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M id A tlantic Real Estate Journal — 2022 Forecast —January 21 - February 17, 2022 — 19A

www.marej.com

2022 F orecast

By Joseph Latina, Patterson-Woods Commercial Properties/CORFAC International Industrial, Multifamily Lead the Pack at Start of New Year

T

he Delaware Commer - cial Real Estate market enjoyed a very robust

trying to determine the proper balance between their in-office and remote workforce. Many

and Sussex counties. We begin 2022 in an all-too- familiar place as Governor

uncertainty, however rede - velopment projects are gain - ing some momentum in the First State evidenced by the success of The Grove and 141 East Main Street in Newark; The Residences at the Concord in North Wilmington; Barley Mill in Greenville; and several urban, mixed-use redevelop - ments in theWilmington CBD. Industrial and multifamily appeared to be poised for con - tinued growth in 2022. We an - ticipate moderate growth in the retail market as much of the vacant space continues to fill with new concepts and brick-

and-mortar hybrid versions of popular ecommerce sites. The office market should witness positive growth in Delaware in 2022 as many of the larger high-rises are repurposed for multifamily redevelopment, thereby reduc - ing the inventory. Meanwhile, start-up businesses in inno - vation such as fintech, bio- science and digital and social media marketing should fill many of the current vacancies. Joseph Latina is principal at Patterson-Woods Com- mercial Properties/CORFAC International. MAREJ

2021 as we began to re - bui ld f rom the e f f ec t s of the global p a n d em i c . One particu - l a r b r i g h t s p o t w a s

Projects are gaining some momentum in the First State evidenced by the success of The Grove and 141 East Main Street in Newark; The Residences at the Concord in North Wilmington; Barley Mill in Greenville; and several urban, mixed-use redevelopments in the Wilmington CBD.

Joseph Latina

record-setting growth in the industrial sector, highlighted by the new 3 million-s/f Ama - zon distribution center at the former site of the General Mo - tors Boxwood Road assembly plant in Newport, Delaware. Multifamily was equally as strong, while retail and office will have a longer way to climb from their pandemic-related blows. Industrial/flex rents grew a staggering 13% in New Castle County in 2021, followed by 8% rent growth in both the Kent and Sussex County in - dustrial markets with sale prices averaging a remarkable $70-plus psf. The demand far outweighed the supply, and brokers found themselves struggling to fulfill assign - ments with limited inventory. Multifamily real estate was equally as bullish as we wit - nessed many traditionally office and retail developers pivot to multifamily develop - ment. Rent growth was as high as 12% is some areas of the state, and cap rates remained very low. Student housing was stable at the state’s two largest colleges with the aver - age monthly cost of a bed at the University of Delaware in Newark coming in around $828 and around $756 amonth at Delaware State in Dover. Earlier in 2021 retail real estate in the Diamond State appeared poised to make a strong comeback as activity was strong. However, unprec - edented supply chain issues and – more significantly – ma - jor employment issues stifled that growth in the latter part of the year. On several oc - casions we witnessed newly constructed stores and res - taurants unable to open as scheduled because they sim - ply had no employees to staff the businesses. Rents still increased modestly with 2-3% rent growth across the state. The office market flatlined in 2021 after a decrease in 2020 as many employers are still

employers were surprised by their workers’ lack of desire to return to the office. Rent growth in the northern part of the state was minimal, around 1-2% with no increase in Kent

Carney has, yet again, de - clared a state of emergency and re-implemented an indoor mask mandate due to the recent surge of COVID vari - ants. This creates obvious

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