MARKET SPOTLIGHT: Sarasota/Bradenton office market

The Sarasota and Bradenton office market has been marked by shrinking vacancy over the past 18 months, and select sales of assets — including the four-building Gateway Professional Center, which sold for $37.1 million in May 2015 — have spurred investor interest. Today, overall vacancy in the two submarkets stands at just under double digits, at 9%, according to first quarter data from commercial real estate research firm CoStar Group. Declining availability has been felt namely among large blocks of space, forcing users needing more than 20,000 square feet, especially in downtown Sarasota, to either renew or consider build-to-suit options. Though the Bradenton submarket has struggled more than in Sarasota, it, too, has rebounded somewhat from a lack of new inventory.

11,000
Square footage of the only major new office building planned in the Sarasota or Bradenton submarkets. The space will be part of The Mark, a 12-story, mixed-use project from the Kolter Group containing retail and residences slated for delivery in 2018.

$19.47
Average per square foot rental rate for Sarasota and Bradenton office market as of March 31.

9%
Vacancy rate as of the end of the first quarter. The rate is roughly 150 basis points lower than the same time in 2015. Class A vacancy in the two submarkets is slightly lower, at 8%. Equates to 2,269,811 square feet spread over more than 2,600 buildings.

1
Number of new office buildings under construction in Bradenton and Sarasota in the first quarter. The building, at 5485 Lena Road, measures 2,713 square feet.

25,809
Square footage of the largest lease deal during the first quarter in either Sarasota or Bradenton. Vertex Tax Technology Enterprises renewed its commitment to the Sarasota Commerce Center II, on Paramount Drive in suburban Sarasota County.