Study lists cities most, least likely to recover

New York City A recent study named the U.S. cities most, and least, likely to recover from the commercial real estate decline.

According to Commercial Lease Law Insider, the study employed office and retail vacancy data from real estate research firm Reis to examine 79 cities to determine those most and least likely to recover from what some anticipate to be a commercial real estate collapse, driven by declining rents and billions of dollars in commercial mortgages coming due soon.

Ranked first among the cities expected to recover was Birmingham, Ala., selected for its healthy blend of insurance, medicine, publishing, biotechnology, and higher education companies and institutions.

Other cities poised for recovery include: Tulsa, Okla.; Pittsburgh; Long Island, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Louisville, Ky.; Portland, Ore.; Raleigh/Durham, N.C.; and Fairfield County, Conn.

Cities least likely to recover, according to the study, are Las Vegas; Baltimore; Detroit; San Bernardino/Riverside, Calif.; Hartford, Conn.; Dayton, Ohio; New York City; Charleston, S.C.; Tacoma, Wash.; and New Haven, Conn.