Commercial Real Estate Trends to Watch for in 2019

Neal Martin Zeavy is a co-owner of, and an angel investor in, Nic’s Organic Fast Food, the first certified organic fast food company in the United States. Additionally, Neal Zeavy serves as the president of NZ Consulting and Zeavy Development, the latter of which acquires and develops commercial real estate around the country.

For those involved in the commercial real estate industry, 2019 will bring plenty of new challenges and opportunities. Following are just a few of these expected trends:

- Brick and mortar will grow in popularity. In recent years, many brick and mortar stores have fallen into obscurity. While larger retailers may continue to go out of business, brick and mortar stores will grow in popularity in 2019 due to the increasing practice of online companies moving into retail spaces.

- Federal Reserve will make things harder. Shortly after the recession, the Fed began buying up bonds to increase the money in the market and drive commercial real estate investment. While it still hopes to maintain economic stability, the Fed will start selling its bonds at attractive rates. In turn, this will leave less money for real estate investing. At the same time, the Fed plans on increasing interest rates for investors, a practice that’s echoed by many Wall Street and other central banks.

- Suburbia will see more millennials. As an increasing number of millennials reach their 30s, they are showing more of an interest to live in suburban areas. As they shift, trendy retailers and other entities will move with them in an effort to attract talent and reduce rent costs.

- Opportunity zone programs will increase. In 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created what’s known as the Opportunity Zone program, which promotes economic development in underserved communities by offering developers a large tax break for building in such areas. In 2019, the number of these programs will likely increase.