Columbus, Ohio/USA

Columbus, OH (August 1, 2006) – Colliers Turley Martin Tucker’s latest Columbus office market report indicates that large lease deals and a recovering economy is fueling positive absorption. Year-to-date net absorption across all submarkets stands at 471,000 square feet (SF). Movement in the Downtown, Northwest and Northeast submarkets contributed to the progress.

As expected, vacancy rates followed suit and continued downward. Total vacancy for the Columbus market was down 1% since the close of 2005. The current vacancy rate is 21.8%. Faring best was the Downtown/Central Business District where the vacancy rate declined more than 2% from 20.9% at the close of 2005 to 18.21% in Q2. Ohio Health’s lease of 90,000 SF in the Borden Building and Schneider Downs 30,000 SF lease at the Huntington Center were highlights of the Downtown submarket.  

Also factoring into the equation of Central Business District growth was Nationwide’s move to occupy 150,000 SF in the Arena District. A majority of the space taken by the insurance conglomerate will be in a newly constructed building at 275 Marconi Boulevard. The remaining 20,000 SF will be absorbed by existing space at 250 West Street.

On a similar tract, the Northeast submarket vacancy rate decreased more than 1.5% in the same period. The area experienced the largest Q2 absorption in the overall Columbus market at just over 141,000 SF.  McGraw Hill’s expansion and lease of 70,000 square feet at Easton Office Park contributed to the submarket’s success, accounting for nearly half the submarket’s total absorption for the period.

The North submarket was the only region where absorption was negative, although Randy Stephens of the Colliers Turley Martin Tucker Columbus office indicates that the submarket remains healthy. “The submarket’s  statistics are somewhat skewed by the recent development of nearly 230,000 SF of office properties, including Altair I and Westar III.” Stephens expects absorption to move in a positive direction throughout the rest of 2006.

According to Colliers International, growth in the office market and declining vacancy rates are a current national trend. April through June absorption totaled 27.9 million SF – compared with 22.2 million SF during the first quarter of 2006 and 26.3 million SF during the year-ago quarter.  Year-to-date absorption totals 50.9 million SF and Colliers’ full-year 2006 forecast of 90 million SF looks easily attainable.   

Nationwide, second quarter office vacancies measured 13.07 percent, versus 13.33 percent during the first quarter of 2006 and 14.6 percent during the year-ago period.  Additionally, vacancies are now significantly below the cyclical high of 16.4 percent registered at the end of 2003.

About Colliers Turley Martin Tucker

One of the nation’s largest full-service commercial real estate firms, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker handles more than $4 billion in annual real estate transactions and manages over 140 million square feet of industrial, office, and retail space. The firm has over 1,000 associates including more than 450 licensed real estate professionals throughout its regional offices in Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis/St.Paul, Nashville and St. Louis.

Colliers Turley Martin Tucker is also an owner/shareholder of Colliers International, the largest real estate federation in the world, with more than 241 offices in 51 countries on six continents. For more information visit our website at www.ctmt.com .

Contact Information

Wayne Henry
Marketing Manager, Columbus
614-827-1724

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