Regina Office Space a "Tenant's Market."

Businesses looking to rent or renew office space in downtown Regina haven’t had it this good for a while.

A new report from Colliers International finds it’s a tenant’s market, with two thirds of office properties reporting some vacancy. It finds rental rates haven’t changed much, but the availability of space should give renters negotiating power. It predicts things will stay like this for the foreseeable future.

The report on the 2nd quarter of 2016 says that despite a significant increase in vacancy over the past two years, rental rates have been slow to respond.

Rental rates in Regina range from $16.00 to $25.00 per square foot for existing Class A space and up to $36.00 for newly constructed Class A space. 

Class B rates range from $12.00 to $25.00.  According to the report, there is a fair bit of class B space available and that’s where the market is seeing the most competition between landlords for tenants.

Colliers also concludes that price competition is putting pressure on suburban office space which may result in longer and higher vacancies than was seen during Saskatchewan’s ‘boom years.’

If higher vacancies don’t make landlords happy, at least there should be less volatility.  Colliers predicts the office market “should stabilize at the current vacancy rate and  remain a tenants market for the foreseeable future.”

It concludes with this assessment for businesses looking for space in Regina. “Firms with ambitions of increasing space or quality are provided with great opportunities, while landlords will be forced to cut rates or increase incentives to attract new tenants or even to renew existing tenants who understand the opportunities in the market.”