Waterloo Region office spaces experiencing success: report

More people in Waterloo Region are looking for office space according to a new report from commercial real estate firm CBRE.

According to the report, the region is a part of the 60 per cent of Canadian markets experiencing increased demand for a work space in Q3 of 2024.

Vacancy rates in local office spaces dropped to 13.5 per cent due to the quality of medical, educational, and ready-to-move-in spaces on the market.

Co-working spaces in Waterloo Region are also seeing success according to the report.

Catalyst Commons in the Belmont Village neighbourhood in Kitchener offers for-rent office spaces and houses more than 25 established businesses.

They’re gearing up to open their expanded working space with an additional 75,000 square feet of large and small offices this fall.

Galt Collective, a co-working space for small businesses and startups in Cambridge, is also preparing to open their under-construction second location at the start of 2025.

According to the report, high-demand, newer spaces are seeing the lowest vacancy rates across the country in the last four years, while older buildings are not being rented quite as much.

“Owners of older offices have been hard-pressed to find tenants, but the uptick in office demand for quality space is a rising tide that could have broader benefits,” said CBRE National Research Managing Director Marc Meehan in a press release. “With availability in Trophy assets beginning to tighten, demand could flow to the next quality tier of buildings, especially those well-located and with in-demand amenities.”