“There are mixed economic signals, making a prediction for 2023 a difficult task. That said, there has been good development activity on and near UK’s Coldstream Research Campus, which gives reason for optimism for 2023 and beyond. The new CoRE building will provide an opportunity for more early-stage, high-tech companies to flourish in Lexington as they grow well-paying jobs. Coldstream has also created a dynamic live, work, play and innovate environment with the opening of the 260-unit FIFTEEN51 luxury apartments. Adjacent to Coldstream, UK conveyed 200 acres of job-creation land to the City of Lexington to develop the new Legacy Business Park.”
“On a scale of 1-10, we expect the Kentucky/U.S. economy in 2023 to be at a 5 or 6. We believe the Kentucky and U.S. economy will slow principally due to the federal government’s monetary policies that have increased the cost of money as a result of the current inflationary environment. In our sector, other than fulfilling the existing backlog, we believe the construction industry will be flat principally due to inflation/cost of funds, supply chain issues, and significant labor and material cost increases.
“Hollenbach-Oakley expects more tenants to be renewing leases and that new building construction will fall well below 2022 figures. We expect our revenues to be similar in 2023 to 2022 mainly because of the backlog of projects we are working on now that were delayed from earlier years. We expect our staffing levels to remain unchanged in 2023.”
“On a scale of 1-10, we expect the Kentucky/U.S. economy in 2023 to be at a 6 to a 7. I expect the U.S. economy to slow somewhat from 2022, but contrary to many national forecasters, I do not anticipate a deep correction. I believe we will see inflation subside and we may be able to simply slow. Kentucky’s economy will feel the same. I expect revenues to be down in our sector—commercial as well as residential real estate—probably by about 25%. At Corporex, our company’s revenues will likely be flat to down only slightly due to our backlog of development projects underway.”
