ORLANDO-The office sector of the Orlando MSA performed in less-than-stellar fashion in the second quarter, according to statistics released by Cushman & Wakefield. Not surprisingly, a lot of it can be traced back to mediocre job gains. C&W reports that the MSA gained only 4,400 jobs in May, providing what the report calls a “nominally positive” quarter.
Specifically, Q2 marked the eighth consecutive quarter of positive absorption, tagged at 61,759 square feet, bringing the 2012 tally to a slowly recovering 96,881 feet. Vacancy stood at a disturbing 20.1% at the close of the quarter, but at least it’s moving in the right direction, albeit at a snail’s pace. Vacancies were two-tenths of a percentage point higher a year ago. All but three of the MSA’s 13 submarkets tracked decreases year over year.
In terms of leasing activity, some 505,591 square feet of new and expanded leases were clocked in Q2, up from Q1’s 398,551 feet. “In a market that remains largely dominated by internal demand,” the report states, “almost one-fifth of this was attributable to Disney as they committed to occupy three floors of the recently-completed Kirkman Point in the SW/Tourist submarket; Hannover’s decision to move across downtown from One Orlando Centre to SunTrust Center, commencing early 2013, provided the quarter’s other notable transaction.”
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