Triangle office vacancy rate slows while construction projects grow

The building boom in the Triangle region, due largely to population and employment growth, has impacted the office vacancy rate. Data released in a report by the area's biggest landlord, Highwoods Properties, covers 38.3 million square feet of offices in Orange, Durham and Wake counties. A higher vacancy rate is not good for landlords, who may be caused to respond with lower rent or other lease concessions. "The uptick [in the vacancy rate] was due in part to new construction. Almost 340,000 square feet of offices were finished in the third quarter. That's more than twice the quarterly average of about 150,000 square feet completed during the previous year," according to a story in The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC.) Local lenders, economists and tenant representatives remain positive, however, citing the steady influx of large companies to the region. See more on the report here. (Today's entry was published by Liz Riley of Womble Carlyle's construction and real estate group.)