On the Redmond front, imminent signs of a recovery can be seen in the amped up activity across the commercial real estate sector. Based in Bend, Compass Commercial Real Estate Services has been mapping and tracking Central Oregon’s realty landscape for over 18 years and has observed some enlightening news in the Redmond market.
Compass broker Peter May believes activity everywhere is picking up, especially in Redmond.
“Fountains restaurant was just purchased and closed last week and Frank’s Landing shopping center is 100 percent leased,” said May. “Industrial vacancy is dropping and rates are definitely going up in Redmond. We’ve seen some of the larger spaces and most of the smaller spaces being completely leased out and a lot of what we’re seeing is basic area growth and expansion in existing businesses for the most part.”
In the fourth quarter, Compass Commercial surveyed and analyzed 76 Redmond industrial buildings totaling nearly 1.47 million square feet. Six buildings reported a combined 79,000 square feet of positive absorption this quarter alone. The Redmond Mill site declared a total of 35,000 square feet leased to multiple tenants. Additionally, the Dimeo Building on Veterans Way and 1830 1st Street both signed leases during the quarter. This flurry of activity caused Redmond’s vacancy rate to drop from 15.9 to 10.5 percent. There is now 154,000 square feet of available space for lease across the region.
With a shortage of new construction on the immediate planning board, rents for both office and industrial properties will certainly rise in 2015. As absorption continues to benefit from strengthening local and national economies, rents will continue to escalate in the short to mid-term and vacancies will keep dropping.
“Looking ahead toward the next nine months, everywhere we’re seeing is very active and very strong and it should continue along that path,” adds May. “The business people we interact with and talk to are all doing well, hiring and expanding, so those are all positive signals.”
