Overall, the Greater Portland Office market remains stable. There are currently over 1.5MM square feet of office space available for lease in the Greater Portland market. While this sounds like a large number, the vacancy is primarily concentrated into several large buildings located along the Congress Street corridor. The approximate average asking lease rate for office space is currently $15.00/SF. Landlords appear to be achieving their asking rates, however the time it takes to actually fill these spaces is increasing. The average number of days a listing will stay on the market in Greater Portland is 272. So while it may still be a Landlord’s market overall, Landlords should not anticipate spaces to fill up quickly. This indicates a continuation of a very common theme for the Greater Portland office market; price is much less of an issue than demand.
For the first time in a very long time we are seeing new construction of multiple office buildings on the peninsula. New office and mixed-use projects are and will be popping up on Fore Street, Middle Street and Commercial Street. With asking rates of over $25.00/SF NNN, it will be interesting to see how long it takes to fill these new projects. There may be a flight to quality for businesses that are already paying Class A rates but want something more modern and up to date.