Tallying the pandemic’s toll
The pandemic and subsequent office-worker exodus left scars on Downtown Seattle. Office vacancy in the central business district currently sits at 21.2% according to CoStar, a real estate data analytics firm. In 2019, Downtown vacancy was just 6.6%. CoStar defines the central business district boundaries as First Avenue to I-5 and Yesler Way to Denny Way.
CoStar analyst Elliott Krivenko said their forecasts show that vacancy rate mostly remaining level through 2025, potentially ticking up to 22%. But he admits that forecast could be optimistic given the growing amount of space available to lease and cooling demand right now.
According to the Downtown Seattle Association, more
