20 percent of Valley-based office space remains vacant

PHOENIX — Despite other U.S. commercial real estate markets making a comeback post-recession, Phoenix’s vacancy rate for office space remains above 20 percent.

A recent Phoenix Business Journal report indicates that according to Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services, office vacancy rate in the Valley checked in at 20.9 percent for the first quarter.

The study shows that the highest vacancy rates reside in suburban north Phoenix, the West Valley, some outlying East Valley areas and Midtown Phoenix, which had the highest vacancy rate in the area at 27.8 percent.

The least amount of office space available occurs in Phoenixs’s 44th Street Corridor, Old Town Scottsdale and Tempe. In fact, Tempe’s 11.1 percent vacancy rate was the lowest in the Phoenix metro area.