A fast-paced retreat from office space in the towns north of Hartford saw the Greater Hartford market post a 29.9% office availability rate – its highest ever – at the close of the first quarter.
Three months later, real estate firm CBRE reports, Greater Hartford’s availability rate retreated slightly to 29.6%, thanks to an uptick in leased space in downtown Hartford.
However, the vacancy rate jumped by more than 4% to 28.2%.
The Greater Hartford market, including Hartford and 17 surrounding municipalities, saw a net gain of 42,000 square feet of occupied space in the second quarter of 2023, led by 137,000 square feet of positive absorption in downtown Hartford, according to CBRE. The biggest driver was 28,000 square feet of space the City of Hartford occupied in an office tower at 280 Trumbull St.
Downtown Hartford trended generally better than the suburbs, which saw tenants shed 95,000 square feet of space overall. That was driven, in part, by a 60,000-square-foot block of space coming available at 700 Stanley Drive in New Britain; a 40,000-square-foot space opening at 1003 Farmington Ave., in West Hartford; and a 30,000-square-foot space opening at 160 Bridge St., in East Windsor.
