INCREASED ACTIVITY, THE NEW NORM.

AuthorRichmond, Mike
PositionOFFICE

Salt Lake County Overview

Boasting the fastest-growing population in the United States with a 2% growth rate, Utah continues to enjoy rapid employment and economic growth throughout various industries. Over the past five years, Salt Lake County alone has experienced nearly a 20% increase in job growth, with Utah County surging ahead at nearly 30%. Coupled with record economic growth in the construction industry with a 7.3% year-over-year change, and numerous construction projects projected to come online at the end of 2017 and throughout 2018, Utah is uniquely positioned to maintain a healthy and thriving economy. The state unemployment rate reflects this surge of job growth, remaining well below the national average at 3.3%, as of September 2017.

ABSORPTION

2017 overall market absorption reached 1,093,805 square feet, exceeding 1 million square feet for only the third time ever, aided by a strong finish to the year in which over 600,000 square feet of positive absorption occurred in the fourth quarter alone. Notable larger transactions that contributed to the strong year were the expansion of such companies as CHG Healthcare (281,000 square feet), Solar City/ Tesla (155,000 square feet), Lucid Technologies (120,000 square feet), Recursion Pharmaceutical (96,000 square feet), Goldman Sachs (72,000 square feet), InMoment (65,000 square feet), University of Utah (61,000 square feet) and Connexion Point (60,000 square feet).

The South East and Central West submarkets saw strong positive absorption totaling 665,362 square feet and 462,671 square feet, respectively, due in large part to new Class A office product delivered with immediate access to both TRAX and FrontRunner transportation stations. Companies continue to be attracted to transit oriented developments (TODs) which provide alternative means for commuting for their employees.

The Central East submarket, which has historically been one of the better-performing submarkets, was hardest hit in 2017, experiencing negative absorption of 223,317 square feet. This infill location lacks available land for growing companies to continue to expand their footprint in contiguous space and is challenged by the lack of immediate access to more widely accepted means of public transportation in TRAX and FrontRunner. This submarket is still home to some of the highest-quality office product and residential communities in the valley and is expected to rebound from this temporary setback.

The Downtown...

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