According to Cushman & Wakefield’s Q2 statistics, the Greater Boston area has seen stable new leasing in the office market but an increase in vacancies. The industrial market has maintained consistent leasing activity while the life sciences sector has experienced reduced demand.
In terms of office leasing, nearly 870,000 square feet were leased with strong performance in submarkets such as 128 Central and Financial District. However, there was a rise in vacancy rates to 16.2%, although sublease availability remained steady. Direct asking rents have also increased by $4.20 per square foot year-over-year but have since stabilized.
The industrial sector saw a climb in vacancy rates to 8.5%, mainly driven by the 495 South and North submarkets; however, Urban North rents rose significantly by 27/7% year-over-year to $25/38 per square foot.The leading submarket for leasing activity was the495 North with over4600square feet leased.
In contrast,the life sciences industry experienced a contraction indemandwith only141000squarefeetleasedandavacancyrateof26/6%.Cambridgeremainedstrongwitha17/6%vacancyrate.Thirdconsecutivequarteraskingratesfellto$90-39persquarefoot,butstillremainedabove lastyear’sfiguresby6%.
The article “Demand for Life Sciences ContractsinQ2″wasoriginallypublishedonConnectCRE.
