The office vacancy rate in Windsor is more than triple the national average while average net rent is half what is being charged nationally, according to third-quarter projections released this week by real estate broker CB Richard Ellis.The figures show that Windsor has 600,000 square feet of vacant office space for a vacancy rate of 19.2 per cent which is up from 18.2 per cent in the second quarter. The national rate is 5.7 per cent.
Of the 10 other metropolitan areas surveyed, only London with a vacancy rate of 16.6 per cent comes close to matching Windsor's. Following London is Montreal, 8.6; Winnipeg, 8.3; Waterloo, 7.2; Toronto, 5.8; Halifax, 5.5; Edmonton, 5.1; Ottawa, 4.1; Calgary, 3.1 and Vancouver, 3.0.
Windsor's average net rent of $10.26 per square foot is the lowest of the cities surveyed and less than half the national average of $21.99. London has the second-lowest net rent of $11.87 followed by Waterloo, $12.34; Winnipeg, $15.25; Halifax, $17.24; Montreal, $18.09; Edmonton, $22.55; Toronto, $22.76; Ottawa, $24.50; Vancouver $29.13 and Calgary $43.90.
So tell me, exactly why is it that Windsor cannot attract any significant corporate interest when we have so many things going for us? Proximity to markets, low operating costs and lost cost of living for employees are usually some of the first things business relocators look for in a market.
Maybe it has nothing to do with our physical amenities, or lack thereof. Maybe, as many readers have noted, it has more to do with City Hall than our unions and pollution - the usual scapegoats?
