Grand River Growth Plan -All Gibbs for City Jan 2 2026 - Flipbook - Page 75
Farmington Office Submarket
Metro Detroit Office Submarket Vacancy Rates
Ranked by size of submarket
Detroit
Southfield / Bingham Farms
Troy
Farmington / Farmington Hills
I-275 Corridor
Ann Arbor
Birmingham / Bloomfield
Macomb County
Rochester Hills / Auburn Hills
Dearborn
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
Figure 14: Source Metropolitan Detroit Market Office Q4 2024 Market Statistics produced by Signature Associates
The Farmington Office Submarket has perennially been a sought-after submarket with a total of
approximately 10 million square feet. The Farmington Hills / Farmington Office Submarket is the fourth
largest office submarket in Metro Detroit after Detroit, Southfield / Bingham Farms, and Troy. It should
be noted that the submarket has one of the lowest vacancy rates in Metro Detroit:
A low office vacancy rate speaks to the health and vibrancy of the Farmington commercial market. From
the above office occupancies, the overall office market is soft with tepid demand in the post-COVID
economy. To add context to the current Farmington office demand, 14%, the five-year average vacancy
rate for the submarket is 12.8% and the 10-year average vacancy rate of 12.7%. When office space
available for sublease is factored into the equation, the total availability rate of office space jumps to
20.5%.
Net absorption is a real estate metric that measures the amount of office space that is leased versus
vacated over a specific period. In the last 12 months, the Farmington Hills area has suffered a negative
absorption rate of nearly 33,000 sf. In addition, during that time, the market asking rent growth rate was
an anemic 0.7% compared to a 10-year average of nearly 2% annual growth in market asking rents.
There are many factors that drive office space demand including the overall economy, job growth and
education levels, but the remote or hybrid work arrangements offered by many employers and
corporations continues to hamper demand in the office market and create weakness in the sector.
Despite the overall weakness, the 12 Mile Road and the Northwestern Highway corridors remain sought
after by employers and corporations. In Q4 of 2024, two of the top five office leases in Metro Detroit
were completed in Farmington Hills, and both were in the same building at 31440 Northwestern
Highway, near Middlebelt Road. The Kirk Gibson Foundation signed an 11-year lease for 41,000 sf and
Amentum Technology, a global leader in advanced engineering and innovative technology solutions,
signed a lease for 20,000 sf of office space.
Grand River Corridor Office Market Analysis
Gibbs Planning Group
July 2, 2025
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