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Hot market should help PCC lease closed campuses

Strong demand for office space
Posted at 4:22 PM, Apr 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-11 22:27:57-04

TUCSON, Ariz. - With student enrollment down and budget pressures up, Pima Community College is looking to close two campuses.
       
But there's good news for the college and for taxpayers: There's a lot of demand for that sort of office space.

Times are so tough for PCC the college is planning to close two of its campuses.
         
It's talking about closing its campus on Broadway and leasing it out.
         
And it's planning to lease or even sell the campus on Bonita, just west of downtown.     
          
But here's some good news for PCC.

"The office market is as strong as we've seen for a generation."
        
Rick Kleiner specializes in selling and leasing commercial real estate. He's with Cushman and Wakefield/PICOR and says there's more demand for office space now that he's seen in the 33 years the company's been in business.

"And the bottom line to all this is job growth, and good job growth and high paying jobs so that's really the key and I think that's where private business and government are working together to try to bring those kinds of opportunities to Tucson."
           
Cushman and Wakefield/PICOR tracks office vacancy rates.  In Tucson, the vacancy rate is just nine percent---the lowest since the recession.

The new regional headquarters for Caterpillar is a prime example of the sort of growth that convinces other companies to grow operations in Tucson.

Here's a campus already converting to commercial use.      

Just south of Grant a former TUSD middle school is becoming the new headquarters for Pima Medical Institute, which trains students for healthcare careers.  

Plans call for adding still more office space to the property.
           
And in downtown Tucson, the JE Dunn company is planning the biggest office project in many years---a 20 story tower.