Cincinnati’s office market entered a period of recovery during the second quarter of the year, according to the latest research from Cushman & Wakefield.
Vacancy rates in the Cincinnati office market fell 20 basis points to 19.2 percent in the second quarter. That’s an improvement from the first quarter, when a jump in the vacancy rate broke a streat of eight consecutive quarters of falling vacancies.
Still, the Cincinnati office market has been fairly flat for a year. Cushman & Wakefield reported that the sector’s vacancy rate stood at 19 percent in the second quarter of 2016.
The suburban office vacancy rate was 20.8 percent in the second quarter, while this rate in the Central Business District stood at 16.4 percent.
Absorption picked up. In the first quarter of the year, the Cincinnati office market actually saw negative absorption. But Cushman & Wakefield reported that in the second quarter, net absorption was a positive 123,000 square feet. Seven of the 10 office submarkets here, including the Central Business District, saw positive absorption during the quarter.
Despite the fairly flat numbers, the Cincinnati office market did see some big deals in the second quarter. IT and printing services provider ComDoc leased 7,300 square feet at the recently built Landings of Blue Ash III building. Law firm Dinsmore & Shohl closed a long-term lease renewal of more than 175,000 square feet for its headquarters at the First Financial Center in the Central Business District, while the State of Ohio Industrial Commission renewed 24,000 square feet at its building also in the Central Business District.
In the suburbs, Mayfield Brain and Spine leased 12,600 square feet at Centre Point III in West Chester, while accounting firm GBQ Partners leased 12,700 square feet at the Cornerstone at Norwood I building in Midtown.
