When the market was hot out here, many warehouses were converted to office space to keep up with extremely low vacancy rates. While demand has not increased over the past year, the low availability of industrial space has enabled rents to remain fairly constant. "The industrial side of the suburban market has not been greatly impacted by the downturn," a local source in the industry tells GlobeSt.com. "Lease rates have been fairly steady."

In a recent lease deal in the industrial market, Gentle Giant Moving Co. rented new warehouse space at One Burlington Ave. in Wilmington. It is leasing 81,300 sf of the 450,000-sf building, space that was formerly occupied by Sweetheart Plastics. David Connolly, first vice president and partner with CB Richard Ellis, represented the owner, GFI Partners, in the deal, while Insignia/ESG Inc. negotiated for the Somerville-based moving company.

The suburban office market continues to feel the effects of the recent downturn. "The office market has been impacted because of the sublease market," notes the source. "Lease rates have comes down at least 20%."