Vacancy rates in selected markets
Year-end 2000 size in millions of square feet
| Size | Vacancy rate | |
|
Source: Oncor International
|
||
| Manhattan | 409.6. | 5.1% |
| Washington, D.C. | 304.3 | 4.1 |
| Los Angeles | 264.8 | 9.7 |
| Chicago | 197.8 | 11.0 |
| Houston | 168.1 | 11.7 |
| Dallas/Fort Worth | 161.1 | 15.8 |
| Boston | 122.0 | 3.5 |
| Atlanta | 119.6 | 11.7 |
| Northern New Jersey | 101.0 | 10.0 |
| Philadelphia | 80.3 | 9.4 |
Industrial vacancy rates
|
Source: Grubb & Ellis
|
|
| U.S. average (weighted by market size) | 5.9% |
| Pittsburgh | 15.5 |
| Atlanta | 8.6 |
| St. Louis | 8.0 |
| Chicago | 7.3 |
| Las Vegas | 7.0 |
| Phoenix | 5.7 |
| Dallas | 5.6 |
| Boston | 5.3 |
| Los Angeles | 3.5 |
| Seattle | 2.6 |
| San Jose | 2.3 |
Commercial, industrial institutional (CII) construction spending (Billions of current dollars)
| Spending in January 2001 | Percent change from January 2000 | Spending in year-to-date 2001 | Percent change from year-to-date 2000 | 2000 total spending | Annual percent change 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce; forecast: Cahners Economics
|
||||||||
| CII total | $24.05 | 14.8% | $24.05 | 14.8% | $304.36 | 11.3% | 3.9% | 7.4% |
| Commercial | 10.52 | 14.8 | 10.52 | 14.8 | 131.17 | 9.6 | 0.9 | 8.0 |
| Office | 4.63 | 26.0 | 4.63 | 26.0 | 53.99 | 15.9 | 7.1 | 11.6 |
| Retail | 4.67 | 11.6 | 4.67 | 11.6 | 60.93 | 6.6 | -3.7 | 5.6 |
| Hotel/motel | 1.22 | -6.7 | 1.22 | -6.7 | 16.25 | 2.0 | -2.4 | 3.6 |
| Industrial | 3.56 | 40.8 | 3.56 | 40.8 | 40.66 | 16.5 | 5.5 | 4.9 |
| Institutional | 9.97 | 7.7 | 9.97 | 7.7 | 132.53 | 11.4 | 6.3 | 7.7 |
| Health care | 1.59 | 11.5 | 1.59 | 11.5 | 19.64 | 11.6 | 2.2 | 5.4 |
| Education | 4.27 | 11.1 | 4.27 | 11.1 | 58.28 | 17.7 | 9.5 | 10.5 |
| Other institutional | 4.12 | 3.0 | 4.12 | 3.0 | 54.62 | 5.4 | 4.4 | 5.4 |
| Multifamily | 2.19 | 4.6 | 2.19 | 4.6 | 27.88 | 2.3 | -1.5 | 3.1 |
Cost comparisons per square foot in select metro markets
| Swimming pool, enclosed | Racquetball court | Bowling alley | Hockey rink/indoor soccer | |||||||||
| NOTE: Specifications for swimming pool and hockey rink have changed from the previous year, making the percentage change inapplicable. Costs are for the basic building and do not include sitework, land, development, specialty finishes or equipment. Square foot costs vary significantly from project to project because of quality, complexity and economic climate. For a detailed list of building components included in these figures, see Means Square Foot Costs. |
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| '01 | '00 | % chg. | '01 | '00 | % chg. | '01 | '00 | % chg. | '01 | '00 | % chg. | |
| Atlanta | 136.52 | 110.57 | NA | 102.85 | 97.83 | 5.1 | 60.25 | 59.16 | 1.8 | 97.81 | 85.58 | NA |
| Baltimore | 140.65 | 112.43 | NA | 105.96 | 99.48 | 6.5 | 62.08 | 60.16 | 3.2 | 100.77 | 87.02 | NA |
| Boston | 176.31 | 144.70 | NA | 132.83 | 128.03 | 3.7 | 77.82 | 77.42 | 0.5 | 126.32 | 111.99 | NA |
| Chicago | 170.50 | 137.01 | NA | 128.44 | 121.22 | 6.0 | 75.25 | 73.31 | 2.6 | 122.15 | 106.04 | NA |
| Cleveland | 157.64 | 126.58 | NA | 118.76 | 112.00 | 6.0 | 69.58 | 67.73 | 2.7 | 112.94 | 97.97 | NA |
| Dallas | 130.09 | 107.22 | NA | 98.01 | 94.87 | 3.3 | 57.42 | 57.37 | 0.1 | 93.20 | 82.99 | NA |
| Denver | 146.77 | 116.65 | NA | 110.57 | 103.21 | 7.1 | 64.78 | 62.42 | 3.8 | 105.15 | 90.29 | NA |
| Detroit | 162.54 | 130.80 | NA | 122.45 | 115.73 | 5.8 | 71.74 | 69.99 | 2.5 | 116.45 | 101.24 | NA |
| Houston | 134.99 | 110.70 | NA | 101.69 | 97.94 | 3.8 | 59.58 | 59.23 | 0.6 | 96.71 | 85.68 | NA |
| Kansas City | 153.05 | 122.11 | NA | 115.30 | 108.04 | 6.7 | 67.55 | 65.34 | 3.4 | 109.65 | 94.51 | NA |
| Los Angeles | 166.06 | 135.64 | NA | 125.10 | 120.01 | 4.2 | 73.29 | 72.58 | 1.0 | 118.97 | 104.98 | NA |
| Miami | 131.78 | 106.23 | NA | 99.27 | 93.99 | 5.6 | 58.16 | 56.84 | 2.3 | 94.41 | 82.22 | NA |
| Minneapolis | 170.80 | 136.88 | NA | 128.67 | 121.11 | 6.2 | 75.39 | 73.24 | 2.9 | 122.37 | 105.94 | NA |
| New Orleans | 131.16 | 105.86 | NA | 98.81 | 93.66 | 5.5 | 57.89 | 56.64 | 2.2 | 93.97 | 81.93 | NA |
| New York City | 205.85 | 166.05 | NA | 155.08 | 146.91 | 5.6 | 90.85 | 88.84 | 2.3 | 147.48 | 128.51 | NA |
| Philadelphia | 171.42 | 138.00 | NA | 129.14 | 122.10 | 5.8 | 75.66 | 73.84 | 2.5 | 122.81 | 106.81 | NA |
| Phoenix | 136.67 | 111.07 | NA | 102.96 | 98.27 | 4.8 | 60.32 | 59.43 | 1.5 | 97.92 | 85.96 | NA |
| Pittsburgh | 155.35 | 126.21 | NA | 117.03 | 111.67 | 4.8 | 68.56 | 67.53 | 1.5 | 111.29 | 97.68 | NA |
| Portland | 164.22 | 131.55 | NA | 123.72 | 116.39 | 6.3 | 72.48 | 70.38 | 3.0 | 117.65 | 101.81 | NA |
| St. Louis | 157.95 | 127.70 | NA | 118.99 | 112.98 | 5.3 | 69.71 | 68.33 | 2.0 | 113.16 | 98.84 | NA |
| San Diego | 162.69 | 132.29 | NA | 122.56 | 117.05 | 4.7 | 71.81 | 70.78 | 1.5 | 116.56 | 102.39 | NA |
| San Francisco | 190.09 | 153.39 | NA | 143.20 | 135.71 | 5.5 | 83.90 | 82.07 | 2.2 | 136.19 | 118.72 | NA |
| Seattle | 160.09 | 130.06 | NA | 120.60 | 115.07 | 4.8 | 70.66 | 69.59 | 1.5 | 114.69 | 100.66 | NA |
| Washington, D.C. | 145.09 | 118.76 | NA | 109.30 | 105.08 | 4.0 | 64.04 | 63.54 | 0.8 | 103.95 | 91.92 | NA |
| Winston/Salem | 116.16 | 95.06 | NA | 87.51 | 84.11 | 4.0 | 51.27 | 50.86 | 0.8 | 83.22 | 73.57 | NA |
R.S. Means Co., P.O. Box 800, Kingston, MA 02364, (781) 585-7880, (800) 448-8182
For more data, visit R.S. Means on the Web at www.rsmeans.com. To use an interactive tool that helps estimate costs, visit www.buildingteam.com.
Steel trend a first since 1992
Because of a sharp run-up in prices during the spring and summer of last year, contractors paid an average of 2.6 percent more for structural steel during 2000 than during 1999.
However, the combination of falling demand, ample worldwide steel production capacity and ever-increasing competition from imports has been pushing prices lower in recent months. Average prices during both January and February of this year were lower than during the first two months of 2000 — the first time since October 1992 that structural steel prices in a given month have been lower than the same month one year earlier. Prices won't go into free-fall during 2001, but inflation in this building product group is likely to be at its lowest rate since the last recession.
Office vacancy rates reach 10-year low in 2000
Office vacancy rates for most U.S. metropolitan markets were at their lowest level in more than a 10 years as 2000 drew to a close. And for six of the nation's top 10 markets, the year-end 2000 vacancy rate was 10 percent or less, according to a survey by commercial brokerage firm Oncor International.
This year, slower job growth and dot-com layoffs should push office vacancies higher in most markets.
The highest vacancy rate among the top 10 office markets was registered in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area (15.8 percent), while Boston recorded the lowest (3.5 percent).
Nationwide industrial vacancies drop below 6 percent
The nations industrial vacancy rate dropped to 5.9 percent during the fourth quarter of 2000, according to a survey conducted by the commercial/industrial brokerage firm of Grubb & Ellis. This is the first time that the rate has dropped below 6 percent since at least 1985, when the firm began tracking the market, and most likely the lowest industrial vacancy rate achieved in the past quarter century. But, as the the industrial vacancy rate is a lagging indicator, the effect of manufacturing sector layoffs and production cuts on these numbers have yet to be seen.
