The Madison office market finally emerged from its post-recession stupor in 2015 and chalked up its best performance since the early 2000s. The 430,000 square feet of positive net absorption recorded last year exceeded the combined total of the previous three years. This strong trend continues in 2016. Nearly 150,000 square feet of office space was leased during the first quarter, driving the vacancy rate down to 10.2 percent. The Madison office market was slow to recover from the Great Recession. As recently as 2014, office vacancies increased, and only 67,000 square feet of net positive absorption was tallied that year. As the state capital and home to the University of Wisconsin, the local economy depends on government and education as base industries — sectors where employment and spending had been retreating until recently. Insurance, financial services, medical services, research, information technology and software development are also important and growing sectors in Madison, accounting for a lot of new office leasing activity. Who’s taking space? Among the large lease deals in recent months: Arrowhead Research inked a deal to occupy 68,000 square feet in University Research Park; M3 Insurance completed and moved into its building at 828 John Nolen Drive; …
