The firm’s figures show that development of new office buildings has become much less speculative, with 100 percent of the space under construction already committed to tenants. That compares with only 6 percent in the third quarter of 2007. Nonetheless, real estate specialists agree the market is on the mend.
“It’s been a slow climb back, but my feeling is we’re right in the middle of a recovery,’’ said John Miller, a senior vice president with Lincoln Property Co., which released its own report on the fourth quarter of 2011 that confirms the market’s steady improvement.
The firm reported that average asking rents at top-rated buildings in Boston jumped to $45.56 during the last three months of the year, up from $43.67 at the end of 2010.
Lincoln also found that East Cambridge and the Back Bay in Boston are performing exceptionally well, with vacancy rates of just 3.8 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.
However, there remain several chunks of empty space in towers in Boston’s Financial District, as the former occupants take advantage of bargains on more exclusive high-rise offices.
Several companies have also moved into Boston from suburban locations or expanded into new buildings.
For example, Communispace Corp. relocated from Watertown into 85,000 square feet of space in the Atlantic Wharf tower at the edge of the Financial District. LEK Consulting expanded into 61,000 square feet at 75 State St. from a prior location at 28 State St.
Overall, tenants absorbed 861,000 square feet of space in the Greater Boston market in the last three months of the year, according to Richards Barry Joyce, the largest quarterly gain since 2007.
One of the market’s bright spots is the Innovation District on the South Boston Waterfront, which has a number of office buildings under construction. The area has one of the largest privately funded development projects in the nation: the $800 million construction of headquarters for Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. at Fan Pier.
