Metro Office Markets Regain Space

ATLANTA-After two years of consistent positive absorption, the city’s office sector is getting quite a bit of its space back. An estimated 512,565 sf of space in the A and B classes returned to the leasing market during the first quarter, Jones Lang LaSalle reported this week.

“Leasing activity has slowed in recent months as well, and many of the deals being signed involve tenants who are downsizing or consolidating,” says Lanie Rea, research director of JLL’s Atlanta office. However, she points out that several large office users are scouting the market for space, particularly in the corporate medical and pharmaceutical arenas.

Despite the economic downturn, construction of new offices continues at a robust pace with just under five million sf under development throughout Metro Atlanta, Rea says. At least 1.5 million sf are scheduled for delivery through the remainder of 2008, with roughly two-thirds of that space opening in the second quarter, she says.