The Washington, DC office market currently consists of 816 buildings, over 25,000 square feet, totaling approximately 157.9 million square feet of rentable space. As of May 2022, the unemployment rate for the District of Columbia increased to 5.7%, while unemployment for the Washington, DC Metropolitan area decreased to 3.3%. The national unemployment rate remained flat at 3.6%.
The DC Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) added 96,600 jobs from May 2021-May 2022, representing 3.0% growth YOY. Sectors adding the most jobs were Leisure & Hospitality with 55,300 followed by Educational & Health Services with 12,600, while the Government added 5,500. The largest public sector lease executed this quarter was signed by the GSA – Department of Justice for 331,000 square feet at 555 4th Street, NW, in the East End submarket. Google executed the largest private sector lease with a 130,000-square-foot sublease at 655 New York Avenue, NW in the East End submarket. The three buildings of The Wharf Phase II delivered this quarter. 680 Maine Avenue, SW (293,953 sf) delivered 100% leased to Williams & Connolly, 670 Maine Avenue, SW (255,750 sf) delivered 47% leased to Williams & Connolly and PhRMA, while 610 Water Street, SW (89,500 sf) delivered 100% leased to The Atlantic and Freedom Forum. There were five sales transactions this quarter, totaling $656,076,356. The largest sale was 1900 N Street, NW trading to Commerz Real AG from Canada Pension Plan Investments for $265,000,000 ($976 psf).