Survey shows region booming

According to a survey of the national industrial real estate sector, Central Pennsylvania, in particular the Interstate 81 corridor, is booming, with a 98 percent occupancy rate.

The nation's office and industrial real estate sectors turned in the best, or nearly the best, performance of the decade during 1998, according to 1999 Comparative Statistics of Industrial and Office Real Estate Markets, published recently by the Washington, D.C.-based Society of Industrial and Office Realtors in conjunction with New York-based Landauer Associates Inc. The survey includes 139 industrial and 129 office markets in the United States, Canada, Mexico and overseas.

The 1999 edition of the annual survey also indicates the outlook for the year 2000 remains strong for both property types.

According to the survey, the nation's vigorous growth during 1998 kept the industrial sector exceptionally active. The vacancy rate declined .4 of a percentage point to 6.7 percent, on the strength of 307 million square feet of net absorption. Absorption did show a decline over the year, though, as the 1997 figure was 337 million square feet

While construction in the industrial sector has been rising during the 1990s, and continued to expand in 1998, development is a modest 1.6 percent of total inventory, the survey states.

Although offices are typically associated with high-rise skylines, some of the tightest markets in the nation are in small cities. Monroe, La., tops this year's list with a 99 percent occupancy rate.

Among mid-sized cities, three state capitals made the Top 10 occupancy list: Harrisburg, (2.4 percent vacancy); Jackson, Miss. (2.8 percent), and Columbus, Ohio (3.3 percent). With most state budgets in surplus and the services economy growing rapidly, such cities are seeing strong demand. As an added bonus, state capitals enjoy greater stability when the national economy fluctuates, according to the survey.

In Pennsylvania, the survey shows a contrast between major cities such as Harrisburg, which is booming with 98.3 percent occupancy, and Allentown, which struggles with a 27.6 percent vacancy rate. Harrisburg's location along interstates 81 and 83 is a tremendous advantage.