By Natisha Hales, Las Cruces Bulletin
While the current residential real estate market is experiencing a slowdown the commercial market may not reflect the same struggles, according to several local commercial real estate experts.
As the community becomes concerned with the state of the economy in general, NAI 1st Valley President Randy McMillan at the monthly Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance Business on the Border Forum said Las Cruces is poised to be very solid in years to come.
“I’m very optimistic” said McMillan, who served on a panel of experts at the forum.
According to McMillan, commercial construction is down 14 percent from 2006, but that’s not an indicator of things to come.
“We’ll see this number increase in coming years” he said. “The demand remains very high, and the apartment market is very, very stable.”
Landlords are also in a good place, he said, because rents could be going up very soon.
“Landlords are in for a good ride over the next two years,” he said.
The office market also has seen a boost, thanks to the call centers that have moved in, such as Allstate, Sitel, Convergys, and VMC/Volt.
It has always been a challenge to bring industry to the area, but McMillan said an obstacle may be overcome because of the amount of existing space available for companies looking to relocate.
John Hummer, owner/partner of Steinborn Inc. Realtors, said a lot of opportunity is coming with New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Research Park, and Arrowhead Development is looking to break ground this month on the first spec office building.
There has been some talk about creating an Interstate 10 exit directly into the research park, but Hummer said, “I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”
He does, however, believe strongly in an extension of Payne Street, which runs along the east side of the Pan American Center and Aggie Memorial Stadium. The extension would connect Payne with Same Steele Way, providing access to the research park.
Because Las Cruces is a “regional medical player in southern New Mexico,” Hummer said the community has a chance to bring in more office space for medical services - retail and physicians.
Rick Stoes of Grubb & Ellis said 2007 was a healthy year for commercial real estate, and the Las Cruces market has a good chance of becoming service based, especially with the amount of military personnel expected to come into Fort Bliss and White Sands Missile Range.
By 2009, Stoes said the city will see more commercial activity in several “hot spots” - University Avenue and Telshor Boulevard, Rinconada and Sonoma Ranch boulevards, Avenida de Mesilla and Valley Drive, Motel Boulevard and Picacho Avenue and the Lohman gateway near Roadrunner Parkway.
“A lot of of lots (along Lohman) already have plans in them,” he said. “I’m excited about 2008, but I think we really have to watch what’s going to happen in 2009.”
As large developments have started to come to fruition, Donnie Brainard of the Alameda Property Group, has said each development has plans for commercial activities.
The South Fork Village subdivision, which includes Mountain View Regional Medical Center, contains 500,000 square feet of office space and is looking to double that amount in the near future.
“There’s a huge amount of development and a tremendous amount of traffic going through,” Brainard said.
The concept in many of the developments Alameda Property Group is working with is to have retail within walking distance of residences, using trail systems that tied in to Lohman and Rinconada as well as the trail system along Triviz Drive.
The Rinconada Town Center will include 900,000 square feet of retail space and Wal-Mart.
“We’ll see a lot of the usual suspects around a Wal-Mart, but we’re looking to put a lot of restaurants there,” Brainard said. “Along U.S. Highway 70, we see at least 35,000 cars per day, and 80 percent of that is commuter traffic. There are going to be lots of homes along Rinconada and Sonoma Ranch Boulevard, and 20 years from now, I see a neighborhood grocery store at every corner within walking distance.”
Commercial Real Estate Market is Healthy
