"It seems like the center of excitement has shifted northwest," says RBJ director of research Brendan Carroll, indicating that the region and the core NW community of Burlington will grade "wildly positive" when his team's numbers are finalized early next week. "There's a real enthusiasm there right now," says Carroll, among many observers indicating mid-$30-per-sf rents are being achieved for top quality product in the best locations. "That's where Burlington is at right now," accedes RBJ VP Ron Friedman.

"Companies are expanding and we're getting good activity," concurs Meredith & Grew SVP Matt Daniels, exclusive leasing agent for the New England Executive Park in Burlington, owned by the Blackstone Group. While anticipating a "flat" start for the suburbs as a whole, G&E research manager Ryan McCullough provided GlobeSt.com with advance results showing net positive absorption of 254,000 sf in the second quarter and plus-356,000 sf for the year in the Route 128 NW submarket. Both were best in the suburbs, and far better than the negative 48,000 sf posted in the Central Route 128 region during the second quarter. That outcome whittled the year-to-date absorption to positive 118,000 sf in 128 Central, tepid for a submarket that has led the regional recovery.

The G&E results showed similar trends to a JLL survey reported last week by GlobeSt.com that put YTD net absorption in the red by 172,000-sf sf for the central district and estimated 108,000 sf of net positive absorption in the NW. The vagaries are a result of different samplings and how vacancies and other data are treated. JLL surveys 19 million sf in 128 Central and 13.4 million sf in the NW, for example, compared to 14.7 million sf tracked by G&E in the latter market.