I-75 Office Market: Price Sensitive, Willing to Pay for Visibility - Fall 2000

The I-75 corridor has been the target of significant pent-up demand for office space, but potential users are still largely a cost-conscious crowd.      The 67,000-sq.-ft. first building at Gateway (Fruitville Road and I-75) was fully leased 90 days after completion. The second building is not faring as well. Meanwhile, at Cattleridge (Clark Road and I-75), low-rise, lower priced offices continue to appeal to the price-sensitive tenant.  Farther north at Lakewood Ranch, and a few minutes closer to the Tampa Bay region’s sizeable labor pool, approximately 48,000 sq. ft. of office is available for lease in buildings that are either planned or under construction.  An exception to price sensitivity are tenants who seek the cache of interstate visibility. Their offices are easier to find, for one thing. In some cases, good business park design also provides opportunity for signage to be visible from the highway — a rare benefit considering Sarasota County’s sign ordinance.