Commercial real estate poised for rebound

(Deseret News) It may sound like a broken record to say 2009 was a tough year in virtually every sector of the Utah real estate market, but the final year of the decade also offered some hope for the start of the next 10-year period.

According to market reports from two of the state's largest business real estate firms, 2009 was both challenging and potentially promising for the year to come.

"Retail, office, industrial — all suffered in 2009," John Taylor, investment specialist with Commerce Real Estate Solutions (formerly Commerce CRG), told the Deseret News. "(Today) some financing is back into the market, (and) our rate of job decline has dramatically slowed."

He said Utah's commercial real estate market fared better than many other markets in the region during the economic slump, which will put the local market in a good position to rebound when the economy begins to recover.

According to the Commerce year-end report, the Salt Lake office market saw direct vacancy rates climb to 15.72 percent in 2009, up from 12.95 percent at the end of 2008. The rise in vacancy was largely attributed to the December completion of the 222 Main Street downtown office tower, which is 20 percent leased but mostly unoccupied and added 420,000 square feet to the Central Business District vacancy rate.

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