Lexington, KY Markets Have Momentum

LEXINGTON, KY—The city of Lexington may be best known for the world-famous horse farms that surround it, but the mid-sized Kentucky city also hosts the University of Kentucky and become a technology and research hub, as well as an important government center. And the first half of 2013 saw some positive momentum in several of its commercial real estate sectors, according to a mid-year report just published by NAI Issac Commercial Real Estate Services, a Lexington firm.

In particular, “the industrial market experienced a large reduction in vacancy rates,” says Al Issac, president of the NAI Issac. Overall vacancy in the sector sank to just 11.43%, a 27.42% decrease in the last six months, the data show. Last year, the metro area’s bulk warehouses, the largest portion of the industrial market, had nearly 1,000,000-square-feet of vacant space. That shrank to 732,713-square-feet and a vacancy rate of 15.49%. The manufacturing and high-tech/research and development sectors of the industrial market remain quite strong; both have vacancy rates less than 7%.