Office vacancy rates in the downtown expected to rise
Posted Jun 29, 2011 11:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A new report shows office vacancy rates in the downtown could soon be going up.
According to a report by Base10 Capital Advisors, the vacancy rate will increase from 7.9 per cent to 16 per cent by the end of the year.
A large reason is the completion of the Bow Tower and the addition of 6 other office buildings since 2009.
Brian Slauko of Base10 Capital Advisors tells 660News, since January 2010, 96 per cent of the 3 million square feet of space absorbed in the core has been new inventory but employment stats show there’s been little increase in office workers to fill that space.
Slauko says Alberta actually lost office jobs in 2010 for the first time in 10 years and so far in 2011 they are still seeing reduced numbers in employment.
He says the numbers also reflect tenants moving in to new spaces still occupying their old office spaces or have not yet put them on the market which artificially inflates vacancy levels, especially in older office buildings in the west core.
He adds, vacancy rates in some of the older office buildings have jumped to around 17 per cent and investors need to be proactive to protect the value in their properties.
He believes recent upswings in the oil and gas market may help but, there will still be issues to address.
