Office Market to be Volatile Until Critical Mass is Vaccinated
Seattle has defined itself as a national leader in life science growth, with life sciences being the fifth largest employment sector in Washington State. South Lake Union is a well-known life sciences hub, located at the nexus of fast-growing lab tenants Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington.
It ranks among the top five-performing life science markets in the country, demonstrating significant growth in the past two years. The submarket contains more than 5.6 million square feet of life science space with lab rents surging in the past 18 months due to competition for space and a class-A vacancy rate of 0.6 percent.
And while there has been gradual improvement in the job market, until the critical mass is fully immunized, the overall regional office market will remain volatile. Looking further ahead for 2021, important factors to consider will be local job growth and company positions on whether to continue or ease the work from home trend on a longer-term basis, according to Kidder Mathews’ latest office report.
- ◦Lease