Written by: Hannah Williams, CPRC
Hannah specializes in research capabilities, providing support for the Colliers Columbus Office, Industrial, Retail, and Multifamily Groups. She is responsible for executing data reports, maintaining a commercial property database, reporting quarterly trends, performing data analysis and utilizing statistical information to predict future behavior in the market. She also assists the marketing and research director on special projects and corporate initiatives. Keep reading to get Hannah’s take on market trends in the Columbus industrial and office sectors.
INDUSTRIAL
The Columbus industrial market continued a strong year with a record third quarter, posting 4 million square feet of positive net absorption. The ongoing pandemic has caused the e-commerce industry to grow rapidly over the past 18 months, indicated by an influx of demand for prime warehouse space. Central Ohio has experienced absorption greater than 2 million square feet consecutively in the past seven months, and the current vacancy rate of 2.78 percent is the lowest it has ever been. Construction continues to rise, as there is nearly 14 million square feet of product currently underway. Columbus can anticipate high activity throughout the rest of the year as COVID-19 fuels growth in e-commerce and logistics.
OFFICE
The Columbus office market continues to be impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, recording 262,017 square feet of negative net absorption and vacancy of 12.7 percent. A majority of this can be attributed to the 1.4 million+ square feet of new sublease space that has been added to the market since Q2 2020. On a positive note, development remains high with more than 1.3 million square feet of Class A space underway and tenant demand is picking up. With nearly 130 office users actively searching for space, Central Ohio can anticipate an increase in activity in coming months as the market begins to rebound.
Click here to access the full Q3 Industrial and Office Trends Reports.