Office Vacancy Rate Dips In 495 Region
Office space in the Interstate 495 region became a bit scarcer in the final months of the year while asking rents for prime space rose a little, according to a report from Boston-based Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, a commercial real estate advisory firm.
The latest quarterly report from the company said the vacancy rate in the region dropped 0.5 percent to 18.8 percent as tenants filled an extra 137,000 square feet of space. Most of that was in the I-495 North region, which saw a 1.5percent drop. The I-495 West area experienced a slight drop, 0.1 percent, while the I-495South region went the other way with a 1.7-percent increase in vacancies.
In the northern region, the report specifically cited a big drop in the vacancy rate in Westford over the last year, from 26.6 percent to 14.8 percent. That was helped out when medical products and services provider St. Jude Medical moved into 80,000 square feet of space. Other notable deals included Axis Communications' move into a 50,000-square-foot facility in Chelmsford and VisionScope relocating into 22,000 square feet of space in Littleton.
Strong Quarter Throughout Greater Boston Region
According to the report, Greater Boston's office market posted another strong quarter, with overall vacancy dropping 0.4 percent to 15.4 percent. The market had positive absorption - the amount of space taken off the market - of 861,000 square feet, the highest such quarterly amount in the market since 2007. Joyce & Partners said Greater Boston is on a three-quarter streak of positive absorption with more than 1.8 million square feet taken off the market during 2011.
"We are pleased to see that the positive results are widespread," said Brendan Carroll, senior vice president of research for Richards Barry Joyce & Partners. "Positive absorption has occurred in almost all geographies and has been driven by companies in a wide range of industries."
Asking Rents Up For Prime Office Space
Landlords' asking rents for prime, or Class A, office space in the 495 region was up 2.4 percent on average during the quarter, to $19.63 per square foot. But in a sign that renters were getting good deals, the average asking rent fell 1.2 percent in the I-495 North region. In I-495 West, the mean asking rent rose 4.8 percent; in I-495 South, it was up 1.4 percent.
There was a notable acquisition in Marlborough during the quarter in which the owners hope to lease in 2012. The Campus at Marlborough - a complex of three fullyleased, high-quality office buildings totaling 530,000 square feet - was sold for $103 million to a Houston-based investment real estate firm, Hines Global REIT.
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