Columbus Office Market
The Columbus office market recorded its second straight quarter of positive absorption, with 379,512 SF. Sublease availability fell from 3.7% to 3.5%, direct availability declined 40 basis points to 18.3%, and overall vacancy dropped 90 basis points to 20.5% for a second consecutive quarterly decrease. Year-to-date, the average vacancy rate for 2025 stands at 21.4%, improving over its 21.9% vacancy for the first half of 2025. These shifts suggest a recovering market. The CBD led all submarkets with 127,708 SF of positive absorption, driven by the occupancy of Rev1 Ventures’ 44,391 SF lease at 330 Rush Alley signed in the first quarter of 2025. Easton recorded the second-highest absorption at 122,972 SF. Polaris ranked third with 85,683 SF, boosted by Vertiv occupying 59,000 SF at 460 Polaris Pkwy. and Prime AE Group, Inc. taking occupancy of its 20,136 SF first quarter lease at 8415 Pulsar Pl. Overall, the third quarter mirrored recent quarters: outside the CBD’s solid activity, market activity was subdued. Tenant interest began to pick up in early September, led by professional services firms, a staple of the office market. The overall average asking rental rate for the third quarter increased to $22.35/SF, a $0.76/SF rise from the second quarter. This helped pace the year-to-date average asking rent to go up by $0.19/SF to $21.77/SF.
Download Columbus Office Market Report 3Q25
Columbus Industrial Market
Class A warehouse leasing represented 53.0% of overall activity through three quarters, which is on par with 2024’s 53.5%. At the current pace, Class A leasing volume at 8.4 million SF, which is already higher than years 2010 through 2020, should finish 2025 with a higher total than 2023 and 2024. The Columbus industrial market recorded 3.5 million SF of positive net absorption in the third quarter, which contracted the overall quarterly vacancy rate by 100 basis points to 7.7%. Roughly 1.8% of Columbus’ industrial inventory has been absorbed thus far in 2025, amongst the top in the nation. Anduril’s first quarter 2025 lease of 773,114 SF at 4641 Elizabeth Ave. in the Rickenbacker submarket occupied this past quarter to help pace the third quarter absorption. The third quarter’s average direct asking rental rate was $6.13/SF, up $0.02/SF from the previous quarter.