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by next June Joel Feldman:
and we are Survey author.
well along the
way." The overall occu-
pancy rate in Southfield is
about 83 percent, up from
78.79 percent last year.
Brendan P. George of
the Southfield-based Lutz
Companies, the leasing
agent for the American
Center Building on
Franklin Road in South-
field, said capital im-
provements begun last
year in the 600,000-
square-foot high-rise have
resulted in higher occu-
pancy.
But a strong economy is
the most potent force in
turning around a building,
he said.
"It's funny. People don't
think of real estate as a typical
commodity, but it's governed by
supply and demand. Five years
ago when everything went to pot,
that was an artificial environ-
ment. The supply had outpaced
the demand.
"The economy goes in cycles
and because of that, it affects the
leasing at office buildings. I think
it's just a factor of the cyclical na-
ture of the economy," Mr. George
said.
The occupancy rate in the
American Center building is at
92 percent, but is expected to rise
to about 99 percent soon, Mr.
George said.
The only communities that
saw a slight downturn in office
tenancy since last year are Novi,
Birmingham and Dearborn, Mr.
Feldman's report shows.
But Novi, which experienced
a 2.14 percent drop in occupan-
cy, was never master-planned or
zoned to become a corporate cen-
ter, Mr. Feldman pointed out.
"Novi's niche is really not of-
fice," he said. "It's been zoned for
upscale housing and predomi-
nantly for high-tech buildings
and shopping centers."
Six of seven office buildings in
Novi foreclosed because of insuf-
ficient demand, and now nobody
is building office space there, he
said.
Mr. Feldman fears builders
will start constructing new office
space just when supply and de-
mand are about on par in most
markets.
But he also figures they
learned their lesson and that
banks won't put up the money
because "they were burned very
badly" a decade ago.
"If and when this next cycle of
building commences, it will be
done judiciously, versus shooting
from the hip," he said. ❑
Israel Beach Area
Has Rooms With A View
Work has at last begun on the western promenade
project in Netanya.
GALIT LIPKIS BECK SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
nfrastructure work
on one of the largest
construction and
tourism develop-
ments in Israel has re-
cently started on the
southern beach of Ne-
tanya, 13 years after the
project was first
planned.
The Netanya munic-
ipality plans to invest
about $140 million in
the western promenade
project. The project will
join the existing prome-
nade from the Carmel