Downtown Sarasota Remains Envy of Gulf Coast

SARASOTA, FL-Vacancy rates for office space in the Sarasota metropolitan area have stabilized in single-digit territory, despite higher unemployment and the ongoing residential slowdown. A year-end report by Colliers Arnold shows a slight decline in overall vacancy to 7.2% at the end of 2007, from 7.4% a year earlier, enviable rates for any office market along Florida’s Gulf Coast. The Sarasota market, which encompasses Sarasota and Manatee Counties, is also faring better than state and national averages in the office sector and on par for industrial.

“In general, our market has been holding its own,” observes John Harshman, president of Harshman & Co. Inc. and a veteran commercial real estate broker in Sarasota. “We seem to have consistent demand by the same types of businesses we’re used to seeing.”

While the Sarasota metropolitan area is being affected by factors common to many office markets, such as sublease availability from mortgage firms, much of that space has been absorbed by financial services companies and law firms, both which maintain a strong presence in urban centers, Harshman says.