The metropolitan Milwaukee office real estate market showed signs of improvement during the first quarter of 2024, according to the latest market report from the
Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin (CARW) and
REDIComps.
The area's office market had a 17.1% vacancy rate in the first quarter, according to the report. That's down from 17.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023, but up from 16.3% a year ago.
The Milwaukee area had positive absorption of 50,597 square feet of office space during the first quarter, a noteworthy improvement from 2023 when the market had negative absorption of 530,000 square feet of office space for the year, including negative absorption of 341,000 square feet of office space for the fourth quarter of 2023.
The most significant office space absorption for the first quarter occurred in downtown Milwaukee with the opening of the new 170,000-square-foot
Fiserv corporate headquarters in the HUB640 building.
The most significant negative absorption during the first quarter occurred with Landmark Credit Union vacating 60,000 square feet of office space in New Berlin.
The downtown Milwaukee office space vacancy rate was also 17.1% in the first quarter, and the central business district's office market had positive absorption of 99,544 square feet during the first quarter, with the new Fiserv headquarters making up for vacated spaces.
The suburban Milwaukee office market had a 17.2% vacancy rate during the first quarter and had negative absorption of 48,947 square feet of office space.
Here's a breakdown by Milwaukee-area submarket of first quarter office space vacancy rates:
- Milwaukee Central: 1.3%
- Waukesha Northwest - Lake Country: 1.5%
- Waukesha Southwest: 5.4%
- Milwaukee South: 5.6%
- Milwaukee Downtown East: 15.4%
- Mequon-Theinsville: 16.9%
- Milwaukee North Shore: 17.6%
- Milwaukee Northwest: 18.4%
- Mayfair-Wauwatosa: 18.7%
- Milwaukee Downtown West: 18.8%
- Milwaukee West Allis: 19.8%
- Brookfield: 20.2%
- Third Ward-Walker's Point: 20.5%
- Pewaukee: 23.1%
- Waukesha Southeast - New Berlin: 36.5%
Here's a breakdown by Milwaukee-area submarket of first quarter office space absorption:
- Milwaukee Downtown West: 153,391
- Mayfair-Wauwatosa: 35,914
- Brookfield: 28,829
- Waukesha Southwest: 7,440
- Waukesha Northwest - Lake Country: 3,821
- Milwaukee Northwest: 3,641
- Pewaukee: 3,111
- Milwaukee West Allis: 162
- Milwaukee South: -1,004
- Mequon-Theinsville: -4,453
- Milwaukee Central: -16,000
- Third Ward-Walker's Point: -16,828
- Milwaukee Downtown East: -37,019
- Milwaukee North Shore: -48,123
- Waukesha Southeast - New Berlin: -62,285
