January 24, 2014
By Tiffany Crawford, Vancouver Sun
VANCOUVER — A building boom downtown is creating much-needed office space in Vancouver, city officials say.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson helped break ground Thursday on The Exchange, a $200-million, 31-storey Credit Suisse office tower in the financial district, one of seven buildings now under construction downtown.
Robertson heralded the projects as an end to the city’s business vacancy woes, as Vancouver remains one of North America’s tightest markets for office space.
Vancouver’s vacancy rate for Class A office space sits at 5.3 per cent. That compares with 8.7 per cent in Montreal and 9.7 per cent in Edmonton. But according to Cushman and Wakefield, Vancouver’s vacancy rate is projected to jump to 7.7 per cent this year and to 10.5 per cent in 2015.
“When it comes to the strength of Vancouver’s office market, we’ve come a long way in the last five years.” Robertson said. “A few years ago our economy was being held back by a lack of space, we had a critical shortage and it’s wonderful to see the market respond.” More…