On Wednesday, VTS published a report on the state of the national office market. Across the country demand in March was just 29% lower than average pre-pandemic levels for that month, a rebound from a 60% year over year decline in January.
The report aggregates data nationally and breaks out seven cities: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington D.C., Chicago and Boston. Seattle is leading the pack, with demand for offices rising 1% compared to historical averages for the month of March, driven primarily by technology companies. In New York City, demand is down 24%, while San Francisco is down 26%, and Chicago 31%.
That is particularly true in New York, where there are 66 million square feet of unused office space in, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The borough’s vacancy rate for offices in the first quarter stood at 16.3%, almost double what it was six years ago. Subleasing activity is also up, as long-term leaseholders seek to offload unneeded overhead. Those figures illustrate that increased demand still has plenty of inventory to eat through.
Finance is leading New York’s office recovery, accounting for a third of new demand, followed by technology firms, which account for 13%. The city’s rebound is not impacting all buildings equally; upscale properties with prime locations are faring better than mid-block, Class B offices, whose tenants have struggled to make rent over the past year. “It’s really a tale of two cities,” Anton says.