Marcus & Millichap Bullish on Office Market

ATLANTA-Despite existing 20% office vacancies in some metro area submarkets, Marcus & Millichap regional manager John M. Leonard expects improvements in leasing activity, rents and investment sales interest in 2004. Leonard was just as bullish on the area’s multifamily market which GlobeSt.com reports last week.

“Atlanta is nearing the bottom of the cycle,” the broker says. “Expectations for declining construction activity and an employment gain of 25,000 office workers will push vacancy down” in 2004, Leonard predicts. His firm’s quarterly growth analysis of 38 metro markets places the city 15th on the list.

After two years of job losses, “Atlanta-area employers are on track to add more than 39,000 jobs in 2003,” the M&M executive says. “Forecasts call for an additional 69,000 workers in 2004.”