NEWS

Recently named the nation’s hottest market for apartment rentals, Columbus has seen a boom in commercial real estate, with dense, mixed-use developments proving especially attractive. But can it last?

Ask CBRE Group Managing Director Michael Copella to describe the state of commercial real estate in central Ohio and you’ll be met with a string of superlatives. The landscape, he says, “is very positive. It’s a very exciting time and there are strengths across all industry types, so I’d say there are great things happening in office development, there are great things happening in industrial, and certainly we’re seeing some pretty exciting retail projects as well.”

Forgive his enthusiasm, but he’s not wrong—now is a great time in the Columbus commercial real estate market. The area has some of the state’s highest occupancy levels when it comes to commercial products, reports CBRE in its “Columbus Real Estate Market Outlook 2016,” and it looks to keep humming along. With unemployment and interest rates down and rents on the rise, the commercial real estate landscape of today is markedly different than that of a few years ago. Now, thanks at least in part to pent-up demand created by the Great Recession, business is booming.

The new commercial real estate development and construction in central Ohio reflects national trends and efforts by local government, private companies and civic leaders. Central Ohio is developing—not just outward—but inward, too. While it’s certain that the good times can’t last forever, real estate professionals are optimistic about prospects for the next few years.