According to the analysis of the commercial property group Newmark Knight Frank Devencore, there is a strong level of demand for more space among office occupiers in the central parts of what is the biggest city in Canada.
Close to 1.4 million square feet of Toronto office space was absorbed into the market during the first two quarters of this year, with companies based in the business district looking to expand to a greater extent than has been seen in the city for some time.
Indeed, the absorption rate has been sharper of late than even the most well-positioned analysts were willing to predict in the early months of 2010.
However, there are still several million square feet of unoccupied office space available to rent in downtown Toronto.
Reflecting on his company’s own findings, Allan Schaffer, president of the Devencore Realties Corporation Canada, said: “The extent of the current demand for the new breed of office space downtown Toronto is significant enough to raise the possibility of more new office development in the near future.”
“We feel that the downtown office market will be stable over the long term and will continue to expand, driven by corporate tenant and employee demand and supported by blue-chip landlords,” he added.
Newmark Knight Frank Devencore has offices of its own in various locations across Canada and is linked to both the Newmark Knight Frank and the Knight Frank organisations, which are head-quartered at offices in New York and London respectively.
Earlier this week, the insurance industry giant Lloyds of London opened its first area of office space in Toronto at the Royal Bank Plaza, the local Star newspaper reported.
Editor’s notes: In Q1 of 2023, Toronto’s office space market experienced negative absorption of -845,000 square feet following a deceleration of leasing levels compared to those seen in 2022 and 2021.
Vacancy rates were at 10.4% and the asking net rent for Class AAA space reached CAD50 per square foot in Downtown Toronto.