Greenville SC  real estate in the commercial market continues to respond to the shifts in local, regional and national economic real estate and financial conditions. Declining job growth and manufacturing output has resulted in a general decline for commercial real estate space in the office and industrial sectors. As a "lagging indicator," commercial real estate typically responds to economic shifts within six to twelve months, depending on the strength of the market and the magnitude of economic events. This is especially true in Greenville SC, where the health of the manufacturing sector directly and indirectly dictates demand in all commercial sectors.

Greenville SC real estate OFFICE MARKET

The Greenville Sc real estate office market currently stands at 8.36 million square feet in 88 properties. New product for Greenville South Carolina in 2002 totaled 530,000 square feet, while the figure for 2003 will be much lower at 226,00 square feet.

Class A Greenville Sc Real Estate office space accounts for 47 percent of the total inventory, representing 3.9 million square feet. Among Greenville South Carolinas two office submarkets, Downtown Greenville Sc real estate has 36 percent of the total, while the suburban (Greer SC real estate, Simpsonville Sc Real estate, etc.) submarket has the dominant share at 63.5 percent.

Vacancy rates for Greenville area real estate have continued to climb; reaching record levels in early 2003. The overall rate of 21.8 percent is reminiscent of vacancy rates of the late 1980s and early 1990s. As the real estate in the suburbs reach 26 percent vacant, landlords are faced with stagnant rents, increased concessions, and fewer prospective tenants. Since 2000, the great majority of leasing activity has come from tenants moving within the local market as opposed to new firms relocating to Greenville SC. Many existing tenants, when upgrading their office market for Greenville SC real estate have been able to upgrade to Class A space while paying Class B prices.

The most stable portion of the office market is Class A space in Greenville SC's Downtown  real estate where vacancy has actually declined to 9.2 percent. Several new build-to-suit properties in Greenville's Downtown area have contributed to this success. With only 36,000 square feet of new space in the CBD for 2003, vacancy in downtown Greenville SC should continue to decline throughout the year and into 2004. City leaders and developers are keeping a close eye on several potential Downtown Greenville developments that could play a major role in guiding the direction of the Greenville SC office market through the end of this decade.

Greenville SC real estate RETAIL MARKET

Greenville SC real estate  offers local and Upstate residents an abundance of shopping opportunities, including regional malls, necessity retail, discount stores, and specialty centers. National retailers recognize this area as a viable retail hub that attracts shoppers from as far away as 100 miles.

The retail inventory in Greenville SC includes shopping centers and free-standing stores of at least 20,000 square feet of Gross Leasable Area (GLA). Currently, there are 128 such properties in Greenville South Carolina, having a total GLA of 12.3 million square feet.  When grouped with properties and real estate in nearby Anderson South Carolina and Spartanburg South Carolina, the inventory tops 21.1 million square feet of GLA.

In a typical year, Greenville SC will see new retail development in the range of 200,000 to one million square feet, however, new retail development declined dramatically in 2002, with only 89,000 square feet of new or redeveloped space.  This appears to be only a brief pause in new construction in the Greenville Sc real estate sector, as almost one million square feet has been completed or is underway for 2003. For 2004, real estate in Greenville SC, in the retail market, inew development is projected to total more than 1.1 million square feet.

Significant new development is occurring in the Taylors/Greer SC area of Wade Hampton Boulevard. New for 2003 and 2004 will be the redeveloped Taylors Square at 230,000 square feet and the planned North Hampton Market at 250,000 square feet.

Woodruff Road and Simpsonville  SC continue to be hot spots for new retail development. Sams Wholesale Club recently relocated into 200,000 square feet on Woodruff Road, while two major regional centers totaling almost 800,000 square feet are planned near the Woodruff Road/I-85 interchange. This area will be the one to watch as prime retail opportunities continue to exist, making this location one of the key retail destinations in the entire South Carolina Upstate.

In Simpsonville SC, the Fairview Road area is the location of choice for many retailers. Kohls Department Store will occupy a former Kmart location, while Target, Ross and TJ Maxx will be delivered by year-end 2003.

Greenville SC real estate INDUSTRIAL MARKET

Grubb & Ellis|The Furman Co. tracks almost 1,500 competitive industrial properties in Greenville County Real Estate and the western portion of Spartanburg County. General industrial, warehouse/distribution, and flex-space properties of 5,000 or more square feet are included.

Both the general industrial and warehouse/distribution categories of real estate in Greenville County contain roughly 47 million square feet each, having an equal share of 94 percent of the total inventory. The remaining six percent is in the flex-space category.

The dominance of manufacturing in the Upstate of South Carolina plays a critical role in the rise and fall of demand for industrial and warehouse space. Total industrial vacancy has ranged from 16.0 to 14.7 percent since early 2002, and has remained several percentage points above the national industrial vacancy rate in Greenville SC. General industrial space, at 11.1 percent vacant, traditionally outperforms warehouse and flex space since it is the least volatile of the three property types. Warehouse space had a vacancy rate of 15.4 percent, while flex space was much higher at 25.6 percent.

With vacancies at these levels, speculative construction has been significantly reduced. One major speculative building is expected to be delivered by mid-2004 at The Matrix Business and Technology Park in southern Greenville County. This building will feature 85,000 square feet, expandable to 170,000 square feet.

See 2004 Southeast Real Estate Forecast

*Greater Greenville Industrial Market and Greenville SC real estate extends beyond county lines to include portions of western Spartanburg County and northern Laurens County.

Greenville Sc real estate Multi-family Market

Greenville SC real estate inventory of apartments, public housing, condominiums, and elderly housing totals approximately 33,000 units. Figures from the S.C. Appalachian Council of Governments* show that new construction has slowed in recent years, with condominiums and townhouses seeing the most rapid growth since 2000.

Conventional apartments make up more than three-fourths of the total multi-family market of Greenville Sc homes, Greenville SC homes for sale, and Greenville Sc real estate, with 21,000 units. The occupancy rate quoted in April 2002 was 92.5 percent. Although rental rate increases have averaged 4 percent each year since 1997, 2002 saw an almost negligible increase in rent. For the Greenville SC real estate market as a whole, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment was reported to be $609, compared with the high-growth Eastside area where the average was $676.

Construction in the condominium/townhouse market for Greenville Sc real estate, Greer SC real estate, and the general area of Greenville SC in 2002 totaled approximately 1,200 units, accunting for more than three-quarter of all multi-family construction in the area.  About 800 new units are in the planning stages.

*2000 Greenville County Multi-family Housing Survey, SC Appalachian Council of Governments.

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