Birmingham, Alabama, office vacancies below U.S. average
The
Birmingham
News-
May 30, 2009
by Michael Tomberlin
Birmingham's office market is holding up well compared to many of its Southeastern neighbors, according to a new report.
Cushman & Wakefield reported first quarter 2009 office market vacancies for the U.S. averaged 12.9 percent among downtowns and suburban vacancies averaged 16.5 percent.
Birmingham is one of more than 75 office markets Cushman & Wakefield tracks in its quarterly report. The commercial real estate company found Birmingham vacancies were below the national average and better than many of its regional neighbors.
In Birmingham, the total office vacancy rate rose to 8 percent, up from 6.6 percent at the end of 2008 and the highest level since the third quarter of 2007.
Birmingham's downtown vacancy rate was 9.7 percent and its suburban vacancy rate was 12.1 percent among the newer, multi-tenant office buildings.
Charlotte had a lower downtown rate (2.5 percent) but a higher suburban rate (18.7 percent) while Nashville had a higher downtown rate (13.8 percent) and a lower suburban rate (9.3 percent), the report found. Cities such as Atlanta (21.1 percent downtown and 16.8 percent suburban), Jacksonville (17.5 percent and 22.9 percent) and Memphis (16 percent and 13.9 percent) were higher across the board.
BETTER SHAPE:
"Overall, we're in better shape than many other markets," said Bill Pradat,
president of EGS Commercial Real Estate Inc.
Pradat said the numbers are somewhat of a double-edged sword because although they show occupancy rates remain high, the sour economy and lack of financing has halted new construction of office buildings.
Still, not everything is rosy. Pradat said the amount of space companies in EGS-managed buildings are putting up for sublease grew from 34,000 square feet at the end of 2008 to closer to 100,000 square feet today and he expects that figure to grow to closer to 300,000 square feet in the months ahead.
Read the full story on the The Birmingham News website.
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