BY THE NUMBERS
DETROIT—Just a few years ago, this city's CBD seemed in danger of becoming a ghost town. Instead, each year has seen more office buildings renovated and filled with tenants, including many firms that have migrated in from the suburbs. And 2017 has been no different. Newmark Knight Frank just released its third quarter report, and the data show demand for office space at levels never seen in the CBD. The vacancy rate decreased 20 bps to 11.2%, as just over 32,000 square feet was absorbed. Year-to-date, the CBD has posted 237,272 square feet. Since 2012, the CBD has absorbed just over 2.4 million square feet. The level of demand has created a near scarcity of functional modern office space; the vacancy rate for class A space alone is just 7.7%. Furthermore, investments in the downtown—including new sporting venues, retail districts and residential developments— have grown into the billions of dollars. “Since 2012, we've seen a transformation of the Detroit CBD,” says Fred Liesveld, managing director of NKF's Detroit office. “It is great to see that investments and energy continue to pour into the downtown area going into 2018.”
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
