Continuing Sizeable Commercial Real Estate Vacancies in Fairfax, Reston

Commercial real estate broker Avison Young has published its quarterly update for the Washington region and it paints a picture of malaise in the northern Virginia CRE market, especially in Fairfax County and Reston.  Here's what we found:

• Northern Virginia had a net negative absorption (occupied space)  of 188,000 GSF in 2011 and its overall vacancy rate climbed from 13.3% to 13.7% as deliveries (space available) rose by 853,000 GSF. 
• Within northern Virginia, Fairfax County had a slightly worse vacancy rate (14.5%) than the region as a whole although net absorption for the County was positive (705,000 GSF),
• Within the county, Reston had a substantially higher vacancy rate at the end of the year (17.1%) than the County as a whole, and saw a negative net absorption over the last year (-147,000 GSF), including a negative absorption of -308,000 in the fourth quarter.  
• Even Tysons Corner's vacancy rate remained high at 14.9% with little absorption over the year (162,000 GSF).  

The "winners" in last year's commercial real estate market were Washington, DC, which saw year-end vacancies at 8.1% and absorbed 1.6 million GSF over the last year.  In NoVa, Arlington County sustained an even lower vacancy rate (7.5%), yet lost 247,000 GSF in absorption. 
 
Fairfax County's Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) reports similar data for the county and Reston as of mid-2011, but its reports are usually printed five months after the fact and are not particularly valuable in looking at the current state of the CRE market. 

For more data on Washington metro area CRE markets, read the full report below.

Commercial RE Data for WDC Metro--4Q11