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Glenwood Springs sees trend toward smaller office space

Lynn BurtonPost Independent Staff

Demand is up for smaller office spaces in Glenwood Springs, as office building owners compete for tenants.A sampling of the office rental market in Glenwood Springs shows:-Tenants want smaller spaces.-They are paying an average of approximately $10 to $24 per square foot.-At least four new office or mixed-use buildings are under construction, or are finished, but the impact of those buildings on the market is unknown.At 13,800 square feet, the Professional Office Building, nearing completion at 273 Gilstrap in West Glenwood Springs, is the largest new building dedicated to office space.”We found the market was softening after we started construction,” said Craig Helm, area manager for Civil Constructors, which owns the building. “But for a long term investment, we are confident in Glenwood Springs.”Civil Constructors, an Illinois-based firm that specializes in bridges, municipal infrastructure and mines, currently has its local office in Carbondale. The firm will occupy most of the top floor of the three-story building. Office spaces are being offered at $17 to $22 per square foot.Helm said he expects the Professional Office Building will be attractive to tenants due to its close proximity to the Colorado River, and the Interstate 70 West Glenwood exit.”Most of the people who work in downtown Glenwood live west of town,” Helm said. “Those people are getting tired of the downtown traffic, and parking problems. They are getting more interested in locations like ours.”According to building permit information at Glenwood Springs City Hall, other buildings that are under construction or recently finished include:-The 46,000-square-foot, mixed-use, Penrose Plaza at 2520 S. Grand Ave.-The 31,000-square-foot, mixed-use, Colorado Plaza Three building at 1321 Grand Ave.-A 13,800-square-foot, mixed-use building, at 701 Grand Ave.Several of Glenwood’s existing office buildings are full, or nearly full.”We’re completely booked,” said Terri Knob at Crystal Property Management, who leases spaces for Executive Plaza and the Rite Aid building.”We’re full now, but will have one vacancy at the end of July,” said Cindy Meyer, manager for the 18,000-square-foot Springs Center, located between the Ramada Inn and Village Inn restaurant.”We’re at 95 percent occupancy,” said Pat Fitzgerald, property manager for the three-story WestStar Bank Building at Eighth and Grand.Fitzgerald said space in the WestStar Building is going for $18 to $24 per square foot, with parking and utilities included. He confirmed the office market has gone soft in the past 18 months due to overbuilding, but tenants are attracted to the building because it’s in the center of Glenwood’s business core.”It’s so darn convenient,” Fitzgerald. “People can walk to the courthouse.”Like other leasing agents in town, Fitzgerald is fielding more and more calls from people wanting office space in the 150- to 800-square-foot range, rather than for big spaces of 1,000-square-feet or more. “One or two person offices. That’s where I’m getting most of my calls,” he said.Knob, with 14 years in the Glenwood Springs property management business, said she too is getting calls from clients interested in small office spaces, right down to 150 square feet. “We don’t have people calling for 2,500 square feet like we did a few years ago,” Knob said.Many of those people looking for small spaces are moving from home offices to commercial space.Spaces in the two-story Executive Plaza, located at 1512 Grand Ave., and next door at Rite Aid, are going for $10 to $20 a square foot, Knob said.Meyer, at Springs Center, said her calls are also for spaces smaller than 1,000-square-feet. Her office spaces rent for an average of $13 to $14 per square foot. She’s not worried about the impacts new office buildings might have on her own building.”We can afford to keep our prices lower,” Meyer said.Contact Lynn Burton: 945-8515, ext. 534lburton@postindependent.com


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