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This strikes me as continued good news. An 11.8% Class A vacancy rate compares favorably to those in other cities (Washington, for instance: Studley Q1 Report: Federal Leasing Propels DC Office Market - Citybizlist Washington DC (http://dcrealestate.citybizlist.com/5/2011/4/25/Studley-Q1-Report-Federal-Leasing-Propels-DC-Office-Market.aspx - broken link)).
Short of a leasing bonanza, of course, these numbers may dip by this time next year; the conversion of the former Warren Exchange to Class A space might spike the numbers.
Still, the leasing picture looks rosy downtown. As more B and C space gets converted to residential, perhaps commercial price per square foot (currently anemic) will get a bump.
The class A vacancy rate for downtown is lower than I had thought. I had read some other brokerage reports for the 4th Q of 2010 and 1st Q of 2011 that pegged the vacancy rate for Class A at nearly 20%. One thing to consider is that the Downtown Committee report includes Franklin Square, a neighborhood that is outside of the CBD. I don't recall if the brokerage reports for CBRE and Pyramid Brokerage include the Franklin Square submarket as part of the CBD for their calculations. This area has very low vacancy rates due to the migration of several law firms from the CBD over the past decade including Costello Cooney & Fearon, Scolaro, Shulman, Cohen, Fetter & Burstein and Menter, Rudin and Trivelpiece, P.C. Two of the city's three major, locally-based CPA firms have also bolted from the CBD to Franklin Square. I will say the level of leasing activity downtown is anemic at best, with the only sizable leases (10,000 sf) being goverment agencies relocating from the Federal Building to One Park Place. There is a glut of empty space in the AXA Towers complex. It has been more than 6 years since AXA signed a new lease with a much smaller footprint that consolidated their operations into part of one tower. At the time, the city was going to make much needed landscaping improvements to the public space infront of the AXA complex . Does anyone know if this was done? I saw several notes in the Common Council meetings
I'm glad to see work has commenced on the Onondaga Tower, otherwise known as the former HSBC Bank Building on South Warren Street. Two other buildings that are largely vacant and need a massive overhaul include the 500 Building (formerly known as the "Chimes Building" at 500 South Salina Street) and the Sibley's Building and Garage on the 400 block of South Salina. The former Sibley's building has lost two of its major (an possibly only) tenants in the past few years with the departure of the Deluxe check processing facility and WellPoint which relocated to the former O'Brien & Gere Building in DeWitt. In a perfect world, I'd love to see that building demolished and replaced with a high-rise mixed-use structure with 24 hour parking. Obviously this will never happen due to the very low lease rates for Class A space, inability to obtain financing as well as some other factors. The continued decay of this building hobbles further redevelopment efforts that would spread the vibrancy of Armory Square to the 300 and 400 blocks of South Salina. The immediate area has undergone significant positive change in the last decade with the success of the Jefferson Clinton Hotel, addition of market rate condos in the Lowe's Building, develoment of Jefferson Clinton Commons and the reconstruction and expansion of the Landmark Theatre.
I was in downtown Syracuse last Friday morning and was encouraged by some of the changes.
Last edited by RollsRoyce; 08-25-2011 at 12:39 PM..
The class A vacancy rate for downtown is lower than I had thought. I had read some other brokerage reports for the 4th Q of 2010 and 1st Q of 2011 that pegged the vacancy rate for Class A at nearly 20%. One thing to consider is that the Downtown Committee report includes Franklin Square, a neighborhood that is outside of the CBD. I don't recall if the brokerage reports for CBRE and Pyramid Brokerage include the Franklin Square submarket as part of the CBD for their calculations. This area has very low vacancy rates due to the migration of several law firms from the CBD over the past decade including Costello Cooney & Fearon, Scolaro, Shulman, Cohen, Fetter & Burstein and Menter, Rudin and Trivelpiece, P.C. Two of the city's three major, locally-based CPA firms have also bolted from the CBD to Franklin Square. I will say the level of leasing activity downtown is anemic at best, with the only sizable leases (10,000 sf) being goverment agencies relocating from the Federal Building to One Park Place. There is a glut of empty space in the AXA Towers complex. It has been more than 6 years since AXA signed a new lease with a much smaller footprint that consolidated their operations into part of one tower. At the time, the city was going to make much needed landscaping improvements to the public space infront of the AXA complex . Does anyone know if this was done? I saw several notes in the Common Council meetings
I'm glad to see work has commenced on the Onondaga Tower, otherwise known as the former HSBC Bank Building on South Warren Street. Two other buildings that are largely vacant and need a massive overhaul include the 500 Building (formerly known as the "Chimes Building" at 500 South Salina Street) and the Sibley's Building and Garage on the 400 block of South Salina. The former Sibley's building has lost two of its major (an possibly only) tenants in the past few years with the departure of the Deluxe check processing facility and WellPoint which relocated to the former O'Brien & Gere Building in DeWitt. In a perfect world, I'd love to see that building demolished and replaced with a high-rise mixed-use structure with 24 hour parking. Obviously this will never happen due to the very low lease rates for Class A space, inability to obtain financing as well as some other factors. The continued decay of this building hobbles further redevelopment efforts that would spread the vibrancy of Armory Square to the 300 and 400 blocks of South Salina. The immediate area has undergone significant positive change in the last decade with the success of the Jefferson Clinton Hotel, addition of market rate condos in the Lowe's Building, develoment of Jefferson Clinton Commons and the reconstruction and expansion of the Landmark Theatre.
I was in downtown Syracuse last Friday morning and was encouraged by some of the changes.
As I see it, the biggest issue downtown, for years, has been the glut of B and C office space, the empty street level storefronts and the number of downscale businesses in the storefronts that are occupied. I think the relocation of the transit terminal and the Pike Block development are the right steps in amending that. If the next step was to turn South Warren into a mostly residential corridor it could foster the return of street level retail and dining there - something that has been waning and disappearing for years.
The class A vacancy rate for downtown is lower than I had thought. I had read some other brokerage reports for the 4th Q of 2010 and 1st Q of 2011 that pegged the vacancy rate for Class A at nearly 20%. One thing to consider is that the Downtown Committee report includes Franklin Square, a neighborhood that is outside of the CBD. I don't recall if the brokerage reports for CBRE and Pyramid Brokerage include the Franklin Square submarket as part of the CBD for their calculations. This area has very low vacancy rates due to the migration of several law firms from the CBD over the past decade including Costello Cooney & Fearon, Scolaro, Shulman, Cohen, Fetter & Burstein and Menter, Rudin and Trivelpiece, P.C. Two of the city's three major, locally-based CPA firms have also bolted from the CBD to Franklin Square. I will say the level of leasing activity downtown is anemic at best, with the only sizable leases (10,000 sf) being goverment agencies relocating from the Federal Building to One Park Place. There is a glut of empty space in the AXA Towers complex. It has been more than 6 years since AXA signed a new lease with a much smaller footprint that consolidated their operations into part of one tower. At the time, the city was going to make much needed landscaping improvements to the public space infront of the AXA complex . Does anyone know if this was done? I saw several notes in the Common Council meetings
I'm glad to see work has commenced on the Onondaga Tower, otherwise known as the former HSBC Bank Building on South Warren Street. Two other buildings that are largely vacant and need a massive overhaul include the 500 Building (formerly known as the "Chimes Building" at 500 South Salina Street) and the Sibley's Building and Garage on the 400 block of South Salina. The former Sibley's building has lost two of its major (an possibly only) tenants in the past few years with the departure of the Deluxe check processing facility and WellPoint which relocated to the former O'Brien & Gere Building in DeWitt. In a perfect world, I'd love to see that building demolished and replaced with a high-rise mixed-use structure with 24 hour parking. Obviously this will never happen due to the very low lease rates for Class A space, inability to obtain financing as well as some other factors. The continued decay of this building hobbles further redevelopment efforts that would spread the vibrancy of Armory Square to the 300 and 400 blocks of South Salina. The immediate area has undergone significant positive change in the last decade with the success of the Jefferson Clinton Hotel, addition of market rate condos in the Lowe's Building, develoment of Jefferson Clinton Commons and the reconstruction and expansion of the Landmark Theatre.
I was in downtown Syracuse last Friday morning and was encouraged by some of the changes.
Thorough report RR...do you (anyone) happen to know if the former ATT building has been leased or if there are plans. I believe there was talk of locating City/County police there some time ago if the proposed Oncenter Hotel moved forward. I doubt that would happen for some time. A parking garage was proposed for the current Public Safety building.
I don't see the ATT building listed on the following link under "Leasing Opportunities", unless I missed something. It is located at the corner of Washington and (I believe) State Streets. It was built in the 1970/80's. There is some 250,000 to 300,000 sq. ft. of space available in that building.
Thorough report RR...do you (anyone) happen to know if the former ATT building has been leased or if there are plans. I believe there was talk of locating City/County police there some time ago if the proposed Oncenter Hotel moved forward. I doubt that would happen for some time. A parking garage was proposed for the current Public Safety building.
I don't see the ATT building listed on the following link under "Leasing Opportunities", unless I missed something. It is located at the corner of Washington and (I believe) State Streets. It was built in the 1970/80's. There is some 250,000 to 300,000 sq. ft. of space available in that building.
I remember that plan was proposed during one of former Governor Spitzer few visits to Syracuse. The state was going to provide a small grant to move the project forward. At the time, the county sheriff's department and city police department were going to work out financial details. With city and county budgets even more strained, I think it's safe to assume that the proposal is likely dead. As far as I know the building is completely vacant.
I believe the New York Telephone building is completely empty, but still under lease (I don't recall to whom) for at least the next few years. No citation on this one, I'm afraid.
It would be a good idea to consolidate the city and county law enforcement services, but they ought to do it within their current landholdings between Townsend and State; in a city in which half the land is property tax exempt, the government shouldn't consider expansion onto any new lots. Further, in a city with a glut of parking spaces, building another public garage would be the height of irresponsibility.
Like Phaelon said, filling B and C office space with residential and retail would go a long way toward improving both the residential and commercial markets downtown.
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