"The Detroit automotive industry has undergone significant structural changes and will continue to seek a new form," says Fred Liesveld, EVP and managing director for Grubb & Ellis' Detroit office. "It will take some time for commercial real estate to adapt to these changes and stabilize. In the meantime, we hope to see some relief from alternative energy and other industries."

The industrial market looks to be the first property type set to recover, according to recent market report on 2010 released by Grubb & Ellis. During 2009, both vacancy and negative net absorption increased, but a slight uptick at year end is indicative of things to come.

Since the industrial market is less dependent on job growth and the recovery of the office and retail sectors. Vacancy rates will begin to recover at the end of 2010, with the percentage expected to grow 70 basis points to 11.4% vacancy. Rental rates should begin to correct during the second half of 2011.

There will still be 75 million square feet of negative net absorption to contend with in 2010, a significantly lower number than the 158 million square feet of negative net absrption in 2009.

"Ultimately, the region's economy depends on growth in jobs and manufacturing production, and only time will tell when we'll see meaningful improvement in those areas," Liesveld says.