By Barry Spizer | Founder & Managing Partner
The Northshore office market is now the third largest submarket in the city after the New Orleans Central Business District submarket (11.3 million sq. ft.) and the Metairie submarket (4.2 million sq. ft.), and it is continuing to expand. Spurred by the population growth of St. Tammany Parish (one of the fastest growing areas in the state), many companies have decided to not only put satellite offices on the Northshore, but many have totally relocated their companies there. As the scales start to tip with more and more employees living on the Northshore (due to good schools, low crime and a strong housing market), companies are considering the move much more seriously to accommodate those employees.
The New Orleans market has approximately 20 million square feet of office space total and it is currently 83% occupied. Average rental rates for the market are just over $19.50 per square foot, full service, with the Class A market averaging over $20.50 per square foot.
The Northshore office market (office buildings over 20,000 sq. ft. in the Mandeville and Covington area) has 37 properties comprised of 1,700,000 square feet. Additionally, because of the availability of land, there are a number of small office buildings between 5,000 – 18,000 sq. ft. throughout the market that add another 300,000+ square feet of office space. The Class A Northshore office market has 18 buildings totaling 1,160,000 square feet.
Companies like Chevron (Gulf of Mexico Headquarters), LLOG Exploration, Pool Corp., LOOP, Hornbeck Offshore Services, Global Star, Netchex and Alphasigma all have headquarter buildings within this submarket. While many of those companies are oil & gas related, the market has matured and now has a diverse group of companies.
The Northshore submarket now enjoys an 88% occupancy rate, with the Northshore Class A market at 92% occupancy. The average rental rate for the Northshore submarket is $22.65 per square foot full service and the Northshore Class A submarket averages $25.75 per square foot. These are the highest rental rates of any submarket in the city of New Orleans. As a result of the higher rental rates and the availability of land, the Northshore submarket is the only submarket in the city to see new office building construction in the past five years.
For more specific information on the Northshore's office market, you can contact me at:
Phone: (504) 620-0348
Email: bspizer@srsa-realestate.com
