Market Reports

The 35 Stone Building, located at 3524 Stone Way N in Fremont, received a temporary certificate of occupancy at the beginning of November.

Over the next 12 months, roughly 848,222 square feet of life-science office and lab space are slated for delivery. Including projects such as 222 Fifth, 1916 Boren Avenue, and the Chapter Buildings.

The third quarter of 2024 finished with a modest level of activity, though signs point to future growth on the horizon.

After large transactions in the first half of 2024 on behalf of Pokemon (374k SF at The Eight), Snowflake (373k SF at Spring District) and TikTok (287k SF at Lincoln Square North), the Eastside office market experienced a slightly slower 3rd Quarter.

Vacancy in the Downtown Seattle Office Market rose a full percentage point between Q2 2024 and Q3 2024 up to 26.9%.

Trammell Crow is close to receiving a Master Use Permit for a life science project at 900 Virginia street on Ninth Avenue.

One of the few office developments in Seattle, the Chapter Buildings in the University District, reportedly received their temporary certificates of occupancy last month.

The office leasing market appears to be picking up based on reports from July 2024.

While leasing activity and demand for space in the ecosystem remained tempered, our regional scientific cluster showed a measured flurry of activity.

Following Pokemon’s 374k SF Q1 office lease at The Eight, Bellevue continued its strong 2024 performance with Snowflake’s long awaited 329k SF sublease of Meta’s Block 6 at Spring District and TikTok’s added expansion of 154k SF at Lincoln Square North.

Vacancy in the Downtown Seattle Office Market continued rising up to 25.6%, almost a full percentage point higher than in Q1 2024.

June 2024 brought news of an available adaptive reuse project at 760 Aloha building.

In May Trammell Crow Co. officially received the go-ahead from the City of Seattle to build their proposed 179,000 square foot, 11-story life science project at 901 Lenora Street.

As of April 2024, the 701 Dexter Project being developed by Alexandria Real Estate is being resuming construction following a temporary pause last year.

The Northwest Region’s life science hub pressed forward with the long-anticipated acceleration of M&A and partnership deals dominating headlines.

2024 started out on a high note as Pokémon signed its long awaited 374k SF lease at The Eight in downtown Bellevue, marking the largest office lease signed on the Eastside since 2021.

In Q1 2024 the Downtown Seattle Office Market vacancy increased again to 24.7% (up from 21.86% in Q4, 2023), including 20.2% of direct vacancy and 3.9% of sublease vacancy.

One of the biggest office leases in recent memory was reported in June. PATH, a non-profit health-equity organization, plans to occupy all of 437 N 34th Street in Fremont known as “West Dock.”

Last fall, developer Ben Maritz created a proposal to convert Smith Tower into residences.

The University of Washington plans to break ground on a 69-acre multipurpose project called “Portage Bay Crossing” at the beginning of this year.

Throughout the course of 2023 office demand across the greater Eastside remained well off pre-Covid levels while general office activity ebbed and flowed.

The Northwest Region’s life science ecosystem demonstrated gradual movement in the fourth quarter, culminating in several headlines that garnered national attention.

In Q4 2023 the Downtown Seattle Office Market vacancy increased again to 22.0% (up from 21.3% in Q3, 2023), including 18.1% of direct vacancy and 3.8% of sublease vacancy.

In one of the larger leases on memory, December 2023 brought news of Slalom Consulting moving their headquarters to Seattle's "Hawk Tower” at 255 King Street in Pioneer Square.

The Chapter Buildings, a 400,000-square-foot office and life-science development in Seattle's University District, have reached their full height.

According to the KPMG 2023 US “CEO Outlook Survey”, a substantial shift is expected in the working environment for corporate employees traditionally based in offices.

Glimmers of exciting activity across life science industry propelled the region’s third quarter forward.

Office demand across the greater Eastside remains well off pre-Covid levels but general office activity continues to improve slowly heading into Q4 2023.

In Q3 2023 the Downtown Seattle Office Market vacancy jumped to 21.32% (up from 20.42% in Q2, 2023), including 17.1% of direct vacancy and 4.2% of sublease vacancy.

Seattle's Plaza 600 located at 600 Stewart Street in the Denny Triangle completed a multimillion-dollar renovation as reported in September 2023.

In August 2023 Urban Visions closed on a 7-acre portion of land in Seattle that will be a part of the future S Campus office development in SODO.

In July it was reported that BioMed Realty filed plans to convert 1101 Westlake Ave. N for laboratory use, considering the hot market for life-science companies.

The second quarter of 2023 showed a positive uptick in activity relative to the start of the year.

While office demand across the greater Eastside remains quiet relative to pre-Covid years, general activity has increased during the second quarter of 2023.

In Q2 2023 the Downtown Seattle Office Market vacancy jumped to 20.7% (up from 19.1% in Q1, 2023), including 16.8% of direct vacancy and 3.9% of sublease vacancy.

Hybrid work for many businesses is transitioning from scattered remote work plans to implementation of more serious and structured return-to-office policies for employees.

In May 2023, Amazon welcomed employees back to its Seattle headquarters for the first official in-person workday in over three years.

April 2023 brought mostly news of life science developments as the office market continues to be quiet.

The Life Science market slowed its pace considerably over hte last quarter.

Office demand across the greater Eastside remains quiet as the first quarter of 2023 comes and goes. Vacancy on the Eastside ended the quarter up at approximately 7.1%.

In Q1 2023 the Downtown Seattle Office Market vacancy grew to 19.1%, up from 17.3% in Q4 2022. The vacancy rate consists of 15.1% of direct vacancy and 4% of sublease vacancy.

In March construction began on a 260,000 square foot 12 story office building in the University District being developed by LPC West.

As the office market continues to soften, many developers will be considering conversion of office to other uses.

In January, BioMed Realty’s proposed Denny Park two-tower 600,000sf lab and office project cleared a hurdle.

Office demand across the grater Eastside has been virtually silent since Q2, 2022.

At the end of Q4 2022 the Downtown Seattle Office Market vacancy stayed at 17.3% including 14.3% of direct vacancy and 3.0% of sublease vacancy. The 12-month net absorption for the Downtown Seattle Office Market at the end of Q4 2022 was negative 1,640,154 RSF.

The only news of office developments in December 2022 was that of The Jack topping out construction.

As reported in November, Sellen Construction is beginning the development of a mass timber project called 35 Stone located at 3524 Stone Way N.

The Norton Building was purchased last fall for over $147 million by Hines who has developed plans for renovations.

 After exploring expensive plans to convert a portion of Seattle’s Pacific Place shopping center to office, Hudson Pacific Properties appears to have punted on the deal. 

The overall Downtown Seattle Office Market vacancy rate at the end of Q3 2022 landed at 17.3%, comprised of 14.4% of direct vacancy and 2.9% of sublease vacancy. The 12-month net absorption is (1,563,821) RSF for the end of Q3 2022 and there is approximately 1,024,940 RSF under construction

The only news of office development in Seattle was that of a final design review for Gemdale USA’s potential project in South Lake Union located at 618 John St.

In July it was reported that Touchstone secured $196M in financing for their 2-tower office project commonly known as the Chapter Buildings in the U District submarket.

In June Kilroy Realty presented their SIXO mixed-use project to Seattle’s Landmarks Preservation Board.

In May Hudson Pacific Properties, the owner of Pacific Place mall located at 600 Pine Street in Seattle, filed preliminary plans with the city of Seattle to convert the 5 story building from retail to an office use.

At the close of Q2, 2022, the overall vacancy rate for the Downtown Seattle Office Market was 17%, including 14.1% of direct vacancy and 2.9% of sublease vacancy. The trend of rising vacancy continues and in there are no signs of the market strengthening anytime soon.

In April Hudson Pacific Properties closed on the purchase of the site for Washington 1000 a 16-story, 546,000 square foot office tower at 1000 Olive Way adjacent to the Washington State Convention Center.

At the finish of Q1 2022, the overall vacancy rate for the Downtown Seattle Office Market was 15.7%, comprised of 12.8% of direct vacancy and 2.9% of sublease vacancy. The overall vacancy rate continues the steady quarterly uptick we experienced in 2021

General Overview At the close of 2021, the overall vacancy rate for the Downtown Seattle Office Market increased to 15.4%, comprised of 12% of direct vacancy and 3.4% of sublease vacancy. The overall vacancy rate increased significantly throughout 2021 rising from 10.3% at the end of 2020, to 13.7% in Q1 2021, 14.4% in Q2...