The Downtown Vancouver Office Market remains strong, while vacancy rates have been increasing, the overall vacancy Downtown is only 7.1%, however that is an increase from 4.2% a year prior. It is also worth noting that the class “A” vacancy rate is only 4.8% while the class “B” vacancy rate is 9.0%.
| AS OF January 11, 2010 |
NUMBER OF BUILDINGS |
TOTAL OFFICE AREA (SQ. FT.) |
DIRECT AVAILABLE AREA (SQ. FT.) |
DIRECT AVAILABLE RATE (%) |
SUBLET AVAILABLE AREA (SQ. FT.) |
SUBLET AVAILABLE RATE (%) |
TOTAL AVAILABLE AREA (SQ. FT.) |
TOTAL AVAILABLE RATE (%) |
| GREATER VANCOUVER MARKET | 628 | 49,456,480 | 4,113,842 | 8.3 | 1,009,869 | 2.0 | 5,123,711 | 10.4 |
| VANCOUVER DISTRICT | 298 | 27,848,522 | 1,523,774 | 5.5 | 505,484 | 1.8 | 2,029,258 | 7.3 |
| CLASS A | 49 | 12,383,136 | 405,606 | 3.3 | 183,987 | 1.5 | 589,593 | 4.8 |
| CLASS B | 52 | 5,305,242 | 334,051 | 6.3 | 145,999 | 2.8 | 480,050 | 9.0 |
| CLASS C | 51 | 2,645,027 | 308,777 | 11.7 | 65,930 | 2.5 | 374,707 | 14.2 |
There continues to be a variety of options for Downtown tenants and there are only 5 openly marketed options for tenants larger than 50,000 square feet, but there are 53 opportunities for tenants greater than 10,000 square feet and while Downtown Vancouver witnessed negative absorption of 370,000 square feet for the year, the absorption for the second half of the year was positive. The challenge Downtown continues to be to find new or expanding tenants relocating and absorbing space.
Tenant Options Report
| COMPARISON OF LEASING OPTIONS FOR TENANTS | |||||||
| OFFICE SPACES AT SELECTED NODES (Market – District – Node – Class) |
AVAILABLE SPACE | AVAILABLE RATE | |||||
| NUMBER OF BUILDINGS |
BUILDINGS WITH MORE THAN 50,000 SF |
BUILDINGS WITH MORE THAN 10,000 SF |
NUMBER OF SPACES BETWEEN 4,000 TO 8,000 SF |
DIRECT % |
SUBLET % |
TOTAL % |
|
| Greater Vancouver MARKET | 628 | 19 | 148 | 165 | 8.3 | 2.0 | 10.4 |
| Vancouver DISTRICT | 298 | 6 | 68 | 88 | 5.5 | 1.8 | 7.3 |
| Downtown Vancouver NODE | 152 | 5 | 53 | 64 | 5.2 | 1.9 | 7.1 |
| CLASS A | 49 | 3 | 22 | 26 | 3.3 | 1.5 | 4.8 |
| CLASS B | 52 | 0 | 21 | 24 | 6.3 | 2.8 | 9.0 |
| CLASS C | 51 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 11.7 | 2.5 | 14.2 |
Downtown Vancouver Facts
- ~20,333,000 square feet office space
- 152 Buildings with ~1,444,000 square feet vacant (down)
- ~ No buildings currently under construction
- Class “A” survey of occupancy cost psf/annum $57.41(up)
The Leasing Facts
- 5 Buildings with more than 50,000 sf (up two buildings in 6 months)
- 53 Premises with over 10,000 sf as of July 2009 (up 5 opportunities)
Downtown Vancouver’s Office Market while challenged by the lack of new and expanding tenants, remains healthy. Without significant blocks of space being a threat to existing larger tenants, Landlords need to concentrate on renewing existing tenants at favourable rental rates. Once again the occupancy cost between Downtown and the suburban markets is poised to increase, making it harder for Downtown landlord’s to compete for new tenancies who are free to choose their market.
RGD Commercial Realty Advisors offers a unique focused approach to marketing and should you want more information on the office market, or a marketing proposal for your asset we would like to talk to you.