Saskatoon and Regina Boast Strong Office Markets
Wednesday, 04 May 2011 00:18
Saskatoon and Regina Boast Strong Office Markets
July 16, 2012
Saskatoon- With the national downtown office vacancy rate lowering in 2012, Saskatchewan cities continue to contribute with low downtown vacancies. Regina once again holds claim to the office market with the lowest downtown vacancy rate for major cities in Canada. A recent survey released by Cushman & Wakefield Canada revealed that the downtown office vacancy for Canada is at 5.00% which is a decrease from the 5.40% posted in 2011.
Amidst growth of its downtown office market, Regina continues to boast the lowest vacancy rate in the nation. Despite an increase from 2011 when vacancy was 1.64%, Regina once again led the nation with a vacancy rate of 2.44%. Regina’s competitive market shows a high demand present for quality office space as vacancy for Class A buildings shows to be at 1.61%, while Class B+ is at 0.20% and Class B is at 2.10%. Regina’s strong office market has led to growth and development with the construction of the Hill Tower III and plans for construction of Agriculture Place well underway. Hill Tower III will be a Class A building consisting of 220,000 square feet and it is expected to be completed by the fall of 2012. Agriculture Place will be located on the 1800 block of Hamilton Street as construction is scheduled to start in late 2013 with completion estimated to be in 2015.
Saskatoon has also posted a vacancy rate much lower than the national average. Saskatoon’s downtown office vacancy rate is at 2.55% which is a slight increase from the 2.39% rate from 2011. Projects under construction such as the Nexus Building, River Center, and Thomson Jaspar are nearing completion and have been received by the high demand present in Saskatoon for quality office space. Current vacancy for Class A buildings is at 3.15%, while Class B+ is at 2.14% and Class B is at 2.63%. As high demand continues for quality downtown office space, plans for further development and re-development will continue to re-shape the city’s skyline.
ICR Commercial Real Estate
Alvaro Campos, B.A. Economics
Market Analyst