Commercial Real Estate in Ohio – White Paper from Offices.net

Introduction

The Ohio economy is based largely on capital goods. Commercial real estate in Ohio is the home of major producers of steel, tires, processed foods, machines, and rubber products with such well known names as General Motors, Jeep and Ford. This has created a good commercial market. Even with the poor economy, Ohio's commercial market shows positive trends. Overall, the state of Ohio's commercial real estate market is riding out the storm and expects to do well in the future.

Cincinnati

Cincinnati is home to Proctor and Gamble, as well as many other major corporations. New commercial office space in Cincinnati totalled 280,000 SF, but still net absorption totalled 33,000 SF in Cincinnati, raising the vacancy rate to only 19.5 percent compared to 19.3 percent. The office space this past year has stayed at a steady level. The overall vacancy is 17.8 percent up 6.80 percent. A positive net absorption of 84,550 SF was recorded.

The office property sale price is $83.65 PSF, down 14 percent. This is approximately a 2.2 percent decline. The average high was $98.65 PSF. The low was recorded in September, which was $83.56 PSF. Office property available has fallen and for the year the total volume has increased by 2.2 percent.

The lease rates are averaging $12.96 PSF. The highest lease rate was $13.20 PSF and is currently 0.3 percent lower. The lowest rate for leases was $12.90 in 2008. The square footage available has declined for office property and the available square footage marks a decline of 0.1 percent for the year.

Retail property has an asking price of $89.40 PSF. This represents a decline of 1.2 percent for the quarter. The all time low was $90.39 PSF and the high was $114.23 in 2010. This is a total drop of 18.2 percent. The actual sales price for retail property has dropped 12 percent with the low being $57.20 PSF in 2011. Over the year sale prices declined 25 percent to $53.35 PSF.

The lease rates for retail space peaked at $13.54 PSF. Currently the rate is 10 percent less. The lowest rate for retail leases was $12.05 in 2011. Available space for lease is on a downward trend and has dropped almost 13 percent.

Cleveland

The most populated city in the state of Ohio is Cleveland and the office space is the home of many large companies. Office space in Cleveland has been purchased at a record pace.

The asking price for office property was $73.56 PSF. This is down by 4.3 percent. The low was $73.97 PSF in 2011 and the high is $90.95 PSF in 2009. Office properties total volume available declined by 2.2 percent. The number of properties available increased by 10 percent. This is a new high for available office property. Office properties have seen a rise of 6.1 percent in available square footage that is for sale.

The office lease rates increased by 0.6 percent to $14.45 PSF. However, they have still decreased by 2.2 percent. The peak was in 2008 at $15.50 PSF. The low was in 2011 at$14.10 PSF. The available office space for lease has increased by 2.0 percent.

The asking price for retail property peaked at $109.01PSF in 2009. Currently the asking price is 21.1 percent lower. The lowest asking price was $78.75 seen in 2010. The current selling price for retail property is $28.32 PSF. This is 58.5 percent lower. The available retail square footage for sale has declined by 21.8 percent.

The asking lease rate for retail property was $11.85 PSF, representing a drop of 0.1 percent. Asking rates peaked in 2008 at $12.78 PSF. The current asking rate is down by 6.8 percent. The lowest lease rate of $11.61 PSF was in February. The available retail spaces have dropped by 0.8 percent.

Columbus

The asking price for office space in Columbus increased by 0.5 percent to $91.25 PSF. Overall prices dropped by 4.8 percent for the year. The high was in 2008 at $106.52 PSF. Currently asking prices are 14 percent lower. In August the lowest price was set at $90.39 PSF.

The sale price per square foot for office property has been declining and dropped by 3.5 percent. The recorded high was set in 2008 at $ 112.13 PSF. Currently the sale price is $73.55 PSF, which is still 15.1 percent higher than the lowest price. The available number of office properties has increased by 0.2 percent.

Office property asking rates have increased by 0.5 percent to $12.55 PSF. This is the highest in the last several years. The low for asking prices is $12.29 PSF in 2009. The total available number of office spaces has declined by 7.8 percent.

The asking price for retail property increased to $97.83 PSF, which is a 0.7 percent increase. Asking prices are done by 6.2 percent. In 2009, asking prices peaked at $145.66 PSF and the lowest in September was $96.79 PSF. The current asking price is 31 percent lower.

The average sale price of retail property has decreased. The average price was $111.32 PSF. The low previous was $62.31PSF in September. Prices have decreased by 42.9 percent to $61.03 PSF. There is a 2.4 percent increase in retail properties available for sale.

The lease rate for retail property was $12.12 PSF. This represents a decline of 1.7 percent. In 2009, the lease rate high was $13.21 PSF and the low was set in March at $11.98 PSF. The total number of available retail lease space has declined by 4.2 percent. Available retail property has decreased by 6.5 percent.

Incentives and Programs

Commercial real estate in Ohio possesses desirable incentive offerings that are impressive enough to attract businesses. Grants, local and state tax incentives and financing that provide businesses the opportunity to lower risks while investing in Ohio. Additionally, there are low business taxes and recent tax reforms. Ohio's business taxes are the lowest in the Midwest.

References:

Ohio Business Gateway business.ohio.gov/starting

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