Denver industrial vacancies dropped to 4.4% in first quarter of 2015 with net positive absorption of 809,298 square feet while pushing the average rental rate to $7.60 per square foot for the quarter. This was significantly lower than the net positive absorption 2,221,709 square feet in the fourth quarter of 2014, positive 918,872 square feet in the third quarter 2014, and positive 1,948,321 square feet in second quarter 2014. In addition, the vacant sublease space also increased to 1,078,308 square feet by the end of the first quarter 2015, slightly up from the 1,060,683 square feet at the end of the fourth quarter 2014.

Net positive absorption for the quarter came in at 809,298 square feet in the first quarter, down from the 2,221,709 square feet in the fourth quarter 2014. Flex building market recorded a net positive absorption of 338,862 square feet in the first quarter 2015 which was lower compared to the positive 599,761 square feet in the fourth quarter 2014. Warehouse building market recorded a net positive absorption of 470,436 square feet in first quarter 2015, compared to positive 1,621,948 square feet in the fourth quarter 2014.

The Denver industrial vacancy dropped to 4.4% at the end of first quarter which was a slight decrease from 4.5% at the end of fourth quarter 2014, 5.0% at the end of the third quarter 2014, and 5.2% at the end of the second quarter 2014. Flex buildings reported a vacancy rate of 10.9% at the end of the first quarter 2015, down from 11.2% at the end of the fourth quarter 2014, 11.5% at the end of the third quarter 2014, and 12.0% at the end of the second quarter 2014. Warehouse buildings reported a vacancy rate of 3.1% at the end of the first quarter 2015, unchanged from 3.1% at the end of fourth quarter 2014, 3.7% at the end of the third quarter 2014, and 3.8% at the end of the second quarter 2014.

Average rental rates for available industrial space came in at $7.60 per square foot, up 4.4% from the average rental rate of $7.28 per square foot at the end of the fourth quarter 2014. Average rental rate for flex buildings was $10.00 per square foot while warehouse buildings stood at $6.47 per square foot at the end of the first quarter 2015.

A total of 3 buildings were delivered by the end of first quarter 2015, totaling 580,308 square feet which was significantly lower compared to the nine buildings, totaling 1,019,229 square feet that was delivered in the fourth quarter 2014. At the end of the first quarter, there were 1,340,485 square feet of industrial space under construction.

Total Denver industrial inventory stood at 288,897,148 square feet in 10,261 buildings at the end of the first quarter 2015.