Orlando Office Market Vacancy Rate Exceeds 10 Percent for First Time Since 2016, Says CBRE

ORLANDO, FLA. — The Orlando office market’s vacancy rate has exceeded 10 percent for the first time since year-end 2016, according to CBRE. The vacancy rate stood at 11.2 percent at the end of the second quarter, up from 9.1 percent the previous quarter. With the novel coronavirus causing the economy to halt in mid-March, many office players in the country hit the pause button on sales and leases. Orlando, like several other markets nationwide, was not able to escape the downturn as large swaths of space were given back quicker than they were absorbed. Alight Solutions vacated its 147,000-square-foot space in the University/Research submarket, and Hartford Insurance downsized by 27,000 square feet in Lake Mary. Orlando ended the second quarter of 2020 with 352,000 square feet of negative absorption, the biggest dip the market has taken since first-quarter 2018 when the absorption was minus-22,857 square feet, according to CBRE. CBRE also notes that development has not slowed in the market, with deliveries reaching an 11-year quarterly high. Five office buildings totaling 339,000 square feet came on line in the second quarter. There are another seven projects underway totaling 279,700 square feet, the largest of which is a 120,000-square-foot building in Lake Nona that is expected to deliver in early 2021.