Cleveland Plus Regional Economic Review Highlights Commercial Real Estate

10/6/2008

Team Northeast Ohio (Team NEO) released the latest edition of the quarterly Northeast Ohio Economic Review today with a focus on the region’s commercial real estate market. Findings include strong occupancy and vacancy rates for office space, with significant demand, build and usage of Class A space.  In addition, the report compares the Northeast Ohio commercial market with that of the nation’s largest cities and finds better occupancy rate than traditionally considered booming regions, such as Dallas and Chicago.

Download the Northeast Ohio Economic Review 

Specifically, the report indicates:

The commercial real estate market is strong in Northeast Ohio, and demand continues to grow
Today, the Cleveland Plus region has more occupied space than anytime in the past 5 years
Total occupied space has increased to almost 112 million square feet.
Northeast Ohio’s vacancy rate is similar to the U.S. and above “Major” markets
Vacancy rate for the Cleveland Plus region is at 12.1%

US: 11.5%
Dallas/Ft. Worth 16.7%
Las Vegas: 16.2%
Chicago: 13.2%
Demand for Class A space has significantly increased:

Class A space has increased by 17% since 2003
Class A space is 17% of total occupied space
Vacancy rates have drastically decreased by nearly 6% in the past 5 years
Class B vacancy rate has remained stable since 2003, as has Class C space, which hovers between 8 and 9%, a very low rate
In addition, every issue of Team NEO’s quarterly Northeast Ohio Economic Review provides updates of basic economic indicators for the 16-county economy including: current estimates of the region’s annual growth rate, as defined by Gross Regional Product (GRP), and up-to-date information regarding Northeast Ohio’s total employment and unemployment rate.  This quarterly report indicates the following:

Northeast Ohio’s economy expected to continue with modest growth in 2008
Seventh consecutive year of growth expected
Cleveland Plus region has grown in 14 of the last 15 years
Northeast Ohio’s employment numbers reflect typical increase from Q1 to Q2, and also mirror challenging economic times
Q2 2008 total employment lower than Q2 2007, but up from Q1 2008, as expected
Team NEO publishes the Northeast Ohio Economic Review on a quarterly to provide a holistic picture of Northeast Ohio’s economy.  It is the only regular source of collective economic data for the 16-county region.
Team NEO unites the region to accelerate economic growth by serving as the central point for business attraction. The organization is a non-profit joint venture of the region’s largest metro chambers, privately funded to market to the 16 county-area and assist companies in expanding to Northeast Ohio.  In 2007, Team NEO attracted 95 new qualified investment leads, closed $46 million in new annual payroll and created a nearly $100 million regional economic impact.

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