One example: Developer Carl Essa's 61,000-sf class A building near the Guilford College area. Guilford is one of the smaller counties near the city of Greensboro and the Triad, located about 85 miles east of Charlotte.

"In our sub-market, there's very little class A office space and about all of that is new and coming out of the ground," Essa, owner of Essa Commercial Properties, tells Globest.com.

Essa says interest is high perhaps in part because his rates of $17.95 per sf are somewhat lower than class A in general, which in the area generally ranges from $18 per sf to $23 per sf.

He believes the positioning of his project outside the Triangle is an attraction. The building, which should be completed in June, is near a solid housing area and within five miles of the Piedmont Triad International Airport.

With a stuttering economy, new business in the Triad itself has also slowed. Local expanding businesses have taken up some of the slack. But vacancy rates in the office and industrial markets in nearby and more rural areas such as Guilford have remained in single digits, says Carolinas Real Data.

Tom Stapleton, Greensboro's manager of Business Assistance and Development, tells Globest.com the unemployment rate has risen from 2.5% to 3.5% and the general economy has slowed in the past three to six months.

"We've had a few speculative buildings, but builders are probably not nearly as aggressive as we have been in the past," he says.

Essa, a smaller developer who has completed a variety of projects in the area, does not view it all overbuilt and sees sub-markets of opportunity continuing to be available.

A key element for success, he says, is to take into account what tenants need in these sub-markets. Essa expects to rent his new building to mostly professional users taking 2,000 sf to 12,000 sf, a flexibility the building offers because of its deliberate design.

Essa has yet to announce tenants, but he is already considering another office building in the area that could start up by late summer.

Instant Insights /

Spec Office Construction Continues as Triad Activity Slows

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