Market snapshots: CBD revitalisation offers
encouragement for Auckland retail rebound while prime office
and industrial sectors remain in strong demand across all
three major centres
Auckland has seen a
positive rebound in retail occupancy according to JLL’s
latest commercial property snapshots, released
today.
JLL NZ’s Head of Research, Gavin Read, says
that despite an additional 3210sqm of space becoming
available, retail vacancy in Auckland’s CBD actually
decreased in the last quarter of 2022 to 8.2%, with space
around the city’s future rail stations in particularly
high demand.
“With the recent pedestrianisation of
Queen Street, workers returning to the office and the
restart of tourism, we’ve already seen retail vacancy
rates steadily decrease. Added to this we now see many
retailers eyeing up opportunities ahead of the scheduled
completion of the City Rail Link in 2024.”
Office
vacancy in Auckland’s CBD is also down. While overall
vacancy sits at 10.8%, the ‘flight to quality’ trend of
companies seeking quality locations and amenities to attract
and retain staff has widened the gap between premium and
secondary space vacancies, now sitting respectively at 5.4
and 16.3%.
“We are also seeing evidence that the
flight to quality trend is extending out to more suburban
areas like the North Shore and South Auckland too,” says
Read.
Auckland industrial…