RALEIGH – Demand for commercial real estate in the Triangle remains strong despite the economic fallout from COVID-19 which has hit many businesses and led to many firms embracing work-from-home strategies. Among the reasons: companies are looking to locate offices away from dense urban cities due to pandemic worries as well as costs and talent.

So says CBRE|Raleigh, a commercial real estate services provider, in a recent update on leasing action.

Brad Corsmeier, head of the CBRE|Raleigh Office Investor Leasing Group, cites several reasons for continuing demand.

“Some of the driving factors include access to talent, jobs, lifestyle, less density, and our overall office market is spread out with easy commutes,” Corsmeier tells WRAL TechWire.

Companies are also interest in the Triangle due to other facors such as being “less dense, has more of a suburban feel, easier commutes, no mass transit, cheaper real estate comparatively.”

“The tech and life science opportunities in our market are at a fraction of the cost that they would be in major cities like in the Bay area, Boston, New York City,” he added.

The firm was not surprised by the string of recent deals based on expectations it outlined in an earlier market assessment.

In May, CBRE|Raleigh reported that the Triangle’s commercial resestate market has suffered a “considerable short-term slowdown” due to COVID-19 but is poised for an “unusually swift recovery” this fall.

CBRE|Raleigh says it has closed on 31 deals covering 837,000 square feet and representing $211 million in value since the pandemic struck in March. A year ago, CBRE|Raleigh reported $2.7 billion in sales and leasing transactions.

“We are continuing to see an increase in activity in the Triangle market as our state moves through the governmental phases. Despite the challenges our market is facing now, we anticipate the Triangle will be on the forefronts of companies’ minds post pandemic,” Corsmeier says. As the Triangle market has doomed in recent years, he points out that “substantial interest and growth from the tech, life science and healthcare industries” is “expected to continue once the pandemic subsides.”

Report: Downtown Raleigh is ‘ready and poised to rebound’ from pandemic

The CBRE|Raleigh update reflects a report from the Downtown Raleigh Alliance that concludes the city is positioned for more growh despite some concerns such as issues arising from social justice protests.

Wake County Economic Development also has reported continuing visits by companies looking for office space and adding more jobs to the Triangle economy.

And the Research Triangle Foundation recently broke ground virtually for a big retail/office/residential complex in the heart of RTP.

Report: Triangle commercial real estate market could rebound swiftly this fall

However, the long-erm implications of the pandemic and work from home plans are still unclear, Corsmeier says.

“It is still too early to know how all work places will move forward,” he explains. “We think there is now liability and political concerns affecting major corporations coming out publicly stating that they are bringing people back to work.”

Here are some of the recent deals closed by CBRE|Raleigh (Project, city, general location, company(ies), square footage):

Parmer RTP
Durham, NC
RTP/I-40
Duke University
273,031

Research Commons
Durham, NC
RTP/I-40
Grifols
165,640

Parmer Ellis, 2400 Ellis Road
Durham
RTP/I-40
IQVIA, Inc.
163,074

2610 Wycliff
Raleigh, NC
West Raleigh
CSRA LLC (fka CSC Government Solutions LLC)
63,174

Carolina Place
Raleigh, NC
US 70/Glenwood Avenue
First Carolina Bank
24,203

North Park II
Wake Forest, NC
Falls of Neuse Rd
1-800-PACK-RAT, LLC
19,558

Parmer RTP
RTP, NC
RTP/I-40
Shattuck Labs, Inc
18,715

2635 Meridian
Durham, NC
RTP/I-40
ICF Consulting, Inc
11,604

430 Davis Drive
Durham, NC
RTP/I-40
Attain, LLC
10,456