Reported By Mlive:
“Restaurant owners blame downtown office vacancies for the lack of lunch diners, as more employees work from home or in hybrid settings.
Downtown Ann Arbor office vacancy rates landed at 15.1% in 2023, Swisher Commercial reported in its year-end vacancy report. The total
market vacancy rate for office and flex space was 14.6%, an increase from the 2022 year-end vacancy rate of 11.3%.
The study doesn’t address buildings owned by occupants and only includes those that have space for lease to third parties. However, Bart
Wise, Swisher’s president/CEO, said it provides a snapshot of what’s happening.
Wise has 38 years of experience in the industry and recalls Ann Arbor’s bustling office scene before the pandemic. He said space was in high
demand and vacancy rates were low.
“It doesn’t take an expert to know that if you significantly diminish the number of people working downtown then the businesses who have
relied on that traffic are going to be negatively impacted,” he said.
Wise, however, is optimistic Ann Arbor’s “dynamic” atmosphere will help reduce the building vacancies, but said prices to occupy them must
come down.”
Questions about the downtown Ann Arbor market and restaurant & retail news? Contact our office at (734)663-0501.
