The office vacancy rate in downtown
Reno during the second quarter
was below most other cities in the
region, according to a research report
from Colliers International.
Reno's downtown vacancy rate of
11.4 percent on June 30 compares with
13.9 percent in downtown properties in
Las Vegas, 14.9 percent in San
Francisco, 15.1 percent in Portland and
12 percent in the San Jose/Silicon
Valley region.
Sacramento, with an 8.4 percent
vacancy rate, and Salt Lake City, at
10.5 percent, posted lower rates in their
downtown regions.
Nationally, the office vacancy rate
in metropolitan downtown areas was
13.6 percent, said Ross J. Moore, USA
director of research for Colliers.
Among suburban office properties,
the Colliers study found Reno's vacancy
rate of 11.9 percent was lower than
other cities in the region.
Las Vegas and San Jose each
reported a 12.4 percent vacancy in suburban
offices, while Sacramento reported
a 13.6 percent vacancy rate and
Portland reported a 21.1 percent vacancy
rate in those properties.
Nationally, the vacancy rate in suburban
properties was 16.6 percent.
Reno's downtown includes 1.65
million square feet of office space.
No new office space in the area was
opened during the second quarter of
this year, and none is under construction,
the Colliers report said.
Suburban offices account for 5.7
million square feet of space in the
Reno area. While no office projects
are under construction, the second
quarter saw the addition of 180,000
square feet of suburban office space to
the inventory.
Moore said leasing activity in the
office sector across the United States
remained slow during the second quarter
in all regions.
"With the U.S. economy posting
anemic growth in the second quarter
and more accounting scandals surfacing
by the week, corporate America was
only interested in shedding space, not
taking on more," he said.
Moore said subleasing of space
remained an important part of the
market nationally. The amount of
subleased space rose by 7.2 percent
nationally during the second quarter.
The Colliers researcher predicted
that rents will remain soft nationally
through the remainder of this year and
vacancy rates will continue to rise.
He said the national office vacancy rate
may reach 17 percent by the end of this
year, and the softness is likely to continue
into the early months of 2003.
"With the economy producing few
new jobs and financial markets experience
extreme volatility is is unlikely significant
new demand for office premises
will resurface any time soon," he said.
