I have had the pleasure of selling commercial office space in Northern Nevada for nearly 15 years. During this time, I saw the peak of the market from 2003 to 2008 wherein construction was at an all-time high, lease rates were reaching unseen heights and absorption was setting records. Then we all got to experience the Great Recession from 2008 through 2012. This saw nearly half of the buildings that were constructed during the previous peak become empty. Vacancy rates hit 20 percent, lease rates dropped to levels well below where they were in 2003, and construction came to a screeching halt. Then, magically, at the beginning of 2013 the economy took a turn and the Northern Nevada office market began its recovery. This was expedited in 2014 with Tesla making its announcement of the Gigafactory in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center and the Tesla Effect created a national buzz that hasn’t slowed. Unfortunately, this has created a new problem. The Reno office market sits at 10.1 percent vacancy, down from 20.7 percent during the recession, as net absorption has been positive year over year since 2012. The absorption has been primarily in second-generation space as there has been relatively …
