The Springfield-area industrial vacancy rate decreased to 6.2 percent in the first quarter, after registering at 8 percent in the same quarter last year.
Meanwhile, both the retail and office sectors recorded slight increases in vacancy, according to the latest Xceligent commercial real estate report.
The Market Trends report, released today and certified by local board members, covers Springfield, Strafford, Rogersville, Ozark, Nixa, Republic and Willard.
Industrial Of the 31.2 million square feet available in the area industrial market, 1.9 million was vacant in the first quarter.
During the quarter, net absorption settled at 235,024 square feet, led by northwest and northeast Springfield with absorptions of 107,804 and 63,869 square feet, respectively, according to the report.
Considering areas in the market with at least 1 million square feet of industrial space available, Ozark had the highest vacancy rate, at 14.1 percent.
Office The area's office vacancy rate increased to 10.8 percent in the first quarter from 10.7 percent a year ago.
Of the 6.3 million square feet of office inventory, 676,166 square feet was vacant, according to the report.
During the quarter, the office sector experienced a negative absorption of 9,337 square feet.
Retail With 16.8 million square feet of retail inventory available in the first quarter, 889,683 square feet was vacant, resulting in a 5.3 percent vacancy rate.
That's up from 5 percent in first-quarter 2012, the report said.
The central business district had the highest positive absorption - at 24,580 - but the retail market as a whole experienced negative absorption of 10,202 square feet.[[In-content Ad]]
Springfield event venue Belamour LLC gained new ownership; The Wok on West Bypass opened; and Hawk Barber & Shop closed on a business purchase that expanded its footprint to Ozark.
