Q3 2019 Commercial Office Market Update

Colliers International recently released a report on Seattle and Bellevue’s commercial office markets, which showed steady growth in the Puget Sound region as a whole, but varying results in submarkets on the Eastside. As Puget Sound Business Journal outlines, Class A rents in Seattle averaged $52.17 per square foot, up nearly 6 percent from last year, while Bellevue saw double-digit growth of 15.2 percent—to $58.24—with higher net absorption year-to-date than seen in a decade.

Vacancy rates did increase on the Eastside, by roughly 5 percent, with Bellevue at a slightly higher rate of 5.7 percent. One result of the higher negative net absorption in Bellevue can be explained by the tenants that vacated the Bellevue Corporate Plaza, which was acquired by Amazon and is slated for redevelopment. The Colliers report notes that in Bellevue, there is a positive outlook as demand will continue to flow and planned buildings will be claimed before or shortly after delivery.

The Seattle market saw large occupancies in Q3, including Amazon overtaking a new tower on 7th Avenue (across from the iconic spheres) with 1.1 million square feet of office space, Google moving into 139,000 square feet at South Lake Union, and WeWork occupying 115,000 square feet of space at 1201 3rd Avenue. Other occupancies of note include Seattle Children’s, which moved into the new Building Cure building at Denny Triangle, which comprises 540,000 square feet.

As PSBJ reports, “the region has seen nearly 4 million square feet of net absorption this year, up 16.4 percent year over year.” This, despite absorption rates down slightly from Q2-2019.

For an outlook of the biggest players in office space occupancy, view the top 10 names on “The List of Largest Office Tenants,” released by PSBJ in July 2019.

1.       Amazon  |  14.01 million

2.       Microsoft  |  13.13 million

3.       Boeing  |  6.41 million

4.       Facebook  |  2.33 million

5.       Google  |  1.95 million

6.       WeWork  |  1.45 million

7.       Starbucks  |  1.35 million

8.       Nordstrom  |  1.20 million

9.       T-Mobile  |  921,466

10.   Expedia  |  875,000