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In 2009, local real estate brokers noticed that businesses were deserting office spaces in suburbs such as Tigard and Tualatin in favor of some in downtown Portland.

Now, interest seems to be shifting back to the suburbs. But they are not necessarily desirable to businesses.

Fresh off its third straight quarter of positive net absorption, Portland’s central business district now has available just one Class A space larger than 40,000 square feet, according to one local real estate professional. However, at least six comparable spaces exist in suburban cities.

“There are over 10 companies in downtown Portland that require 50,000 square feet or more of space (that have lease deals coming up) over the next 36 months,” said Brian Owendoff, managing director of CB Richard Ellis. “Due to the lack of large blocks of space in downtown, these firms will either be forced to split operations into multiple buildings, sign long-term leases that will precipitate new construction in the urban core or relocate to one of the numerous large blocks of suburban office space.”

Owendoff believes the shortage of space in downtown Portland is going to push large businesses to the suburbs. He said that increased demand outside the city will likely lead to rent increases and fewer landlords willing to offer concessions for larger spaces.

Local real estate investor Barry Menashe, whose Sunset Corridor buildings have struggled to draw tenants, said he thinks outflow from the downtown area is under way.

“I’ve been seeing lots of activity lately and getting lots of hits on my spaces, even in Washington County,” he said. “I think we are definitely heading in the right direction in both downtown and the suburbs.”

Overall, there was 250,728 square feet of positive absorption in the Portland-metro area during the third quarter, according to a CB Richard Ellis office market report. The previous eight quarters saw an average absorption of negative 132,000 square feet.

“This quarter was a very good sign of what’s to come for the office market here in town,” Owendoff said, “even though the significant amount of positive absorption was a product of a few bigger deals closing at the same time.

“But I do expect the trend of positive absorption to continue at about 50,000 to 100,000 square feet a quarter as we move forward.”

Big leases included the 200,000 square feet Nike leased at the Tektronix campus in Beaverton, as well as the 133,258 square feet that Vestas Wind Systems leased at the Meier & Frank warehouse in the Pearl District.

The lessors surprised Owendoff.

Over 65 percent of leasing activity in downtown Portland this year has been conducted by the public sector, according to a GVA Kidder Mathews market report. The General Services Administration went on a leasing spree earlier this year due to an environmental upgrade at the Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building that displaced many federal agencies. The newest downtown building, First & Main, received the biggest boost; however, leases also were signed at the Machine Works Building and several others.

But in the third quarter the private sector made some moves.

“The biggest thing to take away from last quarter is the strength of the private sector in the market,” Owendoff said. “I believe the third quarter of 2010 marked the tipping point of the private sector surpassing the public sector driving office demand in downtown Portland.”

Leasing activity from both sectors bodes well for the central business district’s office vacancy rate; it now sits at 10.2 percent, down from 11 percent the previous quarter. This vacancy rate is rivaled only by the central business district rates of cities like San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C., according to Owendoff.

And even though tenants must look to the suburbs for large spaces, the downtown market’s low vacancy rates speak volumes.

The numbers helped Menashe decide to move forward with the purchase of the 50,000-square-foot former police headquarters building in downtown Portland last week.

“I make each decision on a case-by-case basis, but I’m definitely more and more confident all the time as the market continues to improve,” Menashe said. “We’ve been doing a lot of leases lately and it just felt like the right time to make this deal happen.”