{"id":1004758692,"date":"2025-05-29T07:21:39","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T15:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004758692"},"modified":"2025-06-01T22:57:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T06:57:04","slug":"commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Office Report: CBD Demand Drops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Central business districts (CBDs) remain under pressure as high vacancy and falling listing rates persist, while recent federal policy shifts add new challenges to their recovery, the latest CommercialEdge<\/em> report shows.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"commercialedge
As of April, average full-service asking rates in CBDs stood at $38 per square foot, nearly 30 percent below early 2020 levels. Image\u00a0by Terroa\/iStockphoto.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

CBD office vacancy reached 19.2 percent in April, translating into a 730-basis-point increase since early 2020. While this is slightly lower than urban (20.1 percent) and suburban (19.8 percent) vacancies, listing rates in CBDs have taken the largest hit. As of April, average full-service equivalent asking rents in CBDs were $38 per square foot\u2014down 29.8 percent from pre-pandemic levels. By contrast, urban rates declined 20.7 percent, while suburban rates rose 6.5 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal priorities are also changing. A recent executive order signed by President Trump revoked longstanding policies that had favored CBDs for federal office locations, instead encouraging cost-effective site selection, including suburban options. This shift, along with broader trends, has led to a steep drop in CBD office development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New deliveries fell 42 percent year-over-year to under 4 million square feet\u2014just 8.2 percent of national inventory added in 2024. While steep property discounts have emerged, some well-located assets are still holding steady, proving resilience remains possible<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO: <\/strong>Why Retail Belongs in Office Projects<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

By the end of April, the national office vacancy rate stood at 19.7 percent\u2014down 20 basis points from the previous month but up 140 basis points year-over-year. The highest vacancy rates were recorded in San Francisco (29.0 percent), Austin (28.9 percent), Seattle (27 percent), the Bay Area (25.6 percent), Denver (24.7 percent), Detroit (24.4 percent) and Dallas (23.9 percent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nationwide, full-service equivalent listing rates averaged $33.34 per square foot in April, reflecting a slight eight-cent decline from March but a 5.4 percent increase year-over-year. CommercialEdge data shows Manhattan led all markets with an average rate of $68.34 per square foot, followed by San Francisco at $64.19 and Miami at $56.53.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April, office-using employment grew by 31,000 jobs\u2014the largest monthly gain since December and the third-highest increase over the past year. Despite the uptick, office-using sectors are up just 0.2 percent year-over-year. Professional and business services added 17,000 positions, financial activities gained 14,000 and the information sector saw no change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Office pipeline shrinks amid sluggish starts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to CommercialEdge, the national office construction pipeline stood at 44.6 million square feet in April, accounting for 0.7 percent of total inventory. Between January and April, only 2.8 million square feet of new office projects broke ground. With the sector still in the early stages of a long-term transformation, development activity is expected to stay subdued for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boston led the nation with 5.5 million square feet of office space under construction, amounting to 2.1 percent of its current stock. Both Austin and San Francisco reported 3.2 million square feet underway, equal to 3.4 percent and 2.0 percent of their inventories, respectively. Dallas followed closely with 3.1 million square feet, or 1.1 percent, while San Diego completed the top five with 2.1 million square feet\u2014also 2.1 percent of its office inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From January through April, office sales reached a total of $14.2 billion, with properties changing hands at an average of $191 per square foot. Investment was heavily concentrated in Manhattan, where sales exceeded $2.5 billion, trailed by Washington, D.C., with $1.3 billion and the Bay Area at $1 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full CommercialEdge office report<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s why many of these markets are struggling compared to their counterparts, according to the latest CommercialEdge report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":741,"featured_media":1004599457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23891,21747,51037,52555,41267],"tags":[50674],"class_list":["post-1004758692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-office","category-trends","category-yardimatrix-office-reports","category-yardimatrix-reports","tag-commercialedge"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOffice Report: CBD Demand Drops - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Federal shifts and weak demand deepen challenges for central business districts, according to the latest CommercialEdge report.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Office Report: CBD Demand Drops\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Federal shifts and weak demand deepen challenges for central business districts, according to the latest CommercialEdge report.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Property Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-29T15:21:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-02T06:57:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/08\/Capture.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1022\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"792\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Corina Stef\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/\",\"name\":\"Office Report: CBD Demand Drops - Commercial Property Executive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/08\/Capture.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-29T15:21:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-02T06:57:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/73262f140f4b0a11baea2dd6f27beadf\"},\"description\":\"Federal shifts and weak demand deepen challenges for central business districts, according to the latest CommercialEdge report.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/08\/Capture.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/08\/Capture.png\",\"width\":1022,\"height\":792,\"caption\":\"The national office vacancy rate stood at 19.4 percent in May, reflecting persistent challenges in the sector. Image by Terroa\/iStockphoto.com\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Office Report: CBD Demand Drops\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Commercial Property Executive\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/73262f140f4b0a11baea2dd6f27beadf\",\"name\":\"Corina Stef\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/04\/Corina-Stef.jpg?w=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/04\/Corina-Stef.jpg?w=96\",\"caption\":\"Corina Stef\"},\"description\":\"Corina Stef started her tenure as a music journalist a decade ago and has been occupying a full-time real estate editor and blogger position since 2017. She is a senior associate editor with Commercial Property Executive and Multi-Housing News who focuses on commercial real estate trends and in-depth stories.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/author\/corina-stef\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Office Report: CBD Demand Drops - Commercial Property Executive","description":"Federal shifts and weak demand deepen challenges for central business districts, according to the latest CommercialEdge report.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Office Report: CBD Demand Drops","og_description":"Federal shifts and weak demand deepen challenges for central business districts, according to the latest CommercialEdge report.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/","og_site_name":"Commercial Property Executive","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive","article_published_time":"2025-05-29T15:21:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-02T06:57:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1022,"height":792,"url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/08\/Capture.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Corina Stef","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cpexecutive","twitter_site":"@cpexecutive","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/","name":"Office Report: CBD Demand Drops - Commercial Property Executive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/08\/Capture.png","datePublished":"2025-05-29T15:21:39+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-02T06:57:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/73262f140f4b0a11baea2dd6f27beadf"},"description":"Federal shifts and weak demand deepen challenges for central business districts, according to the latest CommercialEdge report.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/08\/Capture.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/08\/Capture.png","width":1022,"height":792,"caption":"The national office vacancy rate stood at 19.4 percent in May, reflecting persistent challenges in the sector. Image by Terroa\/iStockphoto.com"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/commercialedge-office-report-april-2025-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Office Report: CBD Demand Drops"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/","name":"Commercial Property Executive","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/73262f140f4b0a11baea2dd6f27beadf","name":"Corina Stef","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/04\/Corina-Stef.jpg?w=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/04\/Corina-Stef.jpg?w=96","caption":"Corina Stef"},"description":"Corina Stef started her tenure as a music journalist a decade ago and has been occupying a full-time real estate editor and blogger position since 2017. She is a senior associate editor with Commercial Property Executive and Multi-Housing News who focuses on commercial real estate trends and in-depth stories.","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/author\/corina-stef\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/08\/Capture.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004758692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/741"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004758692"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004758692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1004760039,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004758692\/revisions\/1004760039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004599457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004758692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004758692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004758692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}