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Delta Variant Pauses Enthusiasm for Downtown Boston Office Leasing
While a sense of optimism and vibrancy returned to the streets of downtown Boston over the summer months, the arrival of the Delta variant has temporarily paused that enthusiasm as many companies again delayed their return to the office. Regardless, the downtown office market experienced the strongest quarter since the pandemic began and showed signs that a return to normalcy is on the horizon, according to the CBRE Boston Office Figure Q3 2021 report.
The Boston office market recorded the first quarter of growth since the end of 2019 with 364,000 square feet of positive absorption. While big-deal transactions remain muted, overall availability decreased to 18% and vacancy declined to 11% in the third quarter of 2021.
The amount of sublease space on the market downtown declined significantly in the third quarter to 2.7 million square feet. Sublease availability has declined by more than 700,000 square feet since the end of Q1 2021.
- ◦Economy
