Tampa Bay’s office market faces a ‘pivotal’ year in 2019

Tampa’s central business district had the lowest office vacancy rate of any office market in the bay area as of the end of 2018. A new report by JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) showed the vacancy rate at 9 percent, compared to 11.6 percent in downtown St. Petersburg and a high of 24.6 percent in outlying areas of Pinellas County. For the bay area overall, the total vacancy rate stood at 13.8, lower than in 2015 but higher than in 2017. The average gross asking rent was $25.69 per square foot, the highest in three years.

With only one new office project breaking ground in 2018 — the MetWest Three building in Tampa’s Westshore area — this could be “a year of realization given the 1.5 million square feet of planned development that was scheduled or has been pushed back in2019,’’ the report said. “Yet regardless of whether promised development is kept or if we continue to see minimal groundbreakings, the new year will be a pivotal one for Tampa office (space).’’

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John William is a cum laude graduate of the University of Miami, and has spent his lifetime in sales and marketing. The fourth generation to join his family business, John William manages all luxury residential sales and transactions within the Tampa Bay and South Florida markets. A keen industry insider with a finger on the pulse of the area, He is an expert identifying high-return acquisition and development opportunities for hungry investors both large and small while simultaneously working with homeowners and homebuyers to buy and sell the home of their dreams… often times without the need of the MLS or a For Sale sign. He also oversees all digital and print marketing for the company, and handles all sales training for new and established agents alike. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Brookwood Florida, the oldest charity in Florida, and works to raise millions of dollars annually for local charities and museums.