In 2023, the Boston office market faced challenges due to slower leasing and an uncertain recovery. According to CBRE’s Q4 Boston Real Estate Market Reports, net absorption in the last quarter of 2023 decreased by over negative 700,000 square feet – marking a record decline. During this time, overall vacancy and availability also increased to 19.3% and 24.5%, respectively.
Despite these challenges, certain submarkets and asset classes showed strong performance while others continued their decline as noted in Hunneman’s Year-End Boston Office Report for 2023. The Seaport’s class A market had a vacancy rate below six percent while the Back Bay saw a small increase to nine-point-one percent. Submarkets displayed mixed results with improvements seen in markets such as the South & North regions of Route I-495 but increased vacancies observed in areas like South & West regions of Route I-128.
Notable lease agreements included NY Life renewing their space, SciAps securing new space,and EMD Serano leasing space at Seaport location.
The latest data from Connect CRE shows that Q4 marked significant declines for office absorption rates across metro Boston area – making it one of largest annual decreases on record.
