Companies Flee Suburbs for Detroit Office Space

Vacancy rates for suburban offices are on the rise, while in the city rates are stabilizing.

"'I can't recall such a situation like this in my career when the momentum is clearly in favor' of downtown Detroit, said John DeGroot, vice president of research in the Southfield office of Grubb & Ellis Co., a commercial real estate advisory firm. 'It's too soon, really, to say how long the impact will be other than to say that the central business district is going be much more competitive with the suburbs. And that's really not a bad thing.'

The short-term impact will be felt the most in Oakland County office building strongholds such as Southfield and Troy, whose vacancy rates already have risen in the past two years."