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GDP GROWTH • EMPLOYMENT • MONETARY POLICY • GLOBAL ECONOMY GDP GROWTH: TRENDING IN Q1 2023 The nation’s gross domestic product slowed dramatically in the first quarter, reflecting reduced production of goods and services that rose at a seasonally adjusted 1.1% annual rate in the first three months of the year. Nevertheless, the Q1 data released by the Commerce Department shows that consumers still are spending despite higher prices driven by high inflation, which the…

INDUSTRIAL OVERVIEW: SHARP DECLINE HITS FIRST-QUARTER U.S. DEMAND There was a sharp first-quarter decline in U.S. tenant demand for industrial space as wholesalers and retailers reconsider their inventory levels out of caution over the economic outlook. Net absorption in the first quarter totaled 39.4 million SF, a 57% drop from the record set a year ago. Demand for Canadian industrial space in Q1, however, gained nearly 21% year over year. The overall U.S. vacancy rate…

OFFICE MARKET OVERVIEW ERIC SOLEM, Managing Principal | President Q1 2023 was a bummer for Boston’s office market. COVID and layoffs teamed up to deliver a one-two punch that knocked the vacancy rate up to 10.5%. Nobody was renting and the rental rates were dropping faster than the temperature is rising. The downtown market got the worst of it, with a whopping 12% vacancy rate, while the suburbs weren’t far behind with 9.5%. And even…

INDUSTRIAL MARKET OVERVIEW TY JANNEY, Managing Principal Emerging signs of relief for occupiers underscored industrial transaction activity in the greater Boston market in the first quarter of 2023 with an increase in overall vacancy to 4.8% from the 12 month average of 4.2% in 2022 and a reversion to negative absorption with new construction deliveries this quarter. The submarkets south of Boston were most active with large block leases signed between 70,000 and 160,000 square…

INDUSTRIAL OVERVIEW: RECORD RENT GROWTH, LOW SUPPLY Relentless demand continued for warehouse-and-distribution space across North America in 2022. The year ended with a surge in fourth-quarter absorption along with more double-digit annual rent growth. While growth has slowed from the fever pitch of 2021, there have been no signs of significant deterioration in the fundamentals driving demand for industrial space. Inflation-adjusted retail goods sales and truck tonnage are at high levels, and containerized imports at…

OFFICE MARKET OVERVIEW ERIC SOLEM, Managing Principal | President In 2022, the top ten biotechnology leases accounted for 80% of the square footage (2.5M of the ~3.1M SF) and landed in either Cambridge or Boston’s Seaport District, with the balance landing in Boston’s western suburbs which include Watertown, Waltham and Bedford, MA. With rationalization of space accommodating a hybrid workforce and a looming recession on the horizon, there is now ~10.5M SF of sublease space…

INDUSTRIAL MARKET OVERVIEW TY JANNEY, Managing Principal The greater Boston Industrial market held steady in the 4th quarter of 2022 at 4.2% overall vacancy and asking lease rates averaging $14.58/SF NNN. Headline leases were signed by 24M at 140,000 SF, Lasership, Inc. at 96,000 SF and Iron Mountain at 92,000 SF. Total annual absorption (for 355M SF in total inventory) was approximately 1.6M SF with minimal change in vacancy rate over the 12 month period….

INDUSTRIAL MARKET OVERVIEW TY JANNEY, Managing Principal For the first time since 2009, the Greater Boston quarterly industrial vacancy rate increased from 3.9% to 4.3%. Rising inflation and interest rates coupled with a pause in early-stage life science demand are contributing factors to this change. 5.5 million SF of absorption and 7.5 million SF of new construction also represent 10-year highs, although the delivery of 3.8 million SF at Osgood Landing in North Andover this…

RETAIL MARKET OVERVIEW ROBERT ELMER, Managing Principal Retail in Greater Boston continues its rebound, with pockets doing extremely well. The supply constrained environment has kept vacancy below 3% resulting in upward pressure on rents despite lingering uncertainty, especially in the urban core where office occupancy is still well below pre-pandemic levels. Nonetheless, Dicks Sporting Goods’ recent lease of ~120,000 SF in the Prudential Center’s former Lord & Taylor space is a good sign for downtown…

OFFICE MARKET OVERVIEW ERIC SOLEM, Managing Principal | President Signs of volatility continue with another 1 million SF of sublease coming on the market in Boston’s CBD pushing available sublease space over 3.7 million. Meanwhile, big block tenants such as McKinsey & Company preleased 78K SF new construction at 115 Federal; HarbourVest agreed to lease over 205K SF vacated by State Street at One Lincoln; Eaton Vance finalized 280K SF at One PO Square; AstraZeneca…