Millennials are looking for jobs in downtown Columbus. Credit this partly to The Ohio State University, which continues to pump out well-educated graduates, many of which don’t want to leave Columbus after they are done with their studies.
Thanks in part to this surge of Millennials — and to a low unemployment rate that stood at 3.8 percent in the second quarter of the year — office vacancy rates are falling in Columbus’ Central Business District, according to mid-year research from Avison Young.
Avison Young reported that the overall office vacancy rate in the Columbus CBD dropped to 7.9 percent after the first six months of 2015. That’s down from 8.6 percent a year earlier.
The company reported, too, that the entire Columbus market saw 857,000 square feet of office absorption from mid-year of 2014 through the first six months of 2015. The downtown market was especially strong, seeing 344,000 square feet of net positive absorption during this time.
Developers are responding to this. Avison Young reported that as of the middle of 2015 there was nearly 112,000 square feet of office space under construction in Columbus’ downtown and suburban markets.
Leasing activity is strong today, too. Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities signed a new least at 150 E. Campus View Blvd. for 61,000 square feet, while energy company NiSource took up 43,000 square feet at 1600 Dublin Road. The top lease renewal came from healthcare company HealthSpot, which extended its 20,100-square-foot lease at 545 Metro Place South in suburban Dublin, Ohio.
