Surveying the Suburban Office Market

Lindsay Gilbert, vice president of advisory and transaction services for CBRE in Denver, takes to the pages of the Colorado Real Estate Journal to share the findings of a new report on the strength of the suburban office market.

According to Gilbert's explanation of the "North America Suburban Office Trends Spring 2017" report, conspicuous projects in downtown areas and "popular lore" about the millennial preference for urban environments is exaggerating a narrative about the "'downfall of the suburban office sector.'

However, the "U.S. suburban vacancy rate is near a prerecession low," writes Gilbert. "The market has been tightening since the end of the Great Recession, benefiting from improving demand and low overall levels of new supply compared with previous cycles."

The article also focuses specifically on the Denver market, which Gilbert describes as unique because it is adding a great deal of suburban office supply. In fact, Denver is the third most active market for suburban office construction, trailing only Seattle and Northern Virginia. According to Gilbert, rent growth is driving suburban office construction in Denver and other markets around the country. In Denver's case, writes Gilbert, in-migration and transit system expansion into the suburbs are also benefitting suburban Denver.