Business and Finance
Atlanta is breaking records in the number of available office spaces in the city
Atlanta is breaking records for the number of vacant office spaces across the city.
Data published by real estate firm CBRE has revealed that there is still a big amount of office space in Atlanta that has not yet been leased. More than a 3rd of all office space in Georgia’s capital is still for rent, a gentle statistic that provides Atlanta a not-so-endearing claim to fame.
This trend has affected many areas, but particularly in the inner-city sector. Specifically, the report revealed that downtown Atlanta accounted for 54.7% of office vacancies. The area is passes revitalization project, called the “Master Plan”, after years of stagnation in the development of each residential and business construction. However, current conditions don’t make it easy for potential buyers to agree.
The company states that the wide availability is because of corporations reducing expenses because of the volatile economic climate.
“Overall, Atlanta’s persistently high availability rate continues to be the result of significant corporate tenants taking up unnecessary space in the face of economic hardship,” the company wrote in its report.
“Many of these tenants determine to sublet entire buildings and consolidate lease agreements in one location. In some cases, owner-tenants are going to date as to provide up their headquarters and regional satellite offices to minimize the impact of current economic conditions.
Moreover, the prices of these spaces actually increased though supply exceeded demand. Starting prices began at $31.46 per square foot in early 2024. Deals with big tech corporations like Microsoft are also seeing pressure to redevelop the area.
However, Atlanta has made some progress towards solving this problem. In the first quarter of 2024, lease agreements were signed for over two million square feet of office space. While this feat contributed to the largest increase since the pandemic began, it’ll not be enough to completely solve the emptiness problem.