The amount of space available for lease in Hawaii’s office, industrial and retail markets increased during the second quarter from the previous three months.
However, average asking rents continued to grow, according to several recent commercial real estate reports from CBRE.
The office market in Hawaii recorded a “stable second quarter with only minimal shifts in vacancy and asking rates,” according to CBRE’s second-quarter Hawaii office report. Vacancies increased by 48,775 square feet in the second quarter, which was a period in which supply outpaced demand.
Office space availability rose in the commercial business district due in part to the relocation of Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. from the City Financial Tower to the former Honolulu Advertiser building and the downsizing of several law firms in the First Hawaiian Center. Tenants who wanted to relocate were limited by high construction costs and no office development. As a result, gross lease asking rates rose 7 percent to $2.95 per square foot.
More than 200 industrial units were available statewide during the second quarter, according to CBRE’s second-quarter Hawaii industrial report. Industrial market occupancy declines led to 145,585 square feet of empty space, mainly on Oahu due to increased availability in Kalihi and Mapunapuna. As a result, second-quarter industrial space availability rose 0.3 percentage points to just over 2 percent.
“Compared to the positive absorption of last
quarter, the high levels of (empty space) this quarter highlight an increase in available space across the industrial market,” the
report read.
Still, after four straight declining quarters, CBRE reported asking rents for the second quarter increased just over 6 percent to
$1.18 per square foot.
Several big-box closures, including the 170,000-square-foot former Kmart space at Stadium Marketplace and the 100,000-square-foot former Sports Authority space at Maui Marketplace, contributed to second-quarter retail vacancies. Statewide, 156,243 square feet of retail space failed to get absorbed. Even Waikiki, the state’s tourist hub, has seen increased availability of retail space.
“Statewide vacancy increased 0.9 percentage points this quarter to nearly 6 percent, mostly as a result of the aforementioned newly available anchor spaces,” the report said.
Even so, net asking rates for retail space statewide rose to $6.07 per square foot during the second quarter.
Despite 2016 being the best year ever for tourism industry arrivals and spending, Waikiki’s retail vacancy rose to nearly 3 percent during the first half of 2017, according to CBRE’s Waikiki urban retail midyear report. Newly available spaces along Kalakaua Avenue through midyear led to
9,213 square feet of empty space. But strong retailer demand pushed average rent rates up by 0.5 percent to $21.20 per square foot.
“Increased occupancy at the International Market Place has created a distortion from decreased tenant demand outside the prime portions of Kalakaua Avenue,” the report read. “As the new center’s occupancy rises, Waikiki’s retail supply and demand is expected to balance out.”