Madison Street Beat

MADISON STREET BEAT– Q4 2021 

Even with COVID-19’s Delta and Omicron variants disrupting daily lives and return-to-office plans, the Madison area office market saw occupancy rates remain stable at nearly 95%, compared to a national average of 87.6%.  Continued growth in the Madison market combined with low levels of new office inventory and speculative development to keep occupancy rates high. Leasing volume for 2021 was 20% above 2020, but 20% below 2019. 

Sales volume picked up in Q4 and was substantially higher than Q4 2020.  This followed a $48M increase in Q3.  The largest Q4 transaction was UW Credit Union’s $10M acquisition of a property at 8401 Excelsior Drive that it will use for its own office space needs.  Compass Properties acquired the former Gardner Baking Building on East Washington for just under $5M, making it the second largest office transaction of Q4.  There were a number of deals in the $1M – $3M range that were also closed before year end.   

Madison Street Beat  is a snapshot of key metrics for the Madison area office space market developed by Compass Properties. Information contained in this report is general with regard to the subject matter and should not be construed as a recommendation to make any real estate investments or any other financial transactions.  Neither Compass Properties nor any of its employees and agencies warrant the accuracy or assume any liability for information contained in this report.