Commercial real estate market looking positive in Hampton Roads

The Hampton Roads office market saw another quarter of positive absorption, albeit minimal, giving the region five consecutive quarters of net positive absorption.

An area’s absorption rate is a common measurement of economic health because it looks at the amount of square feet leased in a specific geographic area over a fixed period-of-time after deducting the space vacated in the area during the same period. If more space is leased than vacated, the number is positive. If more space is vacated than leased, the number is negative. 

The region’s Peninsula office market led the way with nearly 40,000 square feet in positive absorption during the first quarter.

According to CBRE/Hampton Roads, however, the Pembroke market in Virginia Beach has the lowest vacancy rate in the region at 7.1 percent. There are several projects under construction in Pembroke, with the largest being the development of Town Center Block 11 in the Virginia Beach Town Center.

The overall office market net absorption tracked by CBRE|Hampton Roads was positive 24,964 square feet on a market base of 23.2 million square feet.

CBRE also reports positive absorption for the fourth straight quarter for the industrial sector, with absorption in three of the past four quarters greater than 1 million square feet.

The largest industrial transactions of the first quarter were GD Nassco leasing 100,000 square feet at 2626 Indian River Road in the Bainbridge/Elizabeth River area of Chesapeake and HD Supply leasing 32,000 square feet at Woodlake Center in Chesapeake’s Greenbrier area.

The region’s strongest-performing industrial submarket for the first quarter was the Bainbridge/Elizabeth River submarket with a vacancy rate of 2.4 percent.

The overall industrial market net absorption tracked by CBRE|Hampton Roads was positive 179,692 square feet on a market base of more than 77 million square feet.