Wait Seen for Downtown Headquarters Locations

Large institutions will have a hard time locating suitable headquarters and regional offices downtown until 1990, in the wake of an “exceptional leasing pace” and the fact that no new office space will have been completed between December of last year and October, 1988.

That’s the main conclusion of a survey of downtown office space released by Christopher J. Clifford, vice president and general manager of the Seeley Co.’s downtown commercial real estate division.

The survey found that about 1.1 million square feet of space has been absorbed downtown over the past 12 months, which has firmed rental rates and reduced the number of concessions offered by landlords.

However, he said, “the combination of strong leasing and the absence of new inventory means that large instituitions will have to wait until early 1990 for suitable major space,” when about 3.2 million square feet of new space is expected to come on the market.

The next 24 months will likely be a landlords’ market, Clifford said. “Any tenant requiring more than 50,000 square feet of contiguous space in prime downtown office buildings during 1988 and 1989 will not be able to negotiate favorable lease terms,” he said.