Even as some companies get workers back to the office, the commercial real estate market in the Seattle region continues to see record high vacancies, according to a new quarterly report from JLL.
- Total vacancy rose to 19.3% in the Seattle area during the second quarter, and overall availability is now at 24.6%. “The second quarter of 2023 ended much like the first—with positive job growth and rising employee foot traffic in the urban core yet still rising availability,” JLL said in its report. (Editor’s note: JLL defines the availability rate as “the amount of space being marketed as available, whether immediately or at some future time.”)
- Large tech companies such as Microsoft and Salesforce are scaling back their real estate footprints. Sublease availability rose to nearly 7.2 million square feet, up from 2.7 million square feet in the first quarter of 2020.
- JLL predicts “tenant favorable market conditions” in the second half of this year, given the wide range of high-end options and dropping rent rates for sublease space. It called out a few companies — Insight Global and Seyfarth Shaw — that have recently signed long-term leases.
