Tucked in the town of Wallkill, the C.R. Wolfe building is a historic property built in the 1800s that was once used as a feed store and even a trolley barn.
Now, it’s a warehouse and office space, and it’s on the market again. At $2.5 million, the three separate buildings are just one of the commercial properties listed by Keller Williams Realty.
Commercial real estate makes up 20% of its business, and business lately has been booming.
“For every property that we have listed for sale, we’re getting dozens and dozens of inquiries, and that hasn’t happened in a long time,” said Chris Scibelli of Keller Williams Realty.
They said in the past few years, there’s been a huge increase in doing business in the Hudson Valley.
“There’s been a huge influx of users to our area, mostly from New York City, who have come up here to find more inexpensive properties so they can expand their businesses,” said Scibelli.
That explains why spaces like the C.R. Wolfe property are a hot commodity.
“It’s been a tremendous demand. Warehouses have been off the charts,” said Scibelli.
With more people shopping online during the pandemic than ever before, companies needed more merchandise space.
The Hudson Valley is an ideal location with its robust system of roads like I-84 and I-17. They make transporting goods easy.
“As people came here, there was more need to bring the labor force here. There was more need to put the warehouses here versus there were a lot of warehouses in Jersey,” said Joseph Distelburger of Keller Williams Realty.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the value of commercial real estate properties dropped by 6% from 2020 to 2021 and sales for all types of commercial real estate decreased in 2021, except for land, warehouses and industrial flex spaces.
How does the commercial real estate market compare to the rest of the country?
“We’re enjoying a very unique opportunity here,” said Scibelli. “What’s going on here in the Hudson Valley is a blip on the screen. It’s nothing like what’s going on nationally.”