Investment VP Forecasts 1% or Less Office Vacancy for 2001

DENVER-In a bold prediction, a leading Denver broker believes the CBD’s office vacancy could dip below 1% by the end of 2001. The present office vacancy rate is 5.4%, an 18-year low, says Mary Sullivan, investment division vice president for Cushman Realty’s office here. She delivered the promising forecast at the recent annual Rocky Mountain Commercial Real Estate Expo and University of Denver’s Franklin L. Burns Real Estate School’s Fall Forecast.

She is calling for a 2% vacancy by mid-year in Downtown Denver, triggering a dramatic hike in rates and values that already are 15% higher than last year. It will be at least two years before a major office development goes up Downtown, says Sullivan.

“Denver’s CBD is the market to watch over the next few years and will be the most dynamic,” she asserts, saying its emergence as the metro area’s entertainment district is one of the triggering elements for the CBD’s positive outlook.