Office vacancy rate to fall for first time in five years in Milwaukee market

by Dan Rafter

Office vacancies will fall and rents will rise in the Milwaukee market this year, thanks largely to an increase in professional and business services jobs, according to the second quarter office research report released by Marcus & Millichap.

Marcus & Millichap says that this employment sector has added more than 20,000 jobs in the Milwaukee market in the last five years.

That’s good news; without the growth in this sector, vacancy rates would not fall nearly as much this year. Even with the drop in unemployment in Milwaukee, vacancy rates in the office sector in this market are still more than 500 basis points above where they stood before the recession hit.

The amount of new office construction will soar this year in the Milwaukee market, with Marcus & Millichap reporting that 600,000 square feet of office space will be delivered in the metropolitan area this year…