JLL’s Jeff Eckert Sees Sunshine Ahead for DFW Office Market
There’s no whistling a happy tune, but JLL managing director Jeff Eckert and research director Walter Bialas see nothing but sunny days in the forecast for Dallas office. In a midyear office update and outlook, the duo tout stats underscoring rent growth, great absorption levels and vacancy rates and historic lows. Here’s a taste: Downtown Class-A rent growth in the last 12 months is 5.2%; current CBD Class-A rent is up 4.9% to $23.55/SF; and current Uptown Class-A rent is up 6% at $33.35/SF.
Jeff says the year-over-year job growth coupled with organic growth and multiple corporate relocations makes this growth rate sustainable. Office construction is in high demand with some 10.5M SF either under construction or set to break ground soon across Dallas, according to JLL research. There’s 6M SF in Far North Dallas, 842k SF in Las Colinas, 1M SF in Richardson/Plano, 190k SF in Preston Center, 450k SF in the CBD and 1.8M SF in Uptown. There are other good indicators as well, he says. Typically the summer is slow, but leasing velocity hasn’t slowed. And, landlords are reinvesting capital into both Class-B and Class-A buildings, he says. Asking rates in Dallas are up 12.5%, and tenant improvement costs are up 18% on average.
