Whirlpool’s recent leasing of 41,000 square feet at Walpole Park South in Walpole has been one of the few bright spots for the Greater Boston flex market in recent days.

Were it ever the subject of a book, the latest chapter of Greater Boston’s flex real estate market could easily be skipped, according to suburban broker James Lipscomb.

“There’s not a big flex story to tell right now,” the Richards Barry Joyce & Partners associate said last week in assessing the struggling product type, which is also known as R&D or high-tech space. “The market remains very weak.”

Indeed, at this point, the flex sector has offered little intrigue. After riding the technology boom to great heights by offering a versatile, inexpensive alternative to traditional commercial space, flex landlords were caught by the prolonged economic slump that is now lingering into its fourth year. According to Spaulding & Slye Colliers, nearly one-third of all flex space is currently available, with more than 35 percent up for grabs in the biggest submarket, Interstate 495/North.

Despite an encouraging beginning, Spaulding & Slye estimated negative absorption for flex properties at 222,000 square feet for 2004, while RBJ concluded the final quarter was the worst for the flex market in two years after negative absorption of 546,000 square feet boosted overall vacancy rates to 23.5 percent. It was the second straight quarter that flex properties had performed in the red, according to RBJ. More than 765,000 square feet of space was vacated in that stretch, including 230,000 square feet abandoned in the final three months by Progress Software, RCN and Stream.

Vacancy rates for flex space have exceeded 20 percent for the ninth straight quarter, according to the RBJ figures, compiled by Director of Research Brendan Carroll. Tracking 32.3 million square feet, RBJ put the negative absorption for 2004 at 661,000 square feet, bringing the availability rate to 31 percent. Interestingly, much of the pain was absorbed along Route 128, with RBJ estimating that the inner transit loop posted 562,000 square feet of negative absorption in 2004, most of it in the final quarter. The I-495 market also had a difficult finish, but actually managed to attain positive absorption of 57,000 square feet for 2004, fueled by solid leasing activity in the I-495/Massachusetts Turnpike submarket.

Even when there have been victories, other portions of the flex market have suffered, as in the case of GE Panametrics relocating into more than 150,000 square feet at 1100 Technology Park Drive in Billerica. While the deal was a coup for that asset, GE Panametrics is leaving substantial space behind in three other nearby buildings in Bedford, Billerica and Wilmington.

‘Anemic’ Traffic

The Spaulding & Slye sampling covers 45.5 million square feet of flex space, including 10.7 million square feet in the I-495/North region. Totaling 6.1 million square feet, the I-495/Mass. Pike submarket has the highest availability rate at 38.3 percent, according to Spaulding & Slye, while the lowest mark is the North submarket, which has 21.4 percent of its 6.6 million square feet seeking tenants.

Lipscomb and others cite the state’s recent manufacturing woes with further cutting flex space demand. Rental rates vary depending on the amount of finish required in a flex property, ranging anywhere from $5 per square foot to $9 per square foot on a triple-net basis, according to Lipscomb, although there have been reports of deals in the $11 to $12 range for better quality product. Cushman & Wakefield of Massachusetts Senior Director J.P. Plunkett said his firm places the average asking rate for flex space in Greater Boston at $9.30 triple net.

“Of all the product types, flex buildings fluctuate the most,” said Plunkett, both in rental rates and in their physical incarnations. In the South market where Plunkett and colleague Cathy A. Minnerly operate, flex space covers a range of disciplines from sales and marketing offices to light assembly, warehouse and a combination of multiple functions. Flex space allows smaller companies to save money by consolidating all their operations into one facility, said Plunkett, who places the current vacancy rate for flex space at 21.9 percent in the 12.9 million-square-foot South flex market.

Unlike markets in the west and northern suburbs, flex properties have relied on more traditional companies in the southern area, according to Plunkett, who estimates a per-square-foot range of $7 to $11 for flex product in that region. Some of the product features impressive facades and extensive landscaping, noted Plunkett, providing a professional feel to the operation.

Among the larger flex deals in the south recently include Plunkett and Minnerly brokering a 41,000 square foot lease for Whirlpool at Walpole Park South in Walpole and a 32,500-square-foot agreement for Loomis Fargo in Taunton. In that transaction at 85 Constitution Drive, Duncan Chapman of the Staubach Co. represented the tenant while Plunkett and Minnerly negotiated for the landlord, Gloves Inc.

The South flex market “has held its own,” Plunkett said, while acknowledging more difficult times elsewhere. Cushman & Wakefield did, however, offer a brighter outlook of the flex market than its competitors, with the firm’s year-end report maintaining that such space had positive absorption of 501,000 square feet in Greater Boston.

Elsewhere, another recent flex lease involved Geologic Services Corp. taking nearly 20,000 square feet at 30 Porter Road in Littleton, a single-story flex building owned by DEK Portfolio LP. Spaulding & Slye Assistant Vice President J. Flory McCarthy and associate Daniel Kollar brokered that lease for the landlord, while Trammell Crow Co. principal Joseph Fallon and RBJ Vice President Paul Leone served as agents for GSC.

According to Carroll’s overview, makers of high-end precision equipment, coupled with medical device companies, offer potential demand drivers for flex space as 2005 kicks into full force. Carroll concluded that “steady demand combined with cautious development will help the market equalize.” At present, barely 200,000 square feet of new flex space is under construction, according to Carroll. And while noting that flex landlords have not been beset to date by foreclosures as conditions might seem to warrant, Lipscomb advised that the flex market will remain bloated over the near term.

“Traffic is still pretty anemic,” he said. “A lot of that space is going to be out there for awhile.”

Joe Clements may be reached at jclements@thewarrengroup.com.