THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240502
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 36 lines
Companies looking for industrial space may have a harder time finding it in Hampton Roads this year.
Vacancy rates for the region were 9.4 percent in the summer, down from 10.8 percent at the end of 1995, according to a mid-year survey by Old Dominion University's Real Estate Center.
The expansion of existing companies and the entrance of new firms to the region pushed down industrial vacancy rates in Hampton Roads, said Michael Mulhall, vice president of industrial marketing at Hamner Development Co. in Newport News.
For example, he said suppliers to Gateway 2000 and Canon Virginia Inc. recently found warehouse space on the Peninsula to accommodate their growing needs. Those companies and others helped lower the number of vacancies, he said.
``It's still a very strong market,'' he said of available warehouse space.
Industrial space vacancies have been dropping consistently, according to the Hampton Roads Industrial Survey. In 1993 and 1994, vacancies ranged from 12 percent to 14 percent.
The average vacancy rate for major metropolitan markets across the country was 7.3 percent at the beginning of 1996, but that rate ranged widely from 0.5 percent to 23 percent. Some of the strongest markets near Hampton Roads included Charlotte, Cincinnati and Nashville, Tenn., whose market vacancy rates were 1 percent to 2 percent.
South Hampton Roads has a higher vacancy rate than the Peninsula. Its rate is 10.6 percent, while the Peninsula's vacancy rate is 7.7 percent.
Most of the vacancy in the entire region is in large bulk space, from 50,000 square feet and more. There is less availability in the 1,000- to 3,000-square-foot industrial space category. by CNB