Downtown Office Vacancy: 8% Direct, 11% Total

PORTLAND-Downtown office vacancies continued to rise in the fourth quarter, according to the fourth quarter report by CB Richard Ellis, which tracks about 13.95 million sf of net rentable space in 138 buildings. The direct vacancy rate hit 8.08% at the end of 2001. When sublease space is included, the rate jumped to 11.10%. At the end of the third quarter, the numbers were 7.56% and 10.48%, respectively. At the end of 2000, the direct rate was 4.86% and there were virtually no sublease availabilities.

In the Downtown class A market, CBRE tracks 22 buildings with 7.3 million sf of net rentable space. The direct vacancy rate at the end of 2001 was 6.65%. When sublease space was included, the Downtown class A vacancy rate jumped to 10.29%. At the end of the third quarter, the rates were 6.38% and 9.88%, respectively. At the end of 2000, the direct class A vacancy rate was 2.47% and there were virtually no sublease availabilities. Average class A asking rates per sf, beginning with the fourth quarter of 2001 and ending with the fourth quarter of 2000 quarters, looked like this: $24.18, $24.20, $23.98, $23.61 $23.16.

CBRE’s class B market at the end of 2001 consisted of 40 buildings containing 3.51 million sf with a direct vacancy rate of 7.70% (270.837 sf). With sublease space, the rate jumps to 8.98%. At the end of the third quarter, the rates were 7.36% and 8.60%, respectively. At the end of 2000, the direct vacancy rate was 5.7% and sublease availabilities were negligible. Average class B asking rates per sf, beginning with the fourth quarter of 2001 and ending with the fourth quarter of 2000 quarters, looked like this: $17.90, $18.03, $17.81, $17.72 $17.42.