The Washington, DC office market currently consists of 786 buildings, over 25,000 square feet, totaling approximately 146.1 million square feet of rentable space. As of May 2018, the unemployment rate for the District of Columbia decreased to 5.6%, while the Washington, DC Metropolitan area decreased to 3.2%. The national unemployment rate decreased to 4.0%.
The DC Metropolitan area gained 41,300 net new jobs from May 2017-May 2018, representing 1.3% growth YOY. Professional & Business Services lead the private sector with 15,800 new jobs; while the Government lost 3,800. The largest public sector lease executed this quarter was an extension by the GSA – U.S. Secret Service for 78,722 square feet at 1100 L Street, NW in the East End submarket. The Carlyle Group signed the largest private sector lease with a 200,000-square-foot renewal / expansion at 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in the CBD submarket. There were six sale transactions in DC, totaling $434,299,510. The largest sale was 875 15th Street, NW – The Bowen Building trading to JP Morgan Chase for $140,000,000 ($598 psf).