from staff
Among Jacksonville’s commercial markets, office is holding its ground, industrial is looking up and retail continues a slow but steady recovery, according to a MarketView report by CB Richard Ellis for the last quarter of 2010.
By market:
• The Jacksonville office market ended the year with low absorption, which is the change in the amount of occupied space. CB Richard Ellis it is “starting to see signs of a slow but sustainable recovery.”
The market vacancy rate ended 2010 at 22.7 percent, up from the year before but lower than the third quarter rate.
Total office vacancy rates ranged from a low of 9.4 percent in the East Butler Boulevard area to 35 percent in Baymeadows. Downtown’s vacancy rate ended the year at 24.9 percent.
• The Jacksonville industrial market saw more interest during the fourth quarter, which has “fueled hope for increased leasing activity in 2011 as the economy continues its slow recovery from the recession,” said the MarketView report.
The total vacancy rate in the area was 11.4 percent, ranging from 7.6 percent on the Westside to 20.1 percent in St. Johns County. Downtown’s rate was 11.5 percent.
• In Jacksonville’s retail market, developers completed projects that had been on hold and began new projects, said CB Richard Ellis.
Total retail sales were estimated at $11.3 billion and have grown at a 2.7 percent annual rate the past five years, said MarketView. Forecasts call for an annual growth rate of 5.2 percent the next five years.
The total vacancy rate was 10.9 percent at yearend, ranging from 4.3 percent in St. Augustine to 19 percent in the Arlington area. No Downtown rate was listed.