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

will close its Columbus developmenr officeJune 15, nearly 16 years afteer it arrived in Central Ohio to build a distribution centefr for in what was then a fledgling industrialk market north of . Since then, Opus North has builtr two office buildings in the Polaris area and sevemn warehouses in Groveport and two in The Columbus office also has developes two industrial complexes in The decision to pull out comes amid a glut of bulk warehousd space around Rickenbacker and limitecd access to financing for office and industrialk projects that have no tenantx committed beforeconstruction begins.
Opus North CEO Daniekl Queenan said the Columbus area offered no immediate real estate opportunities forthe company, a regionaol affiliate of Minneapolis-based Opus Corp. “Opus Nortb is just unwilling to commit to the developmentt business in that marketgoinfg forward,” he said. The news of Opus North’s departure comess after the Chapter 11 bankruptcty reorganization filing April 22by , an Opus affiliatd in Atlanta. The Minneapolis-St. Paul Businessd Journal, a sister publication of ColumbusBusiness First, also reportec in Phoenix was considering filing for a Chaptert 11 restructuring.
But Queenan said Opus North isn’tf facing the same financial issues asthosew affiliates, noting its offices in Chicago and Indianapolis have stayed busy despitwe the slump in Columbus. “We are an entity that’sw still doing fine,” he said. Opus North’s decisionb to forgo development in Columbus means it will part ways with managerws Andy Weeks andJoe Williams, who put together development deald in Ohio. Queenan said both have opted to stay in Columbua rather than to take positions elsewhere withOpus North. Weeks and Williames declined to comment. “Clearly, they are entrepreneurial and wanted to developmore properties,” Queenaj said.
“I wasn’t going to be able to meet theier appetite for development with the purchased ofmore land.” Vacancy ratez tell part of the story behindf Opus North’s decision. Statistics from marker researcher show the Rickenbacker market alone has nearlh 13 million square feet of empthy space among properties of atleast 100,000 square That represents a vacancy rate of 22 percenty in the 60.5 million square feet of bulk industriakl space in that market. Includes in that tally is 496,000 squard feet Opus North has available in a speculative buildin g it completedin 2007.
Michael Linder, an industriap leasing specialist withGrubb & Ellis | Adena said Opus North’s departure was indicative of the industrial market’s poor health. Rumors of its pulloutt had been circulatingfor weeks. “It’as a shame,” he said. “It’ a sign of the times, unfortunately.” Linder said many of the region’ developers have reduced construction staffs in lighr of slack demand forcommercial space. “Howq can you keep feeding the machine whenyou don’ have any work?” he said.
Opus North’ds departure will further delay a proposed officde building in the Polarisa Centers of Commerce that the company revealed last summerd as part of a jointy venture with Polarisdeveloper “It’s on hold indefinitelyh just because of their decision to pull out of the said Franz Geiger, NP’s managing director. “We’ll continues to pursue development on our own or withanotheer partner.” The tough financing market and lack of sufficieny preleasing also delayed the project near he said. “I think it’sa bad for Central Ohio development to lose anofficre developer,” Geiger said. “But our land is not goingv anywhere.
It’s not going to eliminate the
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