BEND, OR -- Commercial vacancy rates in Bend don’t quite rival that of the tight housing market, but available office space is getting hard to come by. Pat Kesgard with Compass Commercial says Industrial vacancies dropped from 7.8 to 6.3% in the third quarter and office availability fell dramatically, from 9.2 to 7.4%. "When you get close to that 6% vacancy rate, that’s a pretty firm market. When you think about a real estate cycle, it’s a bell curve concept. In 2010-2011 we were at the bottom of the bell curve. Now we’re going up the left side, but what we don’t know is when we’re going to hit the top."
While Retail availability remained statically unchanged at 6.4%, Kesgard tells KBND News that’s likely to move in the fourth quarter. "In that third quarter, we still had the former Outback Steakhouse. As of this month, fourth quarter, we have leased that. It’ll be a Benihana-type restaurant; it’s a chain out of San Diego, and they’ll also have a large menu in sushi, I understand." He adds, "There’s the health food store in Wagner Mall, they’ve just announced they’re going to close and I believe that’s about 6,000-square foot, not a huge space. We have several regional and national restaurants and chains that are looking in Bend to open; so, a lot of activity from the regional and national firms to come to Bend."
Kesgard says industrial space in Redmond is also getting tighter – vacancies fell from 8.1 to 7.9% in third quarter.
To hear our full conversation with Pat Kesgard, visit our Podcast Page.
