Suburban Strength
Lost in the hoopla about Canada's urban renaissance (seriously people, temper your hoopla) is that suburban markets had a solid 2012 and have recovered well from the 2008-09 recession, a new CBRE report says. Vacancy remains higher, "but demand has been consistent and the suburban market has been resilient," CBRE chairman John O'Bryan says. Actually, if you adjust for the larger downtown inventories, you can argue office leasing activity was higher in the suburbs nationally. John says suburban space has a bright future as the US recovery picks up, especially where public transit is good. The suburban industrial market, meanwhile, recorded 18.2M SF of positive absorption in 2012, its best since 2006. Of course, 16.5% of that was in Target's two new distribution centres and Stanley Black & Decker's new Mississauga facility.
