The vacancy rate in Toronto’s downtown offices was 18 per cent in the first quarter of this year, according to real estate consultant CBRE.Adrien Veczan/The Canadian Press
Canada’s downtowns are being hollowed out by office vacancies. The situation is particularly acute in the biggest downtown of all, Toronto. The vacancy rate was 18 per cent in the first quarter of this year, according to real estate consultant CBRE. And in nine out of 47 large office buildings examined in a recent Globe and Mail analysis, more than a quarter of the space was either empty or for lease. Five other buildings are at least 20 per cent vacant.
For landlords, it’s a crisis. For everyone else – including landlords – it’s also an opportunity.
Real estate is always a two-sided coin. Every story of someone forced to sell low is the story of someone