Spring is upon us, and we’re beginning to feel (at least anecdotally) that the markets are starting to bud a bit! Some of the Portland submarkets have already been in blossom for a while (à la SW Portland/Lake Oswego), and some of the core occupier birds are starting to chirp (no, I’m not talking about Cosmo, the talking crow!). While deal velocity and average deal size remain tepid in Q1, Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow!
With so much leasing velocity in the Portland market from 2016 to 2019 (when the bees were buzzing strong), it was inevitable that many of those longer-term leases would be up for expiration in the coming 12 - 24 months, along with “COVID-kicked” leases from 2020 to 2022. So the sun will hopefully be coming out of the eclipse soon. There’s a notable increase in users under 5,000 sf, not necessarily market needle movers, but the volume and activity are all we can hope for coming out of a VERY LONG winter.
