Tampa Office Vacancy Dip Predicted

TAMPA, FL-Wallowing in vacancy levels of 17%, 20% and 24% in some submarkets, the Tampa Bay office market is expected to improve in 2004 as new jobs surface and new construction is kept in check, according to a third-quarter analysis by the local office of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Brokers Services Inc.

“Office employment growth in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA will accelerate to 5.2% in 2004, doubling the rate recorded in 2003 and driving the market’s recovery,” predicts Steven M. Ekovich, M&M’s first vice president and regional manager.

Although new construction is increasing, “it is not concentrated in any one geographic area, so it will have little impact on any particular submarket, allowing rising investment values over the next year, as office market fundamentals continue to show improvement,” Ekovich says.