Atlanta Office Sublease Market Observations - March 2021

Since March 12, 2020 (the start of COVID-19 restrictions in the U.S.) we have seen the sublease inventory continue a steady increase of new space on the Atlanta market. For historical perspective, after the Great Recession that began in 2008, we reached a sublease inventory peak of 5.7 million SF in Q2 2009. We recently surpassed that number with 5.9 million SF of sublease space available at the end of December 2020. The latest numbers show an increase in sublease inventory by 100,000 SF since last reported in January. For reference, in January 2021 we saw a decrease in inventory for the first time since April 2020. 39 new subleases were added in February with the total number of subleases on the market increasing from 551 to 556. Since April 2020, rental rates have decreased from $23.37/SF to $22.51/SF. Our latest numbers show a $0.45 increase in rental rates since February. With sublease total inventory flattening and rental rates increasing, this may be an indication that the demand for office space is starting to increase.