Spartanburg office market recovers, expands

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The Greenville-Spartanburg office market scratched bottom of the pandemic-created trough in the last quarter of 2021, and for the first time since early 2020, vacancies are beginning to drop.

Pretty Vacant

Across the entire market, a net negative 2,000 square feet were absorbed — in other words, the space that became vacant subtracted from the space that gained occupants during the quarter.

While last year’s Q4 absorption rate was still in the negative, it far outpaces the negative 164,000 square feet of 2020’s Q4, according to Colliers’ most recent market report.

Also, Q4’s substantial leasing activity won’t show on the absorption record until tenants move into their office in 2022, reminds Research Coordinator Crystal Baker.

Much of this vacant space, is in Greenville, according to the report. Around 2 million more square feet to be exact. 

This gap can present a challenge to companies seeking out a brick-and-mortar home in Hub City, where the average leasing price is $16.47 in comparison to Greenville’s $21.13.

“I’m in, but where do I go?”

As Spartanburg’s Purpose Financial, the current tenant of 135 N. Church, downsizes, office seekers may have 75,000 more square feet to add to their short list.

Johnson Development Associates, Inc., part of the Spartanburg-based Johnson Group, purchased the downtown property with plans to transform it into a multi-tenant, custom-size office complex with views of Main Street and Morgan Square, with adjacent parking at Dunbar Street Garage.

"We are eager to bring this building online as a multi-tenant space, as it has the potential to house upward of 350 jobs," Alex Powell, commercial real estate manager at Johnson Development Associates, said in a news release. "Timing is perfect. Demand for downtown office space remains at an all-time high, and we will now have product available to meet incoming inquiries."

Purpose Financial, a consumer financial services company which operates more than 1,200 storefronts in 25 states across the nation, will be moving out of the space later this year.

“As many other companies have experienced, we now have a more remote workforce, and the current space is underutilized by the organization,” Jessica Rustin, CEO at Purpose Financial, said in the release. “Spartanburg has served us well, and we remain invested in fostering the community’s talent pool. We’re excited to see how the building will be repurposed.”

OneSpartanburg, Inc., responsible for economic development in the city of Spartanburg, notes a high demand for Downtown Spartanburg office spaces between 4,500 to 20,000 square feet.

"We are incredibly grateful to JDA for ensuring this building remains locally owned, and for aligning it with the demand we are experiencing," Katherine O'Neill, chief economic development officer at OneSpartanburg, Inc., said in the release. "We see companies say, 'I'm in, but where do I go?' This space will help solve that problem."

Johnson Development Agency, which owns 500,000 square feet of office and retail space in the city, expects office space in this building to be available late this summer.