DENVER — Savills Studley, the leading global commercial real estate services firm specializing in tenant representation, has released its 2018 Q1 Denver edition of the Savills Studley Office Market Report.
The quarterly report is an in-depth compilation of office leasing statistics and trends, major transactions, submarket comparisons, employment data, and investment and development activity.
“Although the Denver region has not seen a recent corporate relocation of the scale of Charles Schwab, the number of smaller and mid-sized firms setting up operations and thriving in Denver has spiked. A dearth of labor and soaring costs in West Coast tech markets continues to push firms to Denver,” said Rick Schuham, vice chairman.
Highlights of the report include:
LEASING DECLINES: Following a strong quarter of activity, with 2.8 million square feet (msf) leased – quarterly activity decreased to 2.2 msf. Tenants have leased 9.4 msf in the four most recent quarters, on track with the long-term market average.
AVAILABILITY RATES SLIDE LOWER: The market’s overall availability rate declined from 19.4 parent to 18.8 percent this quarter. The Class A availability rate fell by 40 basis points to 20.5 percent.
RENTAL RATE INCREASES: Overall asking rent increased by 3 percent from $26.66 to $27.46 this quarter. The rate increased by 5.1 percent year-on-year. The Class A average rent registered an increase of 2.3 percent to $30.39 this quarter.
SALES UP: Office property sales during the last six months (through February 2018) totaled $1.3 billion, a 70 percent increase compared to the previous six–month total of $780 million.
Photo courtesy of Clutch Design Studio