In the first quarter of 2008, developers delivered about 3.2 million square feet of office space in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region but managed to lease only 1.3 million square feet. \u00a0Most of the absorption was the result of pre-leasing activity that occurred several years ago, according to Rob Hartley, CB Richard Ellis\u2019 research manager for the Washington-Baltimore market and the author of a CB Richard Ellis report, released today, on the Greater Washington Office Markets. \u201cLooking back to 2005, the absorption rates were double and that\u2019s when developers were breaking ground on those buildings,\u201d Hartley (pictured) told CPN today. \u201cThey were developing for a market that was growing two or three times as fast as it is today.\u201d Even so, Hartley believes the office market in the region remains in \u201cpretty good shape.\u201d Tenants are consolidating, continued Hartley. The American Red Cross moved from Merrifield to Ashburn in Loudoun County into a smaller space. Verizon gave space back in Merrifield and Arlington, while consolidating on the corporate campus in Ashburn. \u00a0Despite those kinds of moves, D.C.\u2019s Central Business District and the East End submarket are tight. Available space in the city lies in the developing areas north of Massachusetts Avenue and in the Southeast around the new stadium. \u201cBefore these areas came on line, price sensitive tenants would leave the city,\u201d Hartley said. \u201cNow they can choose a lower-priced alternative and still have a D.C. address.\u201d While there is space available, the vacancy rate in the city is a healthy 6.79 percent. The close-in suburban markets of Bethesda, Alexandria\u2019s Old Town, Rosslyn, Ballston, and Silver Spring have remained tight as well. Further out in the I-270 corridor, Prince George\u2019s County, Reston Herndon, and along Route 28 south, tenant demand has slowed. \u201cIt\u2019s still growing, but more slowly,\u201d Hartley said. \u201cAnd competition for tenants is rising.\u201d Reston Town Center just brought three buildings on line and has another on the way, Hartley added. Those buildings are 70 percent leased. Six new buildings are going up in the Dulles Corridor. Hartley believes competition will heat up in this area. \u201cWhere we go from here will depend on what the economy does,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the first quarter of 2008, developers delivered about 3.2 million square feet of office space in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region but managed to lease only 1.3 million square feet. \u00a0Most of the absorption was the result of pre-leasing activity that occurred several years ago, according to Rob Hartley, CB Richard Ellis\u2019 research manager…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1003789285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n