Navigating the Opportunity Zone

In this issue’s cover article broker Adam Bledsoe delves further into some commonly asked questions about the benefits of investing in Oregon’s opportunity zones. In recent months, the pace of conversation surrounding opportunity zones has accelerated, and as with any new tax law, questions lead to more questions.

Bend’s Office Market

Compass Commercial surveyed 206 buildings for the first quarter 2019 office report. The buildings in the sample totaled over 2.56 million square feet. Positive net absorption of 9,429 sq. ft. was recorded during the quarter. The vacancy rate moved to 3.03%, down from 3.4% in Q4 2018. There is now 77,902 sq. ft. available for lease, down from 87,331 sq. ft. in Q4.

Bend’s Retail Market

Compass Commercial surveyed 254 retail buildings totaling 4,472,142 square feet for the first quarter of 2019. The citywide vacancy rate rose slightly from 2.77% at the end of Q4 2018 to 2.84% at the end of Q1 2019. A total of 3,040 sq. ft. of negative net absorption took place.

Bend and Redmond Industrial Markets

In Bend we surveyed 311 buildings for the first quarter 2019 industrial report, totaling 4,344,396 square feet. The industrial market lost 18,600 sq. ft. of net absorption in Q1, for the second quarter in a row and the vacancy rate rose from Q4’s 1.72% to 2.4%, still a healthy vacancy rate. There is now 103,103 sq. ft. of industrial space available for lease in Bend, compared to 73,833 sq. ft. in Q4. Two of the four submarkets recorded negative net absorption, and two were positive.

In Redmond there was positive absorption in the Q1 Industrial market once again, with the vacancy rate lowering from 1.9% to 1.4%, due to 18,051 sq. ft. of net leasing. Redmond’s industrial sector now has 1,625,829 sq. ft. of total space, with just 22,620 sq. ft. available for lease in the 82 building industrial market.

To view the complete report, sign up to receive our quarterly publication at https://www.compasscommercial.com/POINTS or call (541)383-2444.

Compass Points® is a quarterly publication of Compass Commercial Real Estate Services offering comprehensive surveys of the Central Oregon commercial real estate market. The report provides a detailed look at quarterly vacancy and absorption data in office, retail and industrial product types throughout Bend’s primary submarkets, as well as the Redmond industrial market. Absorption data contained in the report pulls from samples of buildings over 3,000 sq. ft.