Photo by Roland Peschetz
The Commercial Real Estate Brokerage compiled the first edition of the North American Skyline Review, a report focusing on trophy properties in the downtown cores of 21 cities. Jones Lang Lasalle came up with the idea as he realized that it’s the skyline of a city that excites people’s interest, unlike most real estate market segments.
Getting over the hurdle
The project includes high-profile areas in various cities and sets different criteria for their evaluation. For example, bank towers are the centre of attention in Toronto, while in Boston, buildings higher than 18 stories built after 1980 are the focus. The aim is to offer a general view of how the highest profile areas in featured cities compare to each other.
The report shows that in most cities, rent declined by about 2 per cent in 2010. Lang added that it seems that most of the rents are close to hitting the bottom of the decline. With tenants flowing in, prices are likely to climb soon as the top spaces market is rather small and new construction is limited.
Overall, analysts observe that tenants have used the opportunities provided by the financial crisis and moved into marquee properties they could not have afforded before the recession. “Tenants are gravitating toward better-quality buildings,” added Avison Young principal Bruce Cowper.
Furthermore, there were not as many transactions in the cities, according to the report. A possible reason for this is that landlords, who are better-off, did not feel pressured to sell through the downturn.
