Are You Involved?

I’ll start this the way I usually do.  We had a negative 200k sf of net absorption in the second quarter.  Not bad, but not good.  However, coming off one of our worse quarters on record, that means we are on pace to lose over 2M sf of net absorption this year.  Vacancy ebbed up to 8.2% from 8.1% last quarter, but most lease and sale rates are holding steady. 

I went back and checked my records.  My 2022 Q4 newsletter summarizing 2022 began as follows:

I titled my first newsletter of 2022 ‘Clouds on the Horizon?”.  And then spent the next two quarters talking about an impending mess.  However, by the end of the third quarter we’d had 4.4M sf of net absorption.  For all my talk this year of impending problems, and the general economy is sure seeing them, the Portland/Vancouver industrial market just continues to crank.

Well, unfortunately, the artificial Covid boost finally came to an end, and we are now into what undoubtedly will be our FOURTH year of negative absorption.  Hate to twist the knife, but my Spidey senses weren’t wrong. And as I write this, I’ve just received a PBJ notice that Daimler will be shuttering a truck plant.  I could quote ranking numbers, but Portland, and Oregon, just isn’t a business friendly place.

As we come off celebrating our 250^th anniversary, I’m going to take a shift on this newsletter.  The US is the greatest experiment in democracy ever, and still the only nation to be based on a concept and not a culture.  This was accomplished by a group of business people that took time from their 8 – 5 grind to change the environment in which they operated.  Today we call it Politics, and I have to admit that for most of my career I’ve kept my head down and stuck to business.  Those days are over. 

ARE YOU INVOLVED?

When you use the word Politics, you think Democrat or Republican.  However, that isn’t the issue for the greater Portland/Vancouver area.  The issue is whether this region remains a place where a business can start, grow, and stay.  If you are reading this, you’ve built something here.  And right now we are losing ground.  You need to get involved.  I’ve spent my career trying to follow the 5% rule.  If there is something I don’t like, I need to spend two hours a week trying to push back on it.  And in addition to my time, I’ve invested my talent and treasure on many fronts also. 

There were a few ways for business people to get involved before Covid, including supporting political candidates and business objectives.  I’ve been a member of the Oregon Business and Industries (Manufacturing Council) for more than a decade, and support other business friendly organizations both north and south of the river.  However, the decline of downtown Portland has led to the creation of a few business organizations dedicated to bringing back the Portland we once knew.  These include (in simply alphabetical order):

Future Portland - About — Future Portland Community Coalition

Partnership4Progress - About — Partnership for Progress

Revitalize Portland Coalition - Mission | Revitalize Portland

United for Portland - About Us | United for Portland

I’m a fifth generation Oregonian, born and raised in East Portland.  I have seventh generation grandchildren living here.  I want them to enjoy the Portland region that I grew up in.  We have to get involved.  I doubt the business people got involved 250 years ago because they didn’t have anything else to do.

And while Vancouver hasn’t been forced to mobilize like Portland, a great organization is Identity Clark County, which is constantly fighting for business North of the River.

About Identity Clark County

Oh yeah, and more about Portland/Vancouver real estate follows in the Capacity Q2 Industrial Market Update.  Hopefully our absorption numbers return to the positive.  But just remember, it’s going to be tough without your involvement.