ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 4, 1996 TAG: 9604040057
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
The past year has brought significant increases in occupancy rates in some of the region's suburban office buildings, according to a new commercial real estate report.
The survey found a sharp rise in the occupancy rates in office buildings along the Virginia 419 corridor in south Roanoke County, according to William D. Poe, principal of Waldvogel, Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group Inc., a Roanoke realty firm that has conducted the study for nine years.
The survey found occupancy rates of 89 percent in downtown Roanoke, 90 percent in the metro area's south business district and 84 percent in the north business district. The survey included owner-occupied buildings where the occupancy was counted as 100 percent.
That south market area includes nearly 1.5 million square feet of office space, Poe said. The occupancy rate there increased by about 4 percent or almost 60,000 square feet in the last year. The vacancy rate in the south suburban market stands at 10 percent, the new study said.
Poe said that 60,000 square feet of new rentals over the past 12 months represents "a significant change in the Roanoke market."
No new buildings were constructed in the market in the past year, he said, and none is planned for this year.
Buildings which had major changes in occupancy include Colonnade Office Park One, where occupancy rose from 68 percent to 90 percent; Colonnade Office Park Two, rose from 80 percent to 84 percent occupancy, and two buildings in the Fralin & Waldron Office Park buildings, where occupancy rose from 63 percent to 78 percent, and 43 percent to 74 percent.
"The market has firmed up considerably in the last 12 months," Poe said, "and rental rates have stabilized." He predicted some modest increase in rental rates over the next 12 months. The report said office rental rates currently range from $6 to $23 a square foot on an annual lease.
"There have been several ownership changes in buildings in the southwest corridor which will only make these buildings more competitive," Poe said. "If the next 12 months continue as the past 12, there will be very few large blocks of space available to lease."
Meanwhile, he said, office space occupancy in Roanoke central business district, with 2.7 million square feet of space, remained stable while the north side of Roanoke County, with about 672,000 square feet, showed some improvement. Valley Court, he said, experienced an increase of more than 20 percent.
With limited construction plans for the coming year, Poe said, occupancy rates should improve throughout the Roanoke Valley.
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