Service Centers Show Slow Recovery

ORLANDO-The area’s seven million-sf service center and flex space market, along with the 13.5 million-sf bulk warehouse sector, are recovering slowly but leasing activity remains flat, according to a new study by Maitland, FL-based Rebman Properties Inc.

In the 69-building service center category, the vacancy level has dropped to 16.4% from 18 % in the second quarter. But with projected annual net absorption of only 200,000 sf, it will take six years to absorb the 1.1 million sf available in this south Orlando market, says Lyle N. Nelsen, Rebman’s corporate and industrial specialist.

“That’s a big challenge,” Nelsen says, especially since third-quarter net absorption totaled only 41,434 sf. Only seven out of the 69 centers monitored quarterly by Rebman reported negative absorption.