SOUTHEAST SNAPSHOT, JUNE 2004

Greenville Office Market

Freeman

vacancy rate at 23.9 percent, there is very little new office development in the market, according to Brent Freeman, sales associate with Colliers Keenan Goldsmith in Greenville. Most of the vacancy is concentrated in the suburban market, which has a vacancy rate of 30.7 percent.

The most significant development announced in the last 12 months is Clemson University’s Graduate School of Automotive Engineering, which will be near the intersection of Interstate 85 and Laurens Road. The Clemson International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR) has access to up to 250 acres and will house Clemson University’s Graduate School of Automotive Engineering. The ICAR project is a public/private partnership with Clemson University and BMW Manufacturing Corporation, IBM, Microsoft, Michelin and others. With a focus on automotive research, it is expected to gain global interest from automotive-related industries that will locate in the park. Miami-based developer Rosen and Associates controls approximately 150 acres next to ICAR. Rosen and Associates has been working with Clemson and the ICAR project for several years.

“In the suburbs, other significant developments should occur as a result of the Clemson ICAR project,” says Freeman. “Local officials predict the ICAR development, as well as other companies attracted to the area because of the project, will make the I-85 corridor from Laurens Road to Woodruff Road a hot-growth area for office development in the future.”

Vivian Wong with Pacific Gateway Capital LLC has purchased the old Carolina Circuits manufacturing facility and the surrounding 75 acres. Directly across Laurens Road from the ICAR project and with frontage on I-85, the development plan calls for the refurbishment of the existing 200,000-square-foot building into office space. The remainder of the site will be developed with five additional 100,000-square-foot office buildings as well as seven smaller buildings for miscellaneous uses. Also in the suburbs, Liberty Property Trust is developing a 30,000-square-foot build-to-suit office building at Independence Point for ITT Technical Institute.

At 14.7 percent, the vacancy rate in the central business district is significantly better than in the suburbs. A local developer has started an 87,000-square-foot office building at the River Place Development along the Reedy River in downtown Greenville. River Place is a mixed-use development including office, retail and residential space, as well as a hotel, across the Reedy River from the Peace Center for the Performing Arts. No tenants have been announced for the River Place Office Building and completion is scheduled for early 2005.

Significant residential development is going on in the CBD, which is attracting retail and restaurants. These factors are increasing the interest in office space in downtown Greenville. Several large Greenville companies including Elliot-Davis and Suitt Construction have moved from offices located in the suburbs to the CBD recently. The CBD should continue to be an attractive place to work, play and live.

The range for Class A rental rates in Greenville is $17.50 to $20 per square foot, full service, in the CBD. Suburban Class A rates are $16 to $18.50 per square foot, full service.

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