Our Market
Slow but steady marks the commercial real estate market in the St. Louis region. It weathered the economic downturn, certainly not without its share of job losses and the resulting vacancy in space. But the region never experienced the drastic swing down found in many coastal cities and the Sunbelt. Instead St. Louis continues to recover albeit with moderate growth in occupancy throughout 2012.
Its diversified business base adds stability, with solid cores either developing or established in life sciences, information technology, financial services, healthcare, education, transportation and advanced manufacturing. Consequently, the region has seen unemployment trend downward, decreasing from 8.4% to 7.5% in the past year.
As development remains restrained, the uptick in employment has buoyed the office market. Demand for space continues but excess capacity has tampered positive absorption. Relatively modest absorption has helped push down the vacancy rate in suburban markets while the CBD has seen some improvements thanks to retention and growth among major companies based in the downtown market. The sluggish activity, though, still favors tenants either renewing leases or looking for new or expanded space.
Growing in stature as distribution and intermodal hub, with strong infrastructure, railway and waterway access, and affordable land, the industrial sector has witnessed increased activity, especially in the modern bulk sector. Overall, the industrial vacancy rate has fallen below 10%, but pressure remains on landlords looking to fill space.