Columbus Office Market
Columbus logged its fourth straight quarter of positive office absorption in the first quarter of 2026, totaling 98,472 SF. With the removal of office space from inventory that is slated for redevelopment, the quarter’s vacancy rate remained flat at 20.7% after the average vacancy rate ended 2025 at 21.7%. Vacancy has climbed well above its long‑term average since 2020 despite muted new construction, as weak or negative net absorption in multiple recent years has driven a sustained increase in the overall vacancy rate. At 502,374 SF, leasing volume in the first quarter of 2026 remained well below long-term norms and near recent cyclical lows. Despite this dip, the leasing total wasn’t too far below the first quarter of 2025. The average asking rental rate for the first quarter of 2026 held steady at $23.12/SF.
Download Columbus Office Market Report 1Q26
Columbus Industrial Market
Class A warehouse leasing totaled 54.0% of all Columbus leasing this past year, a volume at 11.9 million SF that finished 2025 with the highest total in 16 years. The Class A warehouse vacancy rate for the fourth quarter fell to 10.1% from 12.2% in the third quarter. Crane Worldwide Logistics LLC led the quarter’s lease transactions with a new lease at 714 Bosses Way in the Rickenbacker submarket measuring just under 1.2 million SF. Also in the Rickenbacker submarket, DHL Supply Chain signed a 737,471 SF lease and J Boren & Sons Logistics inked a 340,049 SF lease, both on Creekside Pkwy. The Columbus industrial market recorded 3.3 million SF of positive net absorption in the fourth quarter, which contracted the overall quarterly vacancy rate by 80 basis points to 7.2%. Just two of the 16 industrial submarkets finished with year-to-date negative absorption. Despite a slow rent growth rate, tightening vacancy in the market has enabled asking rental rates to climb for six straight years, though they have remained largely flat for most of 2025.