REGINA – “Stable and balanced” is how real estate management company Avison Young describes Regina’s office real estate market in its mid-year report.
Of the city’s 4.2 million square feet of leasable office space, 11.2 per cent is vacant. Analysts describe this as favourable when compared to the nation average of 10.3 per cent.
This vacancy rate may seem high, but Avison Young Saskatchewan president Dale Griesser says this is a healthy vacancy rate, allowing businesses to have more options when looking for office space.
Regina has seen the demand for office space exceed the supply over the first part of the year by about 22,000 sq. ft. The report shows this is being driven by building projects that are in progress; the 160,000 sq. ft. Agriculture Place and the fourth of four buildings in the Harbor Landing Business Park.
Once these projects are completed, Griesser believes they could be the last new office buildings the city will see for some time.
“It’s our opinion that once those buildings are complete, there will not be any office building construction in Regina for the foreseeable future until our vacancy rates get back into that 5 to 6 per cent range.”
When compared to other western cities, Regina is performing on a similar level to Winnipeg and Saskatoon.
The report says the Queen City is outperforming Edmonton, where businesses are in belt-tightening mode; lease rates in Calgary are on the decline while they are holding steady in Regina.
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