Here’s something that isn’t really much of a surprise. Our office market is hurting. Badly. Between the two cities it looks like Fort Worth has about 7.5% vacancy rate overall. Dallas, on the other hand, has about a 25% vacancy rate. Not a great indicator for such a large city.
Luckily, Fort Worth has been propped up for years by a growing oil and natural gas industry. The Star-Telegram article notes that a contraction in the energy industry has severely crippled office occupation in downtown Fort Worth recently. These vacancies flow outward throughout the rest of the market, and rent rates are heading further south.
Interestingly, the article mentions that Chesapeake was able to move employees from the parking garage office (across from The Tower and the Telegram) and into the CHK regional HQ building. This was accomplished because Pier 1 was willing to give up some space they had been leasing back. Kind of makes you wonder if Pier 1 isn’t continuing to contract as well?
