Regional office market in Charlottesville is ‘stable’

2012 data compiled by the Charlottesville office of CBRE show a commercial office market with strong demand and limited vacancy downtown.

“Overall we describe the region as ‘stable’, since modest declines in certain market segments were off-set by modest gains in others. For example, despite an uptick in vacancy in both the North and the East quadrants, rental rates increased in the market on average year-over-year, with downtown experiencing positive net absorption and a continued shortage of available Class A office space,” Cass Kawecki, vice president at CBRE|Charlottesville, said in a statement. 

The market report, presented to the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce, notes that as of 2012 there was about 1.8 million square feet of Class A commercial space in the Charlottesville region (excluding owner-occupied, condominiums and institutional space), of which 13.8 percent was vacant. That’s below the national average vacancy for Class A office for the same period of 15.4 percent, but it’s higher than the rate of 11.7 percent that Charlottesville experienced in 2011.

Other 2012 economic indicators include:

·      A slight increase in average rental rates, from $22.19 per square feet to $22.30 per square feet.

·      Negative net absorption overall in the market primarily because of increased availability in the U.Va. Research Park on 29 North.

·      Continued unemployment rates below national and state averages.