Report: Defense spending could boost Dayton office market

Through 2018 so far, Dayton office market vacancies are generally up, but stronger defense spending could prove to be a boon, a new real estate market report says.

Through three quarters of the year thus far, the Dayton office market has posted a net loss in occupancy of about 200,000 square feet, leaving an increase in overall market vacancy of 1.6 percent to 21.6 percent, said a new quarterly report from Colliers International.

Vacancies in the downtown Dayton central business district sit at 29.1 percent, and Teradata’s recent move from Miami Twp.’s Austin Landing to San Diego will hurt the region’s numbers, leaving behind an 86,000-square-foot building that was built for the company about eight years ago.

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But the Collier’s report points to a $61 billion increase in the national Department of Defense budget earlier this year that “has prompted many defense-related departments and government contractors to begin anticipating future office space needs,” the report said.

“Recently, many of these companies have launched site searches in advance of the influx of expected new funding, which continues to work its way through approval processes,” the Collier’s report said.

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That particular market strength would most likely be felt in the region’s East submarket, close to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which remains Ohio’s largest single-site employer.

“Our most recent survey of occupier demand indicates as much as 250,000 square feet of potential office leasing or expansion activity related to the defense industry,” the Collier’s report says.

Colliers notes that the Perduco Group and Radiance Technologies have announced new facilities or projects.

“I think in spite of the loss, which is year-to-date, in the Dayton office market, the real story is the increased level of activity that we’re seeing due to the increase in defense spending that has been approved,” said Loren DeFilippo, director of research for Colliers.

“It’s more of a story about how the Dayton office market rises and falls along with activity related to Wright-Patt,” DeFilippo added.