New industrial space in Richmond and weak demand in Langley contributed to a 1.1% rise in the amount of vacant industrial space in Metro Vancouver in 2009's second quarter, according to Colliers International.
The region's industrial vacancy rate rose to 3.8% compared with 2.7% in 2009's first quarter and 2.1% in 2008's second quarter. Continued weak demand in Langley's Gloucester Industrial Estates and the completion of the 443,000-square-foot Hopewell development in Richmond contributed to the vacancy increase.
Metro Vancouver's vacant industrial space has jumped 88.6% in the past year to 6.6 million square feet. Roughly 3.5 million square feet of space was available in 2008's second quarter.
Abbotsford has one of B.C.'s highest industrial vacancy rates (7.9%) followed by Langley (7.3%), Delta (5.1%) and Richmond (4.8%).
Sublease vacancies, while a small percentage of total vacancy, rose to 357,558 square feet, almost nine times what was listed in 2009's first quarter.