Dayton’s office vacancy rate falls to 22.7%

Dayton’s overall office vacancy rate may be high compared to other Ohio cities, but it is steadily improving, property reports show.

The overall vacancy rate in Dayton was 22.7 percent in the second quarter of 2017, an improvement from 24.8 percent in the second quarter last year, according to a quarterly report from commercial real estate brokers Cushman & Wakefield.

And a report from real estate services firm Colliers International says vacancy in the Dayton office market peaked at 23.1 percent at the end of 2015 — but has since improved for six straight quarters, thanks to steady leasing activity and no new supply of available office space.

“Dayton’s vacancy rate is higher than other Ohio markets, but the story is that a recovery has been underway with a strong gain in occupancy driving the vacancy rate down by 1.5 percentage points since the end of 2015,” said Loren DeFilippo, Ohio research director for Colliers.

Dayton’s office vacancy rates are high compared to other Ohio cities, Cushman & Wakefield’s national report shows.

Dayton’s overall second-quarter vacancy rate of 22.7 percent was higher than Cincinnati’s (21.4 percent), Columbus’ (13.4 percent) and Cleveland’s (11 percent).

Still, the trend in Dayton has been positive. Direct vacancy across the Dayton market has improved for six straight quarters, the Cushman report said.

“The vacancy rate has been steadily declining for the entire Dayton office market,” said Jarrett Hicks, associate market director-research for Cushman.

As identified by Cushman’s report, the quarter’s bigger events included Taylor Communications moving hundreds of workers into the 111 building (111 W. First St.) in Dayton’s Central Business District, taking up 132,000 square feet in that building; Dayton Children’s Hospital moving into Building 3 of Dayton’s Tech Town Business Park, taking 22,861 square feet; and law firm Sebaly Shillito & Dyer renewing a lease in the Kettering Tower downtown.

The top sale of the second quarter was identified as Dayton Freight Lines Inc. paying $8.5 million for more than 130,000 square feet at Sand Lake Plaza off Poe Avenue in Vandalia.