CBRE's report showed that the hottest tech submarkets where tech job creation continues to boom—led by East Cambridge, Palo Alto and Santa Monica—are significantly outperforming their overall markets in terms of leasing activity and rent premiums, fueled primarily by the demand for highly-skilled tech talent.

Atlanta marked the fourth-largest improvement in overall office rental growth rate from the previous period of 2012 to 2014 among the tech-30, and the Midtown submarket featured the seventh largest net absorption growth among the top tech submarkets. The CBRE report identifies Atlanta as a “growth leader” market, along with neighboring Charlotte, due to its strong correlation of tech jobs and office market strength.

“Advanced technology has integrated itself into business productivity and although the talent pool is limited, strong demand for technology services from both businesses and consumers is expected to support hiring by high-tech firms,” says Colin Yasukochi, director of research and analysis at CBRE. “The skills of the available labor pool do not appear to align with available jobs, causing a structural barrier to growth. This demand for technology should support growth among high-tech companies and high-tech office market clusters.”

Why so little spec office space in Atlanta? Check out my recent column for some perspective.

ATLANTA— Atlanta climbed one notch in a year to number 21 on CBRE's annual Tech-Thirty list. The list offers insight into the 30 leading tech markets in the US and Canada ranked by high-tech software and services job growth.

According to CBRE, Atlanta's high-tech jobs grew 12.6% from 2013 to 2015, up from 7.8% from 2012 to 2014. Atlanta is classified as an emerging tech market in the report, meaning that the city is in an expansion phase with rents rising at a faster pace than other markets, and office vacancy declining.

“Atlanta continues to be an attractive city for tech companies,” Christian Devlin, Tech & Media Practice Leader for CBRE in Atlanta, tells GlobeSt.com. “With a low cost of doing business combined with incredible educational institutions and an appreciation for the value that tech talent and tech companies add, we are seeing more innovation centers, more coworking destinations, more walkable and bike friendly areas and an increasing focus on public transit and amenities rich developments that are attractive to the tech community. With almost 20% new jobs in Atlanta coming from the tech sector, we believe this positive momentum will continue.”

Tech-related office leasing accounted for 20% of all office leasing in the US in the first half of 2016. That's up from 18% in 2015, despite an overall slowing in tech job creation.

CBRE's report showed that the hottest tech submarkets where tech job creation continues to boom—led by East Cambridge, Palo Alto and Santa Monica—are significantly outperforming their overall markets in terms of leasing activity and rent premiums, fueled primarily by the demand for highly-skilled tech talent.

Atlanta marked the fourth-largest improvement in overall office rental growth rate from the previous period of 2012 to 2014 among the tech-30, and the Midtown submarket featured the seventh largest net absorption growth among the top tech submarkets. The CBRE report identifies Atlanta as a “growth leader” market, along with neighboring Charlotte, due to its strong correlation of tech jobs and office market strength.

“Advanced technology has integrated itself into business productivity and although the talent pool is limited, strong demand for technology services from both businesses and consumers is expected to support hiring by high-tech firms,” says Colin Yasukochi, director of research and analysis at CBRE. “The skills of the available labor pool do not appear to align with available jobs, causing a structural barrier to growth. This demand for technology should support growth among high-tech companies and high-tech office market clusters.”

Why so little spec office space in Atlanta? Check out my recent column for some perspective.