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Palm Beach Office Market Seeks Balance

WEST PALM BEACH, FL-Despite 20%-plus vacancy, future demand is anticipated from R&D base.

By Carl Cronan | Updated on May 08, 2009

WEST PALM BEACH, FL-Downsizing has driven Palm Beach County’s office market vacancy beyond the 20% mark, yet brokers seem hopeful that its status as a research-and-development hub will reverse the trend before too long. The arrival of the Scripps Research Institute and the Max Planck Institute, both biomedical and science centers, are expected to bring thousands of high-paying jobs to the market, along with billions of dollars in new business.

“What will differentiate this market during the short and long term is the county’s emphasis and promotion of R&D related businesses,” states a research report by Colliers Abood Wood-Fay. “The office market can expect to reap dividends into the foreseeable future.”

CB Richard Ellis researchers agree that Palm Beach County is positioned for long-term growth, but in the meantime it is feeling the same supply-and-demand imbalance caused by Wall Street instability. Many of the financial-based companies within the market are looking to consolidate locations, contributing to a supply excess that has driven overall vacancy to nearly 24% through the first quarter, up at least seven percentage points over the past year, CBRE states.

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