The Rising Tide Of Subletting
Sublet space continues as one of the big market trends, according to a new Avison Young report on Toronto West office market activity in Q1. The firm Kevin Beaudry (second from left at the SIOR awards) tells us that corporate rightsizing, consolidations, and relocations are the factors fueling the rise of sublet space in Toronto West, and they're being filled by tenants looking for quick occupancy and attractive rate structures. There was a 70 bps increase in availability rate for the office market there year-over-year, while sublet availability also rose—30 bps to 3.1%.
One deal of note: Bayer’s sublease at 2920 Matheson Blvd E (above) removed 135k SF from the market, but Worley Parsons gave just over 24k SF back to the market at 7100 W Credit Ave in Meadowvale. (It's like whack-a-mole.) Loblaws vacated an entire 92k SF building at 320 Matheson Blvd W, so that Heartland office node saw a 20 bps increase in its sublet space.
