The office vacancy rate in Reno's South Meadows is beginning to fall and probably will fall even more as several leasing deals are negotiated in the area.
Colliers International estimates the vacancy rate in South Meadows at the end of the second quarter stood at 15.62 percent compared with 18.33 percent three months earlier.
"There are many deals in the pipeline for that area.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the end of the year vacancy for South Meadows fall below 10 percent," said Tim Ruffin, managing partner of the Colliers office in Reno and vice president of the office properties group.
While most of the Reno office market has held fairly well during the economic downturn of the last two years, South Meadows has been a laggard.
In part, that's because the area tends to attract more of the national companies who pulled back dramatically when the economy stalled.
Office vacancies across the Reno market were essentially unchanged during the quarter, Ruffin said, standing at 10.47 percent at the end of March.
The vacancy rate in the airport area rose to more than 10 percent from about 7.5 percent three months earlier, a trend Ruffin attributed to tenants' searches for higher-quality office space.
While lease rates in Reno haven't changed fallen in recent months, Ruffin said concessions usually, free rent are common.
"Landlords have been competing aggressively with each other to capture deals in fear of a slowdown in leasing activity," he said.
