The end of last year ushered in an increase of activity, a higher absorption of existing space and lower overall vacancy rates for Boise’s office market. In 2008, the economy went into a tailspin. It led to an increased supply of vacant commercial space in Boise as companies retrenched and downsized. Jobs and customers were also lost throughout the region. Unfortunately, there were a few submarkets that were dramatically affected. In fact, the Boise CBD (central business district), or downtown core, was the only local market that didn't experience a significant increase in vacancies or a huge drop in rents. Other areas listed below were negatively affected: The area near the intersection Cloverdale and Chinden, adjacent to the Boise HP campus that is known as the Boise Research Center, was hit particularly hard. HP downsized, re-trenched it operations and its sub-contract suppliers cut back. This created a vacancy rate of almost 30 percent. The Boise Research Center region was also hit by the bankruptcy of DBSI, a large real estate investment firm that put about 75,000 vacant square feet back into the local market. The area known as Eagle River, between the new Eagle bypass and the Boise River, experienced …
Idaho
There is a visible upside to the Boise retail market as we begin 2011. Major employers such as Micron Technology, Hewlett-Packard and Albertsons seem to be holding their own after some layoffs in recent years. A number of national retailers are considering smaller store footprints, which has led them to consider smaller markets like Boise. And pedestrian friendly downtown Boise endured the economic downturn reasonably well, remaining an employment and cultural center that’s home to dozens of local shops and other small businesses. In addition to art galleries, restaurants, coffeehouses, jewelers, wineries, salons, apparel shops and gift shops, national tenants such as The North Face, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and Office Depot are well located in the city. After a brutal 2009 and soft 2010, the Boise retail leasing market is showing signs of recovery, despite that the greater Boise area posted negative absorption of about 100,000 square feet last year due to a few large move outs. One long-delayed major lifestyle retail project is moving ahead and is a positive sign that confidence is returning to the market. After a 3-year delay, CenterCal Properties is breaking ground later this year on the 90-acre mixed-use Meridian Town Center in the growing …
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