Washington, D.C. Office Market Report

Reasons for optimism arise. Recent activity indicates the worst may be in the rear view for D.C.'s office market. Indoor mask mandates for the District were lifted in March, which will likely provide additional momentum toward the sector's recovery moving forward. During the trailing 12-month period ending in March, firms absorbed over 700,000 square feet on a net basis, the largest four-quarter total since the onset of the health crisis. Notable leases during this span included the SEC committing to more than 1.2 million square feet of space in NoMa, marking the largest agreement in over 15 years. Looking ahead, President Joe Biden recently expressed in his State of the Union address the vast majority of federal workers will be phased back to in-person work, which may encourage other local firms to begin returning employees to the office as well.