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Potential occupants of industrial and warehouse space in the Boise area still aren't overwhelmed with choices, but a vacancy rate around 4 percent is slightly higher than it was in the early 1990s and offers more locations to choose from.
A survey completed in late October by brokerage services specialist Jerry Van Engen of Boise-based real estate firm Paragon Commercial Group found a 4.12 percent vacancy rate out of 15.12 million square feet tracked. A 3.96 percent vacancy was found by a Thornton-Oliver Commercial Real Estate survey of 15.9 million square feet in August. Thornton-Oliver found vacancies of 2.6 percent last year and 2.39 percent in 1994.
"The market continues to be healthy. It's not a boom-type market, and contrary to what people think, it hasn't been over the past few years," said Peter Oliver of Thornton-Oliver.
Construction in many medium-sized cities tends to trail population growth by three to five years, Van Engen said, noting Boise's population growth peaked two to three years ago. Business owners looking to build or expand will make due with cramped facilities until they are sure the population growth and economic expansion are "the real thing" as opposed to a temporary jump, he added.
"The vacancy we have still is extremely tight," Oliver said. "The new product...