Last year was a good one for Kansas City’s commercial real estate market, according to new numbers from DTZ. The company found that the Kansas City area saw nearly 3.9 million square feet of net absorption in its industrial market and 372,000 square feet in its office market.
Much of this comes down to job growth. DTZ reported that 22,300 new jobs were created throughout last year in Kansas City.
At the same time, local housing prices rose and consumers grew more confident. That’s a winning formula.
According to DTZ, Kansas City’s industrial market saw 926,000 square feet of net absorption during the fourth quarter of the year and 3.9 million square feet for all of 2014. Despite this, vacancies did rise a bit, moving from 7.4 percent at the end of 2013 to 7.8 percent by the end of 2014. Blame this on new construction: New building in this sector expanded it by 5.2 million square feet.
The office market ended 2014 on a positive note, according to DTZ. In the fourth quarter of last year, this sector absorbed 269,000 square feet. For the year, the office sector saw absorption of 372,000 square feet.
Vacancy rates in the Kansas City office market have fallen, dropping to 18.1 percent by the end of 2014.
Retail brought some good news, too. DTZ reported that the Kansas City retail market absorbed 965,000 square feet by the end of 2014, dropping the vacancy rate in this sector to 8.8 percent.
The multi-family market here is busy, too, with multi-family rents increasing 22 percent from 2008. The occupancy rate for this sector in the metropolitan Kansas City area stood at 94 percent. This sector continues to grow, with DTZ reporting that 3,854 apartment units were permitted in 2014.
