But at least in this corridor between Washington and Baltimore, this submarket has been hard hit by tech companies failing, or not expanding as much as Fairfax, Loudoun or Tysons Corner in Virginia.
In its report, KLNB said when you include sublease space put back on the market, that the vacancy rate in Howard County is 17% and 14% in Anne Arundel.
The failure of many companies, and the halted expansion of others are blamed for these high rates, KLNB said.
The reported cited Trellis Photonics, which halted the construction of a new North American headquarters and manufacturing facility, as well as the bankruptcy of dotcom grocer Webvan.
Howard and Anne Arundel had also become an attractive location for a host of tech firms in the telecommunications and data networking space. As those companies' fortunes went south, so did the real estate fortunes in the market. KLNB said the substantial sublease space was due to these types of companies, including Corvis Corp, Sowilo, Yafo Networks, Sorrento Networks and Lucent Technologies.
Despite this gloom, the firm said pricing remained strong. The average asking rental rate for class A space in Howard is $21.31 and $23.30 in Anne Arundel. And also, some pockets remain strong, particularly around Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
Plans are afoot for the Maryland Department of Transportation to occupy an 85,000-sf building as their new headquarters. Their present location, also in the area, is being torn down to make room for a new 8,400-space garage that is part of a $1.8 billion expansion of the airport. Also, Corporate Office Properties Trust just completed an acquisition of four buildings in an office park near the airport. The REIT said the buildings are 100% leased. Corporate Office said it has 1.2 million sf of office space in Howard, which is 98% leased.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
