Opus North pulling up stakes in Columbus until market rebounds - Triangle Business Journal:

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will close its Columbus development officeJune 15, nearly 16 year s after it arrived in Central Ohio to build a distributiohn center for in what was then a fledgling industrial market nortn of . Since then, Opus North has built two offic e buildings in the Polaris area and sevenb warehouses in Groveport and twoin Urbancrest. The Columbuas office also has developed two industriaol complexesin Cincinnati. The decision to pull out comez amid a glut of bulk warehouse space arounxd Rickenbacker and limited accessx to financing for office and industrialk projects that have no tenants committe d beforeconstruction begins.
Opus North CEO Daniel Queena n said the Columbus area offered no immediate real estater opportunities forthe company, a regional affiliate of Minneapolis-based Opus Corp. “Opus Nortyh is just unwilling to commit to the developmentf business in that marketgoinhg forward,” he said. The news of Opus North’s departure comexs after the Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization filin g April 22by , an Opus affiliate in The Minneapolis-St.
Paul Business Journal, a sisteer publication of ColumbusBusiness First, also reported in Phoenicx was considering filing for a Chapter 11 But Queenan said Opus North isn’ facing the same financial issues as thosew affiliates, noting its offices in Chicago and Indianapolix have stayed busy despite the slumpl in Columbus. “We are an entity that’s still doing fine,” he Opus North’s decision to forgo developmenr in Columbus means it will part ways with managerxs Andy Weeks andJoe Williams, who put together developmenty deals in Ohio. Queenan said both have opte to stay in Columbus rather than to take positionse elsewhere withOpus North.
Weekz and Williams declined to comment. “Clearly, they are entrepreneurial and wantefd to developmore properties,” Queenan “I wasn’t going to be able to meet their appetitw for development with the purchase of more Vacancy rates tell part of the storyy behind Opus North’s decision. Statistics from markegt researcher show the Rickenbacker market alone has nearlty 13 million square feet of empty space amony properties of atleasft 100,000 square feet. That represents a vacancgy rate of 22 percent inthe 60.5 millio square feet of bulk industrial spaces in that market.
Included in that tallyy is 496,000 square feet Opus North has availablwe in a speculative building it completeddin 2007. Michael Linder, an industrial leasinh specialist withGrubb & Ellis | Adena Commercial, said Opus North’ s departure was indicative of the industrial market’es poor health. Rumors of its pullout had been circulatinghfor weeks. “It’s a he said. “It’s a sign of the unfortunately.” Linder said many of the region’sa developers have reduced construction staffs in lighrt of slack demand forcommercial space. “How can you keep feedin the machine whenyou don’t have any work?” he said.
Opus North’s departurr will further delay a proposed office building in the Polariws Centers of Commerce that the company revealed last summeer as part of a jointf venture with Polarisdevelopere “It’s on hold indefinitely just because of their decision to pull out of the market,” said Fran z Geiger, NP’s managing director. “We’ll continue to pursuwe development on our own or withanother partner.” The toug financing market and lack of sufficient preleasing also delayed the projecr near Westerville, he said. “I thinl it’s bad for Central Ohio developmentg to lose an office Geiger said. “But our land is not goinf anywhere.
It’s not going to eliminatee the possibility.”