Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce Reports Continued Recovery for Seattle Commercial Real Estate Market in Q4

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - Jan 28, 2013) - The commercial real estate market in the Puget Sound area was one of the most active in the country during the fourth quarter of 2012, according to new data by the Seattle branch of Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce. The firm released its Marketbeat Snapshot reports detailing the status of the commercial real estate market in the Seattle and Bellevue areas.

The data shows that Seattle's Central Business District (CBD) saw a significant drop in office vacancy rates. On the Eastside, strong office leasing activity in the Bellevue CBD is producing steady occupancy gains, but the suburban markets are seeing some residual contractions due to the lingering effects of the recession.

"Seattle's CBD was one of the hottest markets in the nation in 2012, mostly due to Amazon.com taking up just shy of one million square feet of office space," said Dave Magee, Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce Senior Director and Managing Broker of the Washington Region. "While the region has seen a mix of positive and negative absorption in office and industrial space, we are coming off a year of upward growth overall. Looking into 2013, the data shows a downward trend in vacancy rates for most areas. And because of improved GDP numbers, we should expect to see a boost in demand at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, fueling the need for additional warehouse space."

Seattle CBD Office Snapshot

2012 was the fourth strongest year on record for new leasing activity in the Seattle CBD, but as hot as that market was, high vacancies in second and third generation spaces caused rental rates to stabilize over the past year. Amazon.com's move helped push the overall vacancy rate down to 16.5 percent from 19.5 at year-end 2011.

Seattle Suburban (Southend) Office Snapshot

The Southend office market broke out of several quarters of increasing vacancy and stagnant leasing to end the year on a high note. The vacancy rate went from 21.1 in 2011 to wrap up 2012 at 19.9 percent.

Seattle Industrial Snapshot

The Kent Valley saw a rebound in demand for warehouse space this past year with the overall vacancy rate dropping 170 basis points over the year to land at 7.4 percent. Capital markets posted one of its strongest years on record with 6.7 msf of investment sales of $493 million in 2012.

Bellevue Office Snapshot

The Bellevue office market is riding a wave of momentum with leasing activity up 4.6 percent over 2011 it is bringing steady occupancy gains. The strong leasing activity is pointing towards a landlord's market in 2013 with higher rents and fewer allowances and discounts.

Bellevue Industrial Snapshot

The high tech sector saw a boost in employment gains, which delivered modest growth for the Eastside industrial market. This market ended the year in positive territory with 21,973 sf of overall absorption, which held the vacancy rate flat at 13.5 percent.

The full reports for each of these markets, as well as historical reports are available for download at: http://www.comre.com/research.cfm 

About Cushman & Wakefield |Commerce
Cushman & Wakefield |Commerce, an independently owned and operated member of the Cushman & Wakefield Alliance, has been the leading provider of real estate brokerage services for more than 30 years. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, the firm has offices throughout Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Washington. It offers consulting, brokerage, tenant and landlord representation, property and facilities management, and valuation services to corporations, institutions and investors throughout the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest. For more information, and for property listings, broker information, market category reports and more visit www.comre.com.

About Cushman & Wakefield
Cushman & Wakefield is the world's largest privately‐held commercial real estate services firm. The company advises and represents clients on all aspects of property occupancy and investment, and has established a preeminent position in the world's major markets, as evidenced by its frequent involvement in many of the most significant property leases, sales and assignments. Founded in 1917 it has 243 offices in 60 countries and more than 14,000 employees. It offers a complete range of services for all property types, including leasing, sales and acquisitions, equity, debt and structured finance, corporate finance and investment banking, corporate services, property management, facilities management, project management, consulting and appraisal. The firm has more than $4 billion in assets under management through its wholly‐owned subsidiary Cushman & Wakefield Investors. A recognized leader in local and global real estate research, the firm publishes its market information and studies online at www.cushmanwakefield.com/knowledge.