2015 Market Report Results
Greater Saint Paul BOMA released the 21st edition of the Downtown Saint Paul Market Report in early October. Overall, general improvement in the office market continues, along with significant growth in residential population.
Office Market
The overall occupancy rate, currently at 91%, includes Competitive, Government, and Owner-occupied space. Competitive office space occupancy showed an uptick in 2015, increasing to 82.3%. This is up from 79.5% in 2014. This is the highest level of occupancy BOMA has recorded in the downtown Saint Paul Competitive market since 2001. This change is primarily driven by increased occupancy in the Class B space, which rose from 76.3% to 80.3%.
Total Universe
Total office space in the CBD consists of 49% Competitive space, 30% Government space, and 21% Owner-occupied space. Examining Competitive office space alone, Class A space represents 27%, Class B space is 65%, and Class C space is 8%. Total office space contracted by 260,000 square feet to 16.06 million square feet. Most of this reduction was attributable to the conversion of Sibley Square (208K sf) and Liberty Square (37K sf) to residential.
Residential Growth
Downtown Saint Paul has experienced rapid growth in residential population since the end of the last recession. Based on a Maxfield Research, Inc. study, the total number of people living in the CBD has grown from 4,862 in 2010 to 8,271 by July of 2015, a 70% increase. “While owner occupied units have remained stable, the downtown area of Saint Paul continues to add on rental units,” said Mary Bujold, President of Maxfield Research, Inc. “This is a similar pattern to what is occurring across the country.” In addition to recently completed residential projects, there are many in the development pipeline, such as Custom House, Sibley Square, The St. Paul Pioneer Press building, and two Opus projects on West 7th Street. When completed, these projects will add over 550 rental units to the CBD.
For complete Market Report results, go to https://www.spdatasource.org/annual-office-market-data/.
