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9Colliers International
The Grand Rapids office market continues to show
momentum heading into 2018 after yet another year of
growth. In each quarter for the past seven years we have
seen positive office space absorption and rental rates have
steadily pushed upwards as the market continues to mature
and expand.
Once known as a region in which people leave to find
better jobs, Grand Rapids has seen a reversal in that trend, downtown. Orion Construction is working on building
with many now migrating back home or deciding not to
leave in the first place. While wages are still lagging many
comparable cities, opportunities for employment and
quality of life are high, and cost of living is relatively
low.
The office sector houses a large and growing part of the
U.S. economy. Office job growth is strong, expanding by
2.2 percent on average in this recovery as compared with
1.6 percent total job growth. In a battle for talent, office
space is now a key tool for tenants to attract and retain
employees.
Moving into 2018, land acquisitions for new office
development should increase, however construction costs
and available labor will continue to be constraining factors
this year. Despite these, new office construction continues
a new home for law firm Warner Norcross & Judd and
Chemical Bank at 150 Ottawa Avenue NW in the heart
of the city, and Rockford Construction is set to deliver a
mixed-use building at 234 Market Street SW, which will
include approximately 30,000 square feet of ground floor
office space.
The 171,000-square-foot Calder Plaza Building at
250 Monroe Avenue NW has undergone significant