Seattle-Tacoma Office Market Report

Southend’s low rents support space demand. With no deliveries of note since 2021, as well as record net absorption during the last year, vacancy in the Southend fell 600 basis points annually to an all-time low of 11.1 percent in June. Amid widespread cost-cutting policies by tenants, the submarket’s comparatively low asking rents have secured heightened leasing activity. This rang especially true for the Class B/C sector, with the submarket’s metro-low rates playing a key role in motivating companies to absorb 900,000 square feet of mid- and lower-tier space on net through the year ending in June. Still, space needs were diverse amid some larger companies moving out of the core, and thus also included new leases of older top-tier offices, supporting Class A net absorption at 295,000 square feet in the span.