The ultimate guide on finding commercial properties in Grand Cayman with an overview of renting office or retail space, typical leasing costs and insider tips on new developments.
The Grand Cayman commercial space rental market is one of the strongest in the Caribbean region, with high demand for all classes of space traditionally in the region of 75,000 sq ft to 125,000 sq ft per annum.
Commercial Property Overview
The primary source of demand comes from the offshore financial sector, including law firms, accounting practices and insurance/reinsurance firms. From a retail market perspective, the cruise ship duty free sector is a dominant force, particularly within George Town.
The market comprises of close to 4 million sq ft of space in all classes, which breaks down to roughly 1.25 million sq ft of Class A office space, 1.75 million square feet of Class B space and close to 300,000 sq ft of retail. Class A cruise ship/duty free retail locations are rare and transact at high value.
Average vacancy rates vary by class and location, from as low as 2-3% for Class A+ to A space, 5-10% for Class A- to B+ and around 15%-20% for Class B and C space. Within these averages, there is a wide variety of vacancy rates, for example, some Class B properties in central George Town have vacancies of between 25% to 35%. This has been largely due to the exodus of larger corporate tenants from the typically older buildings in George Town centre to the master-planned community of Camana Bay or edge of town development corridor of Elgin Avenue, such as Cricket Square. That said, we are starting to see a slowing down of that trend, and an increasing uptake in the George Town market as buildings have been renovated, and sometimes repurposed, and landlords have offered attractive rents and other incentives to retain tenants.
Indeed, we have started to see an increased amount of interest in Class B+/B renovated spaces in Central George Town. This includes smaller turn key office suites with access to shared amenities such as conference rooms at an all inclusive price. This type of office space is attractive to small corporations and sole proprietorships who want to be in George Town with close proximity to all the additional amenities that George Town offers such as Class A banks, court house,
government offices, and a mix of local restaurants and coffee shops. Several Class B buildings in George Town have sold recently and are under full renovations, which brings the increased revitalisation needed to George Town to attract tenants and new businesses. These renovations will in turn decrease the vacancy rates for the Class B office space as buildings are renovated to a higher standard.
Class A to A+ space is predominantly now found in development-type locations such as Camana Bay and Cricket Square on Elgin Avenue and in parts of the harbour-front where redevelopment has occurred. Other buildings have been renovated to a high standard where viable.
Office space rental rates range on a triple net basis from US$42 to US$55 sq ft per annum in the class A to A+ market sector with the highest rents in Camana Bay to US$30 to US$42 per sq ft. in the Class B+ to A- market sector, falling to US$20 to US$30 psf pa in the Class B market. CAM charges range from between US$15 to US$18 psf pa in developments such as Cricket Square and Camana Bay where infrastructure costs are higher to between US$12 to US$14 psf pa in standalone office buildings in other locations. Retail rates vary from US$40 psf pa on Seven Mile Beach to the highs of Harbour Drive, Cardinall Avenue and Fort Street where rates of US$80 to US$130 psf pa are achievable.
More recently, as gross rent rates in developments such as Camana Bay and Cricket Square have risen to between US$60 – US$73 psf pa, increasing numbers of tenants are now choosing office space located in buildings within George Town centre once again.
As such, the current prognosis for George Town looks very positive. There is opportunity for increased retail, entertainment and possibly boutique hotels as part of the rejuvenation of the town centre, as well as the planned pedestrianisation of Harbour Drive, Cardinall Avenue, Albert Panton St and Fort St. It is anticipated that once these changes occur, rental rates in the cruise ship retail market will likely escalate exponentially.
Commercial Office Spacekeyboard_arrow_right
The Grand Cayman commercial space rental market is one of the strongest in the Caribbean region, with high demand for all classes of space traditionally in the region of 75,000 sq ft to 125,000 sq ft per annum.
Commercial Real Estate Agentskeyboard_arrow_right
If you are planning to lease office space in Cayman, you should speak with a realtor who specialises in corporate rentals. Though many of the real estate companies in Cayman can help you with residential rentals and sales, only a few agents on-Island specialise in commercial properties.