Justifying the price per square foot is a primary challenge of selling an office asset. That is according to Britton Burdette, a director with Stan Johnson Co. In the exclusive Q&A below, Burdette talks about the long-term direction of suburban and urban office and who is buying single-tenant space.
GlobeSt.com: How are market conditions different for urban and suburban office product?
Britton Burdette: We are seeing a lot of positive momentum in urban core office markets today, mainly because people are choosing to live, work, and play in urban areas. The long-term direction of suburban office markets is more challenging to figure out, but suburban properties can still offer opportunities. Many of our deals are single-tenant suburban office properties, and we see these assets typically sell at higher cap rates than their retail or industrial counterparts with comparable credit. Higher rollover costs, for example, can contribute to this trend, although this still gives single-tenant office buyers high returns with strong lease guarantees. Overall, we are seeing healthy spreads from the 10-year treasury to cap rates, though cap rates have flattened a little.
GlobeSt.com: Who is buying single-tenant office?
Burdette: We saw significant REIT participation in 2014 and 2015, but some of that attention has shifted to industrial properties now. Other institutional players, private capital buyers, and some international buyers are picking up the slack in the single-tenant office sector.
GlobeSt.com: What are the main challenges of selling an office asset?
Burdette: Justifying the price per square foot is a primary challenge. Sometimes the appraiser or buyer compares a single-tenant property with a multi-tenant property, but they're different asset types in our minds and really aren't comparable. Single-tenant properties offer no immediate vacancy or tenant churn, and operational costs are nearly absent, so they don't need to be written into the valuation of the deal like multi-tenant offerings do. This results in a higher price per square foot on single-tenant office assets.
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
