Office vacancy down along 495, up in Framingham area
Businesses grabbed office space along Route 495 in the first quarter of the year, while space became available in Framingham, Natick and four surrounding communities, according to a Boston-based commercial real estate agency.
Vacancy rates in the Route 495 west area, which covers a span along the interstate highway from Acton and Ayer to Milford, fell to 20.7 percent from just under 22 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, which released aggregate market data for all of the Greater Boston area out to Route 495.
Newmark Grubb said asking rents in the 495 west area also rose during the quarter, to $20.08 per square foot, marking a 2-percent jump over the first quarter of 2014, 4 percent from the start of 2013.
In the Framingham-Natick area – which includes Wayland, Sudbury, Sherborn and Dover – the vacancy rate rose about 2 percent to 14.3 percent, due in part to an opening up of space by Genzyme Corp. at 9/90 Crossing in Framingham. Genzyme announced last year it intended to move 500 employees a few miles west to Westborough.
Newmark Grubb said the vacancy rate is the highest it has been in that market in two years.
However, the average asking rent in Framingham-Natick area continued to rise, jumping about $1 to $23.44 per square foot. Average asking rents for top-level, or Class A, space rose to $25.88 per square foot, Newmark Grubb said.
Also, Newmark Grubb said more industrial space in the region is becoming occupied, with a drop in the vacancy rate to 8 percent in the first quarter, indicating a growing economy. Two years ago, the vacancy rate was just under 14 percent.
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