging year ahead.

The existing retail operators will face more challenges as consumers grapple with lesser disposable income and lower purchasing power arising from higher cost of living.

Despite prices of goods and services going up, consumers may buy less but generally sales will still be growing.

This is because, consumers need to spend during festive seasons and to replenish their supply of food and basic everyday needs.

For Summer Mall, our customers have been increasing since we opened in July last year, which is a good sign for us. Our focus is different compared to other shopping malls as we are targeting the lower to middle income market due to our suburban location in Kota Samarahan, he told BizHive Weekly.

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Prospects for the retail industry and the opportunities ahead

Published: Friday, January 17, 2014

New construction harming existing Everett businesses

By Noah Haglund Herald Writer

EVERETT They welcomed the arrival of new neighbors to a traditionally industrial patch of downtown.

But road tie-ups from construction of a hotel and farmers market going up between Grand Avenue and West Marine View Drive have hurt nearby businesses.

A boat-repair shop in September sued the developer over access to a public alley. Two other neighbors a hydraulics business and suspension shop on Grand Avenue have seen walk-in business dry up with repeated road closures.

They also fault the city for doing a poor job coordinating the work.

"We need the alley to get the boats in and out," said Tim Caudill, owner of Cascade Marine Service. "My major frustration was that I couldn't get the city to do anything to verify what was going on with the alley."

Everett spokeswoman Meghan Pembroke said public works officials tried to balance the needs of the development and existing businesses.

Among other measures, the city required the developer to coordinate construction with neighbors. That was an explicit requirement of lane-closure permits.

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New construction harming existing Everett businesses

Kentucky cracks down on heroin Kentucky cracks down on heroin Northern Kentucky is an epicenter for heroin addicts and crime related to the drug. 25 deaths also occurred from overdoses of the dangerous drug. See how Northern Kentucky is attacking the problem.FOX 19's Gordon Graham has the details.Full Story > Police arrest student who shot 2 at Philadelphia school Multiple students shot at school in Philadelphia

Updated: Friday, January 17 2014 9:19 PM EST2014-01-18 02:19:01 GMT

Updated: Friday, January 17 2014 9:03 PM EST2014-01-18 02:03:22 GMT

Updated: Friday, January 17 2014 9:00 PM EST2014-01-18 02:00:16 GMT

A former Bengals player is investing millions of dollars to transform downtown Cincinnati's Tower Place Mall.

Construction has started on what will be called Mabley Place, a parking garage and retail space in the building known as Tower Place Mall on West Fourth Street. Former Bengals player Chinedum Ndukwe is overseeing the project through his real estate development firm Kingsley Wells Enterprises.

Along with other investors and a partnership with JDL Warm Construction, the multimillion dollar project will add 775 parking spaces and 8400 square feet of street-front retail space to downtown.

The project will serve the needs of area hotels, shops, the Duke Energy Convention Center and developing office and residential projects.

Ndukwe's firm, Kingsley Wells Enterprises, will be one of the first storefront businesses to open in Mabley Place.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

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Former Bengal investing in downtown real estate project

Despite ongoing conflict between corporate authorities, construction on the Market Basket at the former Polaroid site will continue and the store could open by years end, according to the developers attorney.

Construction at 1265 Main St. was suspended in early September when developers stopped receiving consistent payments.

The hiccup in operations was a result of an ongoing power struggle between company president Arthur T. Demoulas and his cousin, board member Arthur S. Demoulas. Construction continued at the site, however, at the end of September, with the exception of Market Basket.

Last month after a board meeting, the Demoulas Supermarkets (DSM) Board of Directors gave authorization to sign a lease with site developers, securing Market Baskets space and allowing construction to continue.

Since that [meeting] we were notified by the board that they approved the lease, said Scott Lang, attorney for Retail Management and Development Inc. Since the board approved the lease, the focus has been on the co-tenants and getting the project moving ahead to meet construction deadlines.

The board started a website and wrote that it authorized management to sign the lease that would allow the project to proceed.

"Its great news for the city, Mayor Jeannette McCarthy said. Its a huge economic project for the city that means jobs and Im very happy its going forward because we put a lot ofworkinto it to assist them."

In a Dec. 18 letter addressed to associates and the public, board members wrote that they told management to proceed with the opening of Attleboro, and that other projects have issues that still need to be addressed and resolved by management.

The lease agreement secures Market Baskets space at 1265 Main, which means developers will not need to seek out a new tenant, according to Lang.

Despite multiple attempts, DSM board director and attorney Keith Cowan could not be reached for comment. The listed Market Basket corporate headquarters phone number went straight to a message saying its switchboard was closed.

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Waltham Market Basket construction moving forward again

Published: Friday, 1/17/2014

BY JON CHAVEZ BLADE BUSINESS WRITER

The Toledo-area retail market improved considerably in 2013, fueled by new stores or expansions that pushed the overall vacancy rate down a full percentage point from the previous year.

According to the year-end report from Toledo commercial real estate firm the Reichle Klein Group, the overall retail vacancy rate shrunk to 13.2 percent last year from 14.2 percent a year earlier.

Perhaps even more impressive, the vacancy rate for anchor store spaces dropped to 9.8 percent from 13 percent a year ago, according to the report. The decline marked the first time since 2004 that the vacancy rate for anchor spaces in the Toledo market has been below 10 percent.

Overall, the retail market absorbed 377,150 square feet of vacant space in just the last six months and a total of 729,000 square feet for the year.

Youre seeing a continued recovery for certain, and its definitely a pleasant thing to see, said Kurt Pollex, a commercial real estate agent with the Reichle Klein Group who helped prepare the report.

The big box properties have either been resurfaced or filled. And the big box eyesores the vacant cinemas have been taken down. Its certainly more appealing visually, and the improvement makes less space available, Mr. Pollex said.

Reichle Klein said that a large factor in the reduced vacancy rate is the redevelopment or repurposing of commercial sites in the Toledo area instead of new development on greenfield sites, a process that remains dormant.

Speculative construction just isnt there and it will take time for that without having a tenant, Mr. Pollex said.

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Toledo retail market improved in 2013