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The commercial property analyst expects to see rental activity rise in what is Canada’s second-largest city, as businesses get themselves into “recovery mode” after a difficult few years.
Office space was being vacated on a considerable scale over the course of 2009, while this year has reportedly seen a fairly stagnant office market in Montreal, but next year is now expected to see much more demand for high-quality office space across the city, particularly in the downtown business district.
Cushman and Wakefield predicted more office space market absorption in the city during 2010 than has actually been the case but the company’s local branch manager Louis Burgos told the Montreal Gazette: “We’re probably running a year behind. We’ll basically have our 2010 in 2011.”
“So long as the market picks up there might be an opportunity for development of a new office building,” he added.
Mr Burgos also noted that nearby Toronto has seen strong growth in demand for its office space to rent in recent months, thanks largely to the turnaround in fortunes of the city’s banking sector, which is among the most active in North America.
In other Canadian commercial property news, a report in the Globe and Mail last month suggested that Vancouver is preparing for something of an office space renaissance as a number of new office buildings look set to be constructed in its central business district over the next few years.
Editor’s notes: In Q1 of 2023, office space vacancy rates in Montreal were at 18% which reflects a 30-year high. There was 15 million square feet of space available in the Greater Montréal area which was double what it was three years previously.
There was also 1.6 million square feet of office space under construction – most notably the 1 million square foot Nation Bank headquarters office and the 320 square foot Victoria on the Parc, both in Old Montréal.