Bulawayo’s CBD suffers 40 percent vacancy rate as businesses flee to suburbs

REAL estate consultants Knight Frank Zimbabwe says aging and poorly maintained infrastructure has driven vacancy rates in Bulawayo to 40 percent.

The firm reported that 30 percent of businesses previously located in Bulawayo’s CBD have relocated to suburban areas such as Suburbs and Khumalo between H2 2020 and H2 2024.

A similar trend has been observed in Harare, where all major banks have either relocated, are planning to move, or are in the process of constructing head offices in northern suburbs such as Highlands, Newlands and Borrowdale.
Many tenants are leaving the CBD due to traffic congestion and high rental rates.

In its latest report, Knight Frank noted that Harare’s vacancy rate has reached 60 percent.

It further observed that “the quality of tenants occupying the CBD of most urban areas worsened in the period under review due to the informalisation of the market.”

This decline has impacted rental prices across the country, with only a few prime locations and high-quality assets maintaining premium rental values.

“Vacancy rates in Harare and Bulawayo’s CBDs have reached 60 percent and 40 percent, respectively. This significant level of vacancy can be attributed to several factors, including aging and poorly maintained infrastructure, a reported 13 percent increase in crime within the CBDs between H2 2023 and H2 2024, and limited and expensive parking options, with average casual parking costs in the CBD reaching US$1.00 per hour compared to free parking in most suburban locations.”

The report also notes that passive voids , vacant spaces with little prospect of being filled are increasingly common in the industrial and office sectors, becoming a structural issue.

As a result, investors are incurring significant losses due to fixed operating costs, including deferred maintenance, municipal rates and taxes, insurance and security.-chroncile