The Skyline report from commercial real estate services firm JLL sees positive signs for the northern New Castle County office market
JLL’s Skyline Review analyzed 25 buildings in Wilmington’s central business district (CBD) greater than 40,000 square feet. JLL has an office in Wilmington.
For the first time, the 2018 report also expands its scope beyond the Wilmington Central Business District to include suburban New Castle County.
The report noted that New Castle ties with Chester as the fastest growing county in the region, with its population up 3.9 percent since 2010.
Other findings.
- Major campus redevelopments are creating new suburban office destinations at the AstraZeneca site and University of Delaware’s STAR campus.
- The Wilmington Riverfront continues to evolve: AAA renewed its lease and several hotels are under construction.
- With major retail and residential deliveries expected in the coming months, downtown Wilmington’s critical mass is building, increasing its appeal to office tenants.
“There is good reason for optimism throughout the region,” said Executive Vice President of JLL’s Wilmington, Delaware office, Blaise Fletcher. “We are seeing an overall flight to quality and notable transactions that are positively shaping the Wilmington skyline.”
The report shows that modest absorption and conversion of outdated space brought vacancy below 20 percent in the past year.
The downtown tenant mix is diversifying beyond financial services with law firms as well as smaller alternative finance, fintech, and technology tenants. Companies such as Fair Square Financial, Credit Shop Lending, and College Avenue Student Lending located offices in renovated buildings. Redevelopment and landlord investments have helped right-size the inventory and ultimately position the CBD for growth, the report noted.
While Delaware will continue to see substantial investment to the north of Wilmington in 2018-2019, an ambitious partnership at the University of Delaware creates a new focal point for growth to the south as well, the reported stated. The report was referring to the former AstraZeneca site, the redevelopment of Concord Plaza and UD’s STAR Campus in Newark.
“The Wilmington CBD is a cheaper alternative to your New York, D.C, Boston, and Philadelphia rents,” said Vice President of JLL’s Wilmington office, Jamie Vari. “The mix of investment, population growth, and technology entering Wilmington make for exciting opportunities ahead.”
The report was more upbeat than other office leasing updates, which pointed to a downtown market that was still seeing some office users moving to the suburbs and uncertainties that include space in the Bank of America-MBNA complex moving to the leasing market.
For more information, visit www.jll.com/philadelphia. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with nearly 300 corporate offices, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of 86,000.
