Q4 2023 - Portland Office Market Report

4th Quarter! Crunch time! Put the hand up with 4 fingers! Time for the full court press! 2 minute drill! Make the last ditch effort to get things across the finish line before the year closes! Those are all the hopeful attitudes of the commercial real estate industry. Well...did it happen?? What’s the sentiment??

Well, there was a push and movement, but not necessarily in the best direction with vacancy creeping up, availability increasing and leasing activity on the downswing. According to some reports, since early 2020 (onset of Covid), the market has given back over 5.5 M square feet of vacant space, which is a massive number. There remains over 30% of the downtown market vacant at the end of 2023.

Outlook for 2024 remains tepid, kind of like the 1st quarter of a game. Feeling out the landscape, determining how strict the referees (city) and others may be, who’s in the market to take advantage of the opportunities. We will see how the start of the 2024 game plays out. We’re hopeful it’s a close game, and not a blow out in the wrong direction.