The Washington, DC office market currently consists of 782 buildings, over 25,000 square feet, totaling approximately 145.1 million square feet of rentable space. As of November 2018, the unemployment rate for the District of Columbia remained flat at 5.6%, while the Washington, DC Metropolitan area decreased to 3.0%. The national unemployment rate increased to 3.9%.
The DC Metropolitan area gained 54,100 net new jobs from November 2017-November 2018, representing 1.6% growth YOY. Professional & Business Services lead the private sector with 15,800 new jobs; while the Government gained 4,200. The largest public sector lease executed this quarter was a renewal by the GSA – Department of State for 189,008 square feet at 2215 Constitution Avenue, NW in the West End submarket. Williams & Connolly signed the largest private sector lease with a 292,000-square-foot pre-lease at 690 Maine Avenue, SW – The Wharf Phase II in the Southwest submarket. There were nine sale transactions in DC, totaling $1,609,225,000. The largest sale was 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW trading to PRP / GMF Global for $338,000,000 ($1,002 psf).