Columbus Office Market
In the fourth quarter the Columbus office market recorded positive absorption, helping bring 2023 total net absorption up to negative 130,000 SF, a significant improvement over the past two years. Fourth quarter leasing volume in the Columbus office market was on pace with the rest of 2023, but total 2023 leasing volume was notably lower than 2022. Arlington Gateway delivered 135,000 SF of new office inventory to the market, helping bring the construction pipeline down to its lowest point since 2015.
Download Columbus Office Market Report 4Q23
Columbus Industrial Market
The Columbus industrial market tallied 1.9 million SF in positive absorption in the fourth quarter, bringing the year-end total to just under a positive 7.0 million SF. However, the quarterly industrial vacancy rate increased by 40 basis points from the third quarter to 6.2% in the fourth quarter of 2023. Despite the positive overall absorption, a cause of the vacancy increase was the delivery of approximately 3.4 million SF of product to the inventory. The average asking rent for the year 2023 stood at $5.49/SF; the fourth quarter saw an average asking rent of $5.57/SF, the second highest in recent history behind the third quarter of 2023 ever for the Columbus industrial market. Total leasing activity for the quarter measured approximately 2.3 million SF, down from 3.6 million SF in the third quarter. For all of 2023, industrial leasing activity measured 15.9 million SF.