The office vacancy rate in greater Portland rose to a record high 26.6% in the third quarter from 25.9% in the quarter just before, as buildings lost tenants and companies looking for space continued to shun most parts of the metro area, real estate company Colliers said.
Downtown Portland fared even worse, with the vacancy rate rising to 34.6% in what Colliers calls the central business district, from 33.3% in the second quarter. Downtown property owners have said that it’s likely much higher.
Only two submarkets saw the vacancy rate fall: the area around Interstate 5 south, where vacancy fell to 23.7% from 24.7%, and Clark County, Wash., where the rate fell to 10.9% from 11.3%, Colliers said in its third-quarter report.
The latest report shows that companies are still leaving downtown