South Florida Office Vacancy Decreases To 14.4%

The South Florida Office market ended the first quarter 2012 with a vacancy rate of 14.4%.

The vacancy rate was down over the previous quarter, with net absorption totaling positive 494,867 square feet in the first quarter. Vacant sublease space decreased in the quarter, ending the quarter at 678,518 square feet.

Tenants moving into large blocks of space in 2012 include: Citrix Systems moving into 54,902 square feet at Park Center; State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance moving into 50,000 square feet at Convergys at Westpoint Centre; and Genspring moving into 35,324 square feet at Riverwalk Center.

Rental rates ended the first quarter at $26.23, a decrease over the previous quarter.

A total of one building delivered to the market in the quarter totaling 9,000 square feet, with 613,473 square feet still under construction at the end of the quarter.

This trend is compared to the U.S. national office vacancy rate, which decreased to 12.2% from the previous quarter, with net absorption positive 14.79 million square feet in the first quarter.

Source: CoStar