Excerpt from the Ottawa Business Journal

January 10, 2025 – Written by David Sali, Ottawa Business Journal. Source

As a commercial real estate broker who runs his own business, Denis Shank is not surprised that office vacancy rates in Ottawa’s downtown are on the rise while landlords in the suburbs are seeing more interest in their properties than they have in years.

Shank, who launched Capworth Commercial Realty Brokerage in 2016, moved his office from Catherine Street in Centretown to its current location on Prince of Wales Drive during the pandemic.

Putting on his tenant hat, Shank says the decision to relocate was practically a no-brainer. 

The new office is a shorter commute for him and his six on-site employees. The building offers access to amenities such as a pool and sauna. And – perhaps best of all – there’s plenty of free parking.

In addition, now that the Trillium north-south LRT line is open, Shank believes public transit will play a more “positive role” in making suburban office properties even more attractive to prospective occupants.

“All that combined, it’s a perfect climate for the burbs to continue flourishing in their vacancy absorption,” he said. “Bottom line, (in the) burbs, vacancy will continue to go down.”

Shank, however, isn’t so sure the downtown market is on the comeback trail. 

He points to one of his long-term clients, an engineering firm that caters to the defence sector, which recently downsized from more than 7,000 square feet in a class-C building on Albert Street to about 4,000 square feet of “triple-A” office space in the Sun Life Centre at 50 O’Connor St.

Shank said it wasn’t a cost-cutting move – rather, it was driven by the tenant’s desire to be located in a building with more modern amenities. 

“The focus wasn’t about money,” Shank explained. “It was just, ‘How can I make my space more attractive to bring in my staff to collaborate in the office?’ That’s where we’re at.”

Shank says many other clients who occupy space downtown are also looking at shrinking their office footprints. And he thinks that trend will continue for a while yet.

“It’ll get a little bit worse before it gets better,” he said.