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Suburban South Office Recovery Stalls

BRAINTREE, MA-Granite Woods tops 100,000 sf in leasing, but lower Route 128 submarket negative at mid-year.

By Joe Clements | Updated on July 13, 2007

BRAINTREE, MA-Despite a flurry of activity in select pockets and a landmark portfolio sale by hometown real estate executive Thomas Flatley, suburban Boston’s southern tier had a disappointing beginning to 2007, according to industry observers and mid-year reports showing across-the-board erosion of leasing levels. Nearly all surveys put absorption negative at six figures for Route 128 South, the larger of the two submarkets.

Jones Lang LaSalle estimates a decline of 259,000 sf YTD in a review of 11.5 million sf. Cushman & Wakefield puts the mark at minus-133,000 on a like amount, while Grubb & Ellis has Route 128 South absorption down by 105,000 sf in its survey of 9.4 million sf.

“The first quarter was incredibly slow,” accedes C&W senior director JP Plunkett, who covers the southern district with colleague Catherine Minnerly. Plunkett, however, insists the lull is temporary, partly a result of the market’s robust 2006 campaign. So many transactions were concluded in the fourth quarter, little was left to carry over into 2007, according to Plunkett, advising that the second frame showed more steam, especially during May. June cooled down, he says, and the bifurcated July 4th holiday has inordinately disrupted deal flow, but Plunkett tells GlobeSt.com that listings are up and velocity appears encouraging going forward. “The leasing market is fine,” he says. “It’s just not wild like it has been, but it will pick up.”

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