The nationwide outlook for commercial building and rents is “decidedly upbeat“, and the same can be said for Oahu as well.  The fallout from the residential sector has not flowed into the commercial sector and office rents are up and vacancy rates are down. 

The office sector continues to post strong job growth, having registered a 3.9 percent increase in jobs over the past year,…  he’s concerned that demand for office space could weaken because of the state’s slowing economic growth, particularly in the tourism and housing sectors.  Also hampering office leasing is low unemployment, which tends to restrict business growth, and efforts by companies trying to offset rising rents by squeezing more employees into less space.