Boston's Downtown Sublease Space Jumps 651%

BOSTON-A survey of 15 major Downtown office markets by locally-based Colliers International indicates that an unexpected 651% increase in sublease space here. The increase in sublease space overall was 182.8%.

Downtown markets that are home to a high concentration of high-tech firms posted some of the highest increases with San Jose behind Boston at 588%, San Francisco came in next at 420.4% and Seattle at 285%. While this area’s huge increase is surprising, Ross Moore, vice president and director of research at Collier’s, emphasizes two factors that contributed to Boston’s seemingly sudden jump in sublease space.

First, there is a misconception that Boston’s Downtown area did not have that many tech firms. “Clearly,” “that is not the case.” he tells GlobeSt.com. Moore also notes that percentage increases don’t always paint a complete picture. Because this area’s fundamentals had kept the market in good shape through the end of last year, the numbers now indicate a sharper contrast than in other markets, where the downturn had impacted those markets much earlier. “Boston was starting from a low base,” he says. “In the year-end 2000 numbers, Boston was not even starting to slide yet while San Francisco had already started to slide by then.”