Pence Discusses Real Estate at Cassidy Turley Event

More than 1,000 real estate and economic development pros from across the country were on hand at Clowes Memorial Hall (at Butler University) last Thursday to hear about the market's performance in 2012. Governor-elect Mike Pence was also on-hand, and did an on-stage interview with our friend Gerry Dick.

The State of Real Estate® 2013 covered the industrial, office, retail and capital markets – as well as an overall economic outlook – providing in-depth market analyses and forecasts for attendees. Four days prior to taking office, Indiana Governor-elect Mike Pence was interviewed onstage by the host and creator of Inside INdiana Business, Gerry Dick, regarding various topics affecting Indiana and his future plans for the state.
 
Cassidy Turley Regional Managing Principal, Jeff Henry said, “This year will be a significant one politically as well as economically, as the nation looks to Washington, DC, to provide the clarity needed to move forward with confidence. Despite slowing growth abroad and lingering public policy uncertainties at home, 2012 was characterized by improving business conditions, offering hope that growth will continue in the year ahead. Indiana’s commercial property markets have proved to be remarkably resilient as every segment of commercial real estate demonstrated strengthening fundamentals over the balance of 2012.”
 
In conjunction with the show, Cassidy Turley published a 2013 Annual Market Report for Indianapolis, available for viewing at www.cassidyturleyreport.com. Highlights of the report include:
 

  • Industrial: Tremendous resiliency with surprisingly robust fundamentals; significant demand driving considerable speculative development and more than 4.3 million square feet (SF) of absorption in the Indianapolis market in 2012.
  • Office: The first half of 2012 showed the best consecutive six-month period for the Central Indiana multi-tenant office market since the recession; more than 300,000 SF were absorbed through midyear. In June, ground was broken on the first completely speculative Indianapolis-area office development since 2008 at 8335 Keystone Crossing. Vacancy rates and office rents fell flat the second half of the year with increasing economic and political uncertainty.
  • Retail: Despite a somewhat rocky road throughout 2012, the Indianapolis retail market continues to improve and vacancy rates for all types of Indianapolis retail track lower than the national average. With the best growth of the year posted in the final quarter, net absorption for 2012 finished at 508,380 SF. Retail continues to show a bifurcated market with luxury and value-oriented retailers growing the fastest.
  • Capital Markets: Continued economic turbulence in Europe accompanied by pervasive public policy uncertainty in the U.S. dampened the lending environment and hampered the pace of investment sales again in 2012. However, strengthening fundamentals in the economy as well as property markets signal that opportunity lies ahead. On the lending side, there was improvement in financing terms as well as availability, which drove investment sales higher in Indianapolis.

Cassidy Turley Sprucing Up the Neighborhood

In our latest edition of BizVoice, we featured many companies that graced the recent Best Places to Work in Indiana list. Among those was Cassidy Turley (included in this article on maintaining a positive culture after mergers or rebranding), which will set out tomorrow to revamp Al Polin Park in Indianapolis.

With the summer months quickly approaching, more than 60 Cassidy Turley employees are joining forces with Indy Parks to make sure hundreds of Indianapolis children and families have a fun, safe and beautiful place to play. On May 16, Cassidy Turley’s Day of Caring will completely revamp Al Polin Park, located on the Near Northside of Indianapolis at 100 E. 29th Street.

“We estimate that 1,000 – 1,500 people use Al Polin Park each week,” explained Allen McClendon, Indy Parks’ senior manager for community partnerships. “Between neighborhood kids, basketball tournaments, family cookouts and our Summer Supervised Program, the park is usually a pretty popular place. That’s why we’re especially thrilled to have Cassidy Turley help give this park a much-needed makeover.”

CertaPro Painters of Indianapolis has donated supplies to repaint playground equipment, picnic tables and shelter areas to give the park a fresh, clean look. Mainscape Landscape Maintenance Services has also provided 50 cubic yards of mulch so employees can weed and re-mulch around the park’s trees and perimeter, helping the trees retain water and live longer.

In addition to hundreds of volunteer hours, the company will also pay for the installation of a new piece of playground equipment, as well as a new grill, concrete pouring for an ADA-accessible grill area and a fresh seal and coat for the high-use basketball court.

“It will be like a total 180 degree transformation when it’s done,” added McClendon. “We absolutely rely on our community partners like Cassidy Turley to do the aesthetic work that brings our older parks up to the standard of a brand new park. And it makes a huge difference in the community. People see we care about them and are inspired to take ownership of their parks.”

Cassidy Turley’s Day of Caring is not without benefit to the companies involved, though.

“Working with respected groups like Indy Parks is a perfect way for our team to gain more first-hand knowledge of the communities we serve on a daily basis,” said Michael W. M. Weishaar, SIOR, senior vice president and principal at Cassidy Turley and longtime board member of the Indianapolis Parks Foundation. “Events like the Day of Caring are very tangible, hands-on reminders that our work – not only in commercial real estate business and development, but also as volunteers – makes a real difference in our communities. It’s definitely worth the investment.”

This is the second year the company has teamed up with Indy Parks. In 2011, Cassidy Turley devoted a Day of Caring to the beautification of Stringtown Park on the city’s Westside.

PICTURED: Shown is a picture from last year’s Day of Caring, when Cassidy Turley staffers worked to beautify Stringtown Park in Indianapolis.