Appraisal of 11.25 acres - vacant land - 1055 wildhurst trail

Home Browse Search

BETTENDORF ROHRER KNOCHE WALL,INC. 1 Metropolitan Area Description - Continued The Mississippi River passes through the metropolitan area providing barge service. The area is served by the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport along with smaller commuter airports. Rail facilities also serve the metropolitan area. ' Thegeneralgrowth profile of the area's economy includes a well educated labor force; good ' training institutions; and a significant portion of the Twin Cities employment being in such growth industries as computers, business services, banking and health services. Negative economic aspects for the area are a lack of an independent supply of energy; high wages in the manufacturing sectors; and relatively high taxes. The 1980's saw rapid real estate development in the areas of office, retail and industrial. This increase, coupled with the recession which occurred at the end of the decade, created an oversupply of available space in the early 1990's. The office market has seen significant improvement in recent years. Surveys by Towle Company and the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks indicate a current vacancy range for metropolitan office space of 10% to 11.6%. This reflects improvement over the 20% vacancy rate of 1991. Since that time, the absence of new construction has contributed to the gradual absorption of existing space, allowing an improvement in the office market. Industrial activity, as surveyed by The National Association of Industrial and Office Parks, shows an overall industrial vacancy rate of 5.4%, as of the first quarter of 1995. This reflects an improvement over the 1994 rate of 9% and the 1993 rate of 10.7%. There has been limited new development, which has allowed for an absorption of existing space. ' The retail sector has been overshadowed by the completion of the Mall of America. This facility, which opened in August of 1992, added 2.6 million square feet of retail space to the market. Overall, the influence of the mall has been positive. Older regional centers, in an attempt to retain customers, have undertaken major remodeling projects to assure good competitive positions relative to market appeal for both tenants and the shopping public. The ' Mall of America has brought in national companies who, after establishing a presence at the mall, have added stores in other centers within the metropolitan area. Although some regional centers have seen a decline in sales activity due to the mall, the overall market has remained strong. According to the Minnesota Shopping Center Association, the overall vacancy rate for Twin Cities shopping centers for the third quarter of 1995 was 8.0%. This represents a ' continued decline from the 1994 rate of 8.3%, the 1993 rate of 9.7% and the 1992 rate of 10.2%. I ' 17