By Cheryl Jahn

Vacancy Rates Down In Downtown

Oct 29, 2018 | 3:31 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Vacancy rates in Prince George’s downtown are at an eight-year low according to the City’s Downtown Occupancy Study. It shows a vacancy rate of just over 10%.

“In terms of office space in the towers and even in second floors of buildings, there seems to be availability,” says Colleen Van Mook, Executive Director with Downtown Prince George. “What is often more difficult to find retail, street-front space that works for your type of business.”

However, she says some of the buildings in the downtown are older in nature and sometimes need an outlay of cash for renovations. She says that’s why DPG has the Facade Improvement program to help with prospective downtown business people with the cost of sprucing up the exteriors of their buildings.

By contrast, the City’s report found that,  since 2011, there has been an 8.59% increase in total floor area “available for retail, service, and office use as a result of new construction downtown.”