ANALYSIS: Greater Boston’s Office Market Thrives

BOSTON-The Greater Boston office market experienced a strong final quarter of 2011 and Richards Barry Joyce & Partners’ vice president of research, Brendan Carroll, is optimistic that 2012 will see similar gains. In Q4, company analysts found that absorption in the sector reached 861,000 square feet, making it the highest such quarterly amount since the third quarter of 2007. Additionally, Q4 vacancy rate dropped 0.4% to 15.4%.

“Both Google and Microsoft are committed to expanding their presence in a major way in Cambridge over the next couple of years,” Carroll explains in an interview with GlobeSt.com. “We also know that in Cambridge itself, Biogen Idec is going to move to a 495,000-square-foot headquarters. These demand-drivers for the most part are going to affect the urban core and Boston and Cambridge occupancy over the next couple of years.”