Recent NAI Wisinski projects in the news
May 8th
Rockford Development unveils new project
Housing complex is planned for city’s west side.
May 3, 2013
From the Grand Rapids Business Journal written by David Czurak
The Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority gave its blessing to a new residential project for the city’s northwest side, which is the first step to make the proposal a reality.
Rockford Development plans to invest $2.4 million into a four-building residential complex on the corner of Douglas Street and Seward Avenue, just a block south of Bridge Street. The property was home to an American Legion building that closed in 2007. The site offers about 17,000 square feet of buildable space.
“Our plan is to build four residential units,” said Mike Mraz, vice president of development for Rockford Development.
Riverside Senior Care gets authority’s OK
Northern Michigan developer wants to convert school into senior housing.
May 3, 2013
From the Grand Rapids Business Journal written by David Czurak
A Harbor Springs multi-family housing developer had its plan amendment approved by the Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority for a new senior living center on the city’s northeast side.
G.A. Haan Development wants to turn the former Riverside Elementary School at 2420 Coit Ave. NE into an assisted living and memory care facility for up to 55 seniors. The Grand Rapids Public Schools system closed Riverside in 2010 and sold the 36,000-square-foot building and its site to Haan Development last year.
“The property qualifies as being functionally obsolete,” said Jonathan Klooster of the brownfield authority.
“Total investment in the project is estimated to be $6.8 million, resulting in 51 new jobs with wages ranging from $11 to $35 per hour,” added Klooster.
New development on Ionia to get underway soon
Brookstone Capital will add new residences and retail downtown.
May 3, 2013
From the Grand Rapids Business Journal written by David Czurak
At its last meeting, the Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority unanimously approved an amended work plan to redevelop a vacant parcel at 240 Ionia Ave. SW and authorized a development and reimbursement agreement for the project being done by Brookstone Capital.
Brookstone Capital of Midland plans to build a $15 million, seven-story residential and retail structure on the property across Ionia from Heartside Park. The project includes creating 60,000 square feet of space for 48 one- and two-bedroom apartments, mostly the low-income variety, and 4,600 square feet of space for ground floor retail.
NAI Wisinski blood drive May 21st, sign up today!
May 7th
NAI Wisinski of West Michigan is again partnering with Michigan Blood for a blood drive on Tuesday May 21st. ALL WHO REGISTER WILL RECEIVE A $10 GIFT CARD TO MEIJER!
The blood drive will be held from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm in Suite 200 of our building at 100 Grandville Ave SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
To help save a life and register for a time slot, please contact Ann Yarnal at 616-242-1119 or by email at anny@naiwwm.com.
NAI Wisinski honored with 7 CoStar Power Broker Awards
Mar 27th
NAI Wisinski has been awarded 7 CoStar Power Broker Awards: 5 individual awards and 2 firm awards.
Dave Smies and Stu Kingma were both given awards for Top Industrial Leasing Brokers, Bill Tyson was recognized as a Top Retail Leasing Broker, and Stan Wisinski and Mary Anne Wisinski-Rosely were both recognized as Top Sales Brokers.
In addition, NAI Global as a whole was well represented, bringing in 132 individual awards and 91 firm awards across the country.
Dave Smies
Stu Kingma
Bill Tyson
Stan Wisinski
Mary Anne Wisinski-Rosely
Grand Rapids, other Michigan cities rank high for corporate site selection
Mar 5th
Grand Rapids and Wyoming rank 10th for corporate site selection
By: David Czurak
From the Grand Rapids Business Journal
The combined cities of Grand Rapids and Wyoming were named by Site Selection magazine as the nation’s tenth ranked metro area among locales with a population between 200,000 and 1 million.
Dayton, Ohio, captured the top spot in that category.
Site Selection has made these awards annually since 1978 and it focuses on “new corporate facility projects with significant impact” to compile its rankings.
Commercial Real Estate Sectors Steadily Improve
Feb 25th
WASHINGTON (February 25, 2013) – Major commercial real estate sectors continue to improve, albeit slowly, with gradual economic improvement and job creation driving absorption of space, according to the National Association of RealtorsÒ quarterly commercial real estate forecast.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said rental housing demand has been exceptionally strong. “Rent increases have been higher in multifamily housing where supply is not matching strong demand, thereby allowing landlords to raise rents at faster rates,” he said. “Overall commercial real estate leasing activity continued to grow in most markets during the closing months of 2012, which is modestly lowering vacancy rates in all of the commercial sectors early this year.”
National vacancy rates over the coming year are expected to decline 0.4 percentage point in the office market, 0.4 point in industrial, 0.3 point for retail and 0.1 point in multifamily, with that sector experiencing the tightest availability.
“Business spending is expected to rise faster in 2013 because of record high corporate profits. Low interest rates also are permitting companies to improve their balance sheets,” Yun said.
NAR’s latest Commercial Real Estate Outlook1 offers projections for four major commercial sectors and analyzes quarterly data in the office, industrial, retail and multifamily markets. Historic data for metro areas were provided by REIS, Inc.,2 a source of commercial real estate performance information.
Office Markets
Vacancy rates in the office sector are forecast to fall from a projected 16.0 percent in the first quarter to 15.6 percent in the first quarter of 2014.
The markets with the lowest office vacancy rates presently (in the first quarter) are Washington, D.C., with a vacancy rate of 9.4 percent; New York City, at 9.6 percent; and Little Rock, Ark., 12.1 percent.
Office rents should increase 2.6 percent in 2013 and 2.8 percent next year, following a 2.0 percent gain in 2012. Net absorption of office space in the U.S., which includes the leasing of new space coming on the market as well as space in existing properties, is expected to total 34.0 million square feet this year and 42.3 million in 2014.
Industrial Markets
Industrial vacancy rates are likely to decline from 9.6 percent in the first quarter of this year to 9.2 percent in the first quarter of 2014.
The areas with the lowest industrial vacancy rates currently are Los Angeles and Orange County, Calif., each with a vacancy rate of 3.6 percent; Miami, 5.6 percent; and Seattle at 6.0 percent.
Annual industrial rents are projected to rise 2.3 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2014, after increasing 1.7 percent last year. Net absorption of industrial space nationally is likely to total 121.8 million square feet in 2013 and 103.5 million next year.
Retail Markets
Retail vacancy rates are forecast to slide from 10.7 percent in the first quarter of the year to 10.4 percent in the first quarter of 2014.
Presently, markets with the lowest retail vacancy rates include San Francisco, 3.5 percent; Fairfield County, Conn., at 4.2 percent; and Orange County, Calif., 5.2 percent.
Average retail rents will probably rise 1.5 percent in 2013 and 2.1 percent next year, following a 0.8 percent gain in 2012. Net absorption of retail space is seen at 11.9 million square feet in 2013 and 16.4 million next year.
Multifamily Markets
The apartment rental market – multifamily housing – should see vacancy rates ease from 4.0 percent in the first quarter to 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2014; vacancy rates below 5 percent generally are considered a landlord’s market with demand justifying higher rents.
Areas with the lowest multifamily vacancy rates currently are New Haven, Conn., at 2.0 percent; New York City, 2.1 percent; and Minneapolis and Syracuse, N.Y., each at 2.5 percent.
Average apartment rents are expected to increase 4.6 percent this year and 4.7 percent in 2014, after rising 4.1 percent in 2012. Multifamily net absorption is projected at 270,600 units in 2013 and 253,200 next year.
The Commercial Real Estate Outlook is published by the NAR Research Division. NAR’s Commercial Division, formed in 1990, provides targeted products and services to meet the needs of the commercial market and constituency within NAR.
The NAR commercial community includes commercial members; commercial real estate boards; commercial committees, subcommittees and forums; and the NAR commercial affiliate organizations – CCIM Institute, Institute of Real Estate Management, Realtors® Land Institute, Society of Industrial and Office Realtors®, and Counselors of Real Estate.
Approximately 78,000 NAR and institute affiliate members specialize in commercial brokerage and related services, and an additional 232,000 members offer commercial real estate services as a secondary business.
The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. For additional commentary and consumer information, visit www.houselogic.com and http://retradio.com.
1Additional analyses will be posted under Economists’ Outlook in the Research blog section of Realtor.org in coming days at: http://economistsoutlook.blogs.realtor.org/.
2Beginning in the third quarter of 2011, NAR commercial forecasts have been generated based on historical data provided by REIS, Inc., and do not correspond with prior historical information from previous forecasts. This source permits coverage of more metro areas than were previously covered.
The next commercial real estate forecast and quarterly market report will be released on May 28 at 10:00 a.m. EDT.
Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the “News, Blogs and Videos” tab on the website. Other commercial information and reports are posted in the Commercial Research area of the “Research and Statistics” tab.
NAI Wisinski Leads the Way With Commercial Real Estate iPhone/iPad Application
Feb 12th
Grand Rapids, MI (February 11, 2013)
Today, NAI Wisinski of West Michigan announces the launch of their free mobile application for the iPhone and iPad. Their app, found in the App Store by searching NAI Wisinski, has multiple features on it that will appeal to many types of users. “This app is not only about getting our listings out in front of people, but also being able to add value for our customers,” says Jim Decker, President of NAI Wisinski. “These features and tools allow users to do some really cool things and you don’t necessarily need to be in commercial real estate to benefit from them.”
The app includes:
- Map-Based Property Searches: Search properties near you on a map and get detailed listing information including directions with the press of a button.
- Contact Information: Ability to add listing agents directly to your contact books and call or email them right from the app.
- Map-Based Measuring Tool: Ability to select points on a map and measure the distance in feet between them. Great for determining a rough estimate on square footage or frontage.
- Financial Analysis Tools: Includes a TVM Calculator, NPV/IRR Calculator, Mortgage Calculator, and an Investment Analysis tool.
- Report Generator: Generate pdf reports from your financial calculations complete with charts and tables. You then have the ability to email, print or send these reports to your Dropbox.
- Media Section: Stay up-to-date with commercial real estate news and stats.
The app has been almost a year in the making. It all started back in early February 2012 at the NAI Global Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. “While at the convention, I met with about 40 other marketing directors from other NAI offices around the world. NAI Latter & Blum in Louisiana had already developed a similar app and became a gateway to us finding our developer. As soon as we got back from Vegas, we got right to work,” said Shane Ikola of NAI Wisinski’s Marketing Department. “These past months have been an exciting time and this is a testament to the power of the NAI Global Network.” The developer is based out of New Jersey, and has worked on mobile application solutions for commercial real estate companies all around the country.
The app hasn’t come without it fair share of hurdles. “We had to determine the most economical and efficient way of transferring the data of over 900 listings into the app, manually uploading and making changes to each property individually wasn’t an option,” Ikola explained.
The NAI Wisinski app and all of its features are free to download from the App Store. “We really wanted to provide a service and making this app free ensures that everyone has the chance to benefit from this app. In return we just hope it shows everyone what our brand is about,” Decker explains.
Note: While the app is currently available for the iPad in addition to the iPhone, an iPad-native version is being developed that will be more user friendly for iPad users and provide more functionality.
Mary Anne Wisinski-Rosely takes home Realtor of the Year Award: NAI’s 4th in 5 years
Feb 7th
Grand Rapids, MI (February 7, 2013)
At the Commercial Alliance of Realtor’s Annual Award Reception on Tuesday, Mary Anne Wisinski-Rosely of NAI Wisinski of West Michigan was named this year’s Realtor of the Year. “I feel honored to have received this award, especially since I was selected by my peers,” Mary Anne said of the accomplishment. Not only did she broker nearly $50 million in commercial real estate transactions in 2012, but she sat as the President of CAR’s board and represented CAR at multiple Michigan Association of Realtor (MAR) and National Association of Realtor (NAR) events.
This is now NAI Wisinski’s fourth Realtor of the Year award in five years. Last year Rod Alderink took home the award. Prior to that was Doug Taatjes (2010) and Stu Kingma (2009). “Our company has been well represented with this award,” said Jim Decker, President of NAI Wisinski. “We have much to be proud of and thankful for.”
NAI Wisinski Blood Drive A Success
Feb 4th
NAI Wisinski hosted its most recent blood drive last Thursday and despite the poor weather conditions, still managed to make a successful day of it. The stats from Michigan Blood are below:
Collection Goal: 13 Pints
Donors Registered: 15
Pints of Blood Collected: 12
First-Time Donors: 1
Congratulations to Jennifer Wetzel for reaching her first gallon! A big thank you goes to Jimmy John’s and Peppino’s for providing food for donors. Stay tuned for more information on our next blood drive planned for May 21st.
Warehousing demand foreshadows more ’shovels in the ground’
Jan 24th
Stu Kingma, SIOR
From the Grand Rapids Business Journal
Before Robert Grooters revealed his plan to build more than a million square feet of new industrial space this year — some of which will be used for storage — Stu Kingma told the Business Journal the warehousing segment of the market will need more space soon.
Kingma, an associate broker with NAI Wisinski of West Michigan, also called Grooters an iconic figure in that conversation for how much space he built roughly two decades ago — and credited him for being the catalyst for developing a majority of the warehousing square footage that is still in use.
Since then, some manufacturing buildings have been converted to storage space. Kingma estimated roughly 25 million square feet is devoted to warehousing today. Those square feet represent about a quarter of the total square footage in the entire industrial real estate market, which, up to recently, has been too much.
“For the last half-dozen years or so, it’s been an excess of space in terms of its capacity,” Kingma said. “A lot of the manufacturing operators — as they went through the recession and as a consequence of that recession — their sales downsized, as did their requirement for space.
“So we had manufacturers throughout the boom years expand outside their four walls and acquire warehousing space on the outside to be able to keep up with their sales demand,” he said. “But once that sales demand slacked, they had less of a need for it and, in many cases, retrenched back into their plants and set aside a component of that space for warehousing.
“So for the past four or five years, there has been an oversupply of warehouse space,” Kingma said.
Kingma feels there still is a surplus of storage space, but not nearly to the degree of just a few years ago. He said companies looking for warehouse space today can still find some, although their choices will be limited based on how much space they need and where they want that space to be.
“The sector near the airport has tightened up substantially,” he said. “There is space left, but not anywhere near the amount of square footage there was 18 months ago.”
Kingma said the southwest sector of the market has also tightened up, and, right now, he is doing deals for storage space on the northwest side.
“Those will take a good part of that inventory and put it back into use,” he said. “And it’s local manufacturers that are re-acquiring space — either on a direct basis or through a third-party logistics company that manages their outbound and inbound supply chain and distribution function.”
That demand has lifted real leasing rates, not the asking variety, by 15 percent over the last year and a half.
Kingma feels if the current space-consumption trend continues, more warehousing space will be needed down the road.
“I believe that’s going to be the case,” Kingma said. “I think the spaces we do have available today will continue to be absorbed, and, at some point, it’s going to be such that the choices won’t be there.”
If nearly all of today’s available space is leased or bought and the market is, for all practical purposes, filled in the near future, it won’t be the first time that has happened here.
“We had that problem six or eight years ago where we had demand for space that we simply couldn’t fill and that prompted some build to suits to take place,” he said. “We’re not there yet, though, for two reasons.”
First, Kingma said there are still opportunities to find vacant space today, although not as many as 18 months ago. Second, construction costs are still very high in relation to what someone can pay for existing space today.
“But that’s starting to narrow, especially on the sales side, and, eventually, it’s going to have to be shovels in the ground to satisfy the demand,” Kingma said. “We’re not there yet, but we’re light years closer than we were 18 months ago.”
Gilson Graphics Inks Deal for 164,000 SF
Oct 16th
Print and Fulfillment Firm Renews Lease in Grand Rapids
October 9, 2012
Gilson Graphics, a graphics design, print and fulfillment firm, signed a 30-year lease renewal for the entire property at 2000 Oak Industrial Drive in Grand Rapids, MI. Its clients include Meijer retail stores, GM Manufacturing and Dawn Foods.
The 164,348-square-foot industrial building was constructed in 2004, and Gilson Graphics has occupied the industrial space since 2010, according to CoStar information.
Jeff Klaasen of Kwekel Cos. represented the landlord, NL Ventures VI Oak LLC. Chad Versluis of NAI Wisinski represented the tenant.
The 164,348-square-foot industrial building was constructed in 2004, and Gilson Graphics has occupied the industrial space since 2010, according to CoStar information.
Jeff Klaasen of Kwekel Cos. represented the landlord, NL Ventures VI Oak LLC. Chad Versluis of NAI Wisinski represented the tenant.
