Avison Young in Greenville

For more than 20 years, the principals and associates of the South Carolina offices of Avison Young have been providing a full range of commercial real estate services to clients.  Avison Young opened its Greenville office in September 2013 to service the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Upstate market.  The South Carolina offices offer a full suite of services including brokerage, property management, project management, capital markets and development services.  We represent buyers, sellers and those leasing properties for business, industrial and investment organizations of all kinds.

Guiding everything we do is an unwavering commitment to excellence in client service.  Through a dedicated, principal-led business resources team, we provide tools, technology and expertise to support our clients, however complex their challenges. Our approach is holistic and consistent. It starts with an understanding of your business priorities, not with real estate transactions. For our clients, this means we produce customized, cost-effective solutions with speed, creativity and confidence.

With over 75 years of combined experience, the Greenville property management team gives owners the confidence their investment will be properly managed. In addition to maintaining positive tenant relationships, our team delivers innovative real estate management solutions, finds reputable and responsive vendors at competitive prices, and provides the resources to keep track of clients’ financial information. Our experience and expertise span commercial, retail and industrial property types, and include all of the resources and expertise of Avison Young’s global organization.

Services

Area Overview

Greenville, with a municipal population of 60,709 and a combined statistical area population of 1,438,550, is the fourth largest municipality and the fastest-growing urban area in the state. Greenville is also the largest city in the 10-county region of northwestern South Carolina known as “the Upstate”.  The Upstate is the fastest-growing region in the state and with its strategic position along Interstate 85, future development and growth prospects are very favorable.  Greenville is centrally located along the mega-growth I-85 corridor that connects two of the largest cities in the Southeast -- Atlanta, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina.  Greenville is easily accessible via air, road and rail and is located 100 miles from the capitol city of Columbia and only 200 miles from the Port City of Charleston.

With more than 250 international firms, the Upstate boasts the highest international investment per capita in the nation and is among the largest export markets in the United States.  Greenville is home to such national and international corporations as Fluor and Hubbell Lighting - with BMW and Michelin North America located nearby. Other major industries include the auto industry which is concentrated mainly along the I-85 corridor near the BMW manufacturing facility, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, private sector and university-based R&D facilities for Michelin, Fuji and General Electric and research centers to support the automotive, life sciences, plastics and photonics industries. Clemson University, BMW, IBM, Microsoft, and Michelin have combined their resources to create the International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR), a research park that specializes in the development of automotive technology. The Upstate region was ranked seventh in the nation by site consultants considering the top markets for economic development.

CNN Money listed Greenville as one of the "Top 10 Fastest Growing Cities in the U.S." The New York Times listed Greenville as 13th on its list of “52 Places to Go in 2017”. Greenville has also been named on “Best Places to Live 2016” by Men’s Journal, Top 4 Best Places to Raise a Family by MarketWatch and Entrepreneur placed Greenville among its 2015 list of “Top 10 Small Cities Where Business is Thriving.” Additionally, the state of South Carolina has been ranked within the top 10 fastest-growing states and economies by the U.S. Commerce Department.

Markets

The Greenville region is rapidly gaining popularity as a tourist destination. With the market featured in national and international publications, hotels remained booked year-round. Many hotels are under construction with more in the pipeline. Increasing visitor traffic, combined with a growing population, is strengthening the thriving economy. Anchored by BMW, Michelin and other autorelated manufacturers, advanced manufacturing maintains a strong presence. The growth of these key players has had a multiplier effect on other industries in the area.

The scale and character of downtown Greenville is starting to shift. Historical two-to-four-story downtown buildings are being overshadowed by eight-to- 15-story developments. The vintage town is beginning to take on the look and feel of a modern city.

OFFICE

The office market remained healthy through 2018. While vacancy was low, the highest was in Greenville’s CBD. An addition of 150,000 sf of office space in the heart of Main Street is scheduled to be delivered in late 2019. With this delivery already fully leased, vacancies should level off and occupancy rates start to rise. Greenville’s city council has made this development a priority in the downtown master plan and has included a specific focus on attracting new-to-market office tenants. Current owners are renovating their common areas to keep up with new construction.

INDUSTRIAL

The industrial sector was robust in 2018. With several large deliveries and speculative buildings under construction, vacancy rates remained tight as rental rates increased. As new companies entered the market and existing companies announced expansions, demand grew for class A product to meet operational needs.

Landlords will enjoy rising rental rates in 2019. Despite new buildings entering the market, low vacancies among class A and B product will remain. The skilled labor
shortage will diminish as higherlearning institutions continue to receive grant money to provide students with hands-on training.

RETAIL

The Upstate region has posted continued job, population and tourism growth, helping to fuel a strong retail market. Downtown Greenville is on the map with population growth and increased tourism activity. National, regional and local tenants call Main Street home, causing rental rates to rise along the thoroughfare. Rates have climbed higher in smaller towns’ downtowns as well – most notably Traveler’s Rest with the help of the Swamp Rabbit Trail System, a 22-mile recreational trail system with numerous businesses and restaurants along it. Suburban retail has remained resilient while strong traffic corridors record historically low vacancy rates. The retail market is anticipated to continue to improve in 2019 as job and population growth remain strong.

INVESTMENT

The investment market should remain strong in 2019 with continued population growth, job creation and income growth above the national average. The Upstate market is attractive to investors, as Morgan Stanley and Mapletree Investments made major investments in the market during 2018. Morgan Stanley acquired a 16 building, 1-msf, $285-million medical office-building portfolio and a 331,000-sf industrial speculative building in Greenville for $21 million. The Mapletree acquisition included two buildings on White Horse Road in Greenville totaling 540,000 sf. A tremendous foundation has been built in the Upstate with the inland port in Greer, the world’s largest BMW production facility, Michelin’s long-term commitment to the region and Clemson University’s worldclass engineering, automotive and real estate programs continuing to expand and gain global recognition.