Having ticked over 18 percent at the end of last year, the office vacancy rate in the East Bay, not including Walnut Creek or further east, inched down to 17.3 percent in the first quarter of 2022, representing the first decline in the vacancy rate since late 2019 (at which point the rate was closer to 8 percent), but with 4.7 million square feet of un-leased space, an additional 940,000 square feet of space which has been leased but is actively being offered for sublet, and an office vacancy rate of nearly 32 percent in Oakland’s City Center, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
At the same time, the average asking rent for East Bay office space has inched up another two (2) cents ($0.02) to $4.55 per square foot per month with landlords holding firm on rents despite the marked increase in vacant space over the past two years but offering free rent and build out allowances to reduce effective rents without signaling a decline.
All that being said, Cushman & Wakefield is actually expecting the vacancy rate to start inching back up as existing leases expire and “tenants continue to rethink their office needs.”