Average asking rents for office space in the I-495/Mass Pike market have been steadily climbing, and have risen 19 percent in the last two years to an average of $21.02 per square foot, according to a Jones Lang LaSalle market report.
Rent appreciation has been greatest in Framingham and Natick, influenced by a low 8.5 percent vacancy rate. Class A space there has climbed by almost $3.00 per square foot in the last nine months to between $26 and $28.50.
Marlborough and Westborough “represent the heart of the office market on the I-495 beltway,” the Jones Lang report said. That market has 6.1 million square feet, and has a vacancy rate of 17.2 percent. The combination of available space and lease rates barely above $20 per square foot make those towns attractive alternatives to Waltham, Cambridge and Boston, the report said.
However, large blocks of office space of more than 100,000 square feet are scarce, and carry slightly higher asking rates.
