With minimal space expected to come onto the market in the next six months, Ottawa’s industrial vacancy rate is likely to trend downwards over the second half of the year, according to a local brokerage firm.
Cushman & Wakefield Ottawa said the citywide industrial vacancy rate increased by half a percentage point in the second quarter to reach six per cent. That’s the highest level in a year.
The vacancy rate in the city’s eastern submarkets climbed 80 basis points to 4.1 per cent, while western submarkets declined 0.1 percentage points to 8.9 per cent.
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Leasing activity across the city has increased slightly over last year’s total through the second quarter, with the year-to-date total standing at 417,000 square feet.
Vacancy is expected to decrease later in the year as only 51,000 square feet of space is expected to become available by the end of 2013. There are currently two owner-occupant projects under construction in the east end: one for Euro Tile & Stone as well as a 150,000-square-foot warehouse/distribution centre for Multi-Craft Imports.
In the west, a new 47,000-square-foot distribution centre is being constructed for FedEx on Moodie Drive.
Pre-leasing is ongoing for the 121,000-square-foot second phase of the Capital East Business Centre, which has a projected occupancy date of spring 2014.