Dallas-Fort Worth Market Update: Vacancy on the Rise

After marking some improvement in June, when the vacancy rate had reached 18.5 percent, Dallas-Fort Worth’s office sector took a step down. According to CommercialEdge data, the Metroplex reached a 19.4 percent vacancy rate in July, 90 basis points higher month-over-month and 110 basis points higher year-over-year.

The index is also 390 basis points higher than the national average rate of 15.5 percent. When compared to similar markets, the Metroplex was 330 basis points behind Austin (16.1 percent vacancy rate) and barely surpassing Atlanta by 50 basis points (the latter witnessing a 19.9 percent vacancy rate).

The 90-basis-point month-over-month status change was difficult to observe when taking a closer look at the Metroplex’s submarkets. Las Colinas, having more than 39.8 million square feet of office space across 261 properties, recorded a 140-basis-point vacancy rise (from 18.2 to 19.6 percent). Other submarkets, with inventories from 10 to 30 million square feet—such as Dallas CBD, Uptown and West Dallas—saw small variations in office vacancy, ranging from 5 to 20 basis points.

One of the largest deals that closed in July was a renewal. Carlson Capital renewed its 43,572-square-foot headquarters lease at 2100 McKinney Ave. in Uptown. The alternative asset management firm had been occupying the top two floors at the 351,859-square-foot, Class A building since 2010.

CommercialEdge covers 8M+ property records in the United States. View the latest CommercialEdge national monthly office report here.