Looking For Office Space? Try Downtown

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Mar 29, 2010 8:40PM

The economy's still in the slow, beginning stages of recovery and another sign of that is the rise in downtown office space vacancies. According to Crain's, the overall vacancy rate downtown for the first quarter of 2010 was 17.1 percent, up from 13.3 percent during the same time last year and the highest since early 2006. But there's still reason for hope.

Yet in a hopeful sign, the amount of sublease space fell during the first quarter, the first decline in two years, prompting some landlord representatives to think the worst may be over.

“I think we have nudged off the bottom,” says landlord rep Robert Gillespie, a senior vice-president with CB Richard Ellis. “I am not suggesting that we are on a sharp V-type of recovery, but we are on an upward trajectory.”

The recently completed expansion at 300 E. Randolph St. has added 860,000 square feet of available space. Over half of that will soon be occupied by Blue Cross, Blue Shield, whose parent company owns the building, as well as law firm Baker & McKenzie LLP.