Denver industrial real estate market surges in Q1 of 2014. Vacancy rate for Q1 came in at 4.6% which is down 0.4% from a year earlier while lease rates continue to climb towards pre-recession levels to $6.19 per square foot, up 9 cents from previous quarter. This was the sixteenth consecutive quarter of positive net absorption with 177,000 more square feet rented then vacated. Currently, there is approximately 3.1 million square feet of new Denver industrial space under construction. Much of the leasing activity and construction was along the I-70 corridor including a 66,350 square foot flex research and development building at 1900 Cherry at the Colorado Technology Center in Louisville. The lowest vacancy rate as always was central Denver at 1% with only 13.5 million leasable square feet while Longmont had the highest average lease rate at 17.5%. The highest lease rate recorded was in Boulder at $9.41 per square foot while the lowest average came in at $3.88 per square foot in the north metro submarket. Pushing the surge is industries like food production and distribution, construction and third-party logistics. In Q1, more than 1.1 million square feet traded hands which was well above the 395,000 square feet sold in Q1 of 2013. The largest sale of the quarter was the purchase by Newport Beach TA Associates Realty of an 18 building portfolio that included more than 900,000 square feet of Denver industrial space for $36.9 million or $40.80 per square foot.