Glenstar Co-hosts 3rd Annual Suburban Office Market Conference.

On Thursday, September 20, 2018, REjournals hosted the 3rd annual Suburban Office Market Conference, co-hosted by GlenStar Properties. More than 150 industry professionals flocked to the Schaumburg Corporate Center to hear about the latest trends on the office market outside the urban core.

Stevhanie Howard, senior broker at Foresite Realty Partners, emceed the event and provided introductory remarks. The first panel, moderated by Kevin Clifton, executive managing director at Cushman & Wakefield, took a deep dive into the state of the suburban office market, including current investment trends, financing strategies and which areas are most attractive for new development.

Panelists included Michael Klein, principal at GlenStar Properties; Bryan Rosenberg, director at HFF; Michael J. Rolfs, partner at Hamilton Partners; Christine Torres, head of Chicago at WiredScore and Jason Wurtz, executive vice president, office services at NAI Hiffman.

So where is the suburban office market headed? According to Klein, “There is growth in the suburbs, but it rarely gets talked about.” He pointed to Medline Industries as an example. The global medical supply manufacturer and distributor moved into a new, 530,000-square-foot headquarters in Northfield last year.

The “M” word—millennial—was invoked several times as the panelists prognosticated on the suburbs’ future. Wurtz believes that the young generation will move to the suburbs just as their parents did, and companies will have to follow them. Rolfs agreed.

“We’re going to see a bit of a reverse migration as the millennials grow up and get married,” Rolfs said. “Companies follow labor, and we have a great labor pool in the suburbs. Smaller businesses are saying that they don’t need to be downtown anymore.”

Source: therealdeal.com