As of January 2018, roughly 6.3 million positions remained open but unfilled in the United States—a record high. And a report by JLL predicts it will only get worse. The labor shortage has a significant effect on the commercial real estate market—resulting in higher vacancy rates, lower asking rents and greater concessions across markets. If there was “perfect employment” achieved in the US, JLL predicts national office asking rents would rise by 5%.—Lisa Brown

DEAL TRACKER

AUSTIN, TX—4544 S. Lamar, a 16,280-rentable-square-foot medical office building, was purchased by an undisclosed buyer from Steelwave LLC. The project was 100% leased at acquisition. The buyer was represented by Matt Fain with ECR and the seller was represented by Cathy Nabours and Walter Saad with HFF.

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Lisa Brown

Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.