Suburban Industrial Remains Strong, Office Suffers

BOSTON-Local brokers tell GlobeSt.com that while the market for industrial space in the suburbs remains steady, the office market here continues to decline, with no indications yet of a recovery. Deals do continue to be made, but rental prices have dropped significantly.

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.