Office vacancies fall below 10%

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Office vacancies in Lakewood Ranch, a master-planned community in east Manatee County, have dropped below 10% for the first time since 2007.

The vacancy rate is 9.2%, reports the East County Observer, sister paper of the Business Review.

Lakewood Ranch Commercial Realty President Brian Kennelly, moreover, says two Lakewood Ranch buildings are 100% leased for the first time since being built. One of those is the HomeBanc building on University Parkway, while the other is the Energy Court Building in the Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park. Lakewood Ranch Main Street's office spaces are also 100% leased, with the exception of the unit currently used by LWR Commercial Realty for property management.

Downtown Bradenton remains a lagging market in office vacancies, reports the Observer, with a 36.2% rate. Manatee and Sarasota counties have 20.7% and 26.8% office vacancies, respectively.