Commercial Investment Real Estate is the magazine of the CCIM Institute, the leading provider of commercial real estate education. CIRE covers market trends, current developments, and business strategies within the commercial real estate field.
Issue link: http://cire.epubxp.com/i/536709
12 July | August | 2015 Commercial Investment Real Estate Q & A C CIM t by Sara S. Patterson The Equalizer Throughout his four decades in commercial real estate, Henry H. Hanna, CCIM, SIOR, has experienced strong and weak markets and learned how to analyze and solve many real estate conundrums. Currently, he spearheads the Mid-Atlantic team for Sperry Van Ness Asset Recovery, helping local, regional, and national banks and their borrowers to strengthen their real estate portfolios as the economy recovers. For his specialty in industrial sales, Hanna has worked with national and international companies, including fi rms from Germany, Italy, and Belgium, and sold a variety of pharmaceutical, defense, high- tech, manufacturing, modular home, and boatbuilding companies. Additionally, he has been actively involved in the government arena to develop commercial real estate opportunities. Henry H. Hanna, CCIM, SIOR Most of those developments had bank f nancing in place. However as the recession progressed, it became dif cult to obtain new f nancing. In 2015, limited new f nancing is available, and several defense contractors have converted to new commercial contracts, although on a reduced scale. This region has several manufactur- ing plants ranging from 50,000 to 200,000 square feet, which closed due to industry consolidation. For example, the recession led to a collapse of the pleasure boating industry, resulting in about 400,000 sf of vacant ware- house space. T ese buildings have now been subdivided for smaller users at $10 to $25 psf for indus- tries beginning to expand in 2015, including modular construction for poultry houses, medical supply distribution, and public warehousing. New growth is also coming in the production of food and beverages and their packaging. There is also strong future interest in unmanned systems and aerospace compa- nies at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. T ese companies are resupplying the International Space Station with unmanned cargo ships and are involved in the development and testing of unmanned aircraf . CIRE: Do those local trends correspond with the national industrial trends or do you see something else happening nationally? Hanna: Our region is just seeing the bot- tom of pricing with many sellers ready to accept reduced pricing and move on to new ventures. Financing from local and regional banks is now below 5 percent with economic development agencies helping to of set down payment requirements to create local jobs. CIRE: What types of projects have you been working on recently? Hanna: Sperry Van Ness is seeing strong growth in energy, food, and beverage sec- tors; medical and pharmaceutical indus- tries; and poultry companies. Our f rm is involved in expanding production facilities and improving logistics for these areas of growth. Additionally, Maryland is promot- ing alternative energy plants. CIRE: What major trends are you seeing in the Baltimore industrial market right now? Hanna: My market is the Eastern Shore of Maryland and southern Delaware. T ese counties are on the Delmarva Peninsula between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic. Historically this region is late in expe- riencing recessions and slower to recover. Healthcare, educational institutions, and several diversif ed manufacturers support a strong agricultural base, while retirement and second-home communities provide a solid foundation for construction jobs. Early in the Great Recession, these sectors remained vibrant. Many defense contractors were winding up long-term manufacturing contracts at their plants. Retirement and second-home developers initially slowed their operations, which eventually came to a standstill.