As COVID-19 disruption continues in Seattle, leasing activity drops to a five-year low
Leasing dropped to a five-year low, with just 1.2 million square feet (msf) in the second quarter of 2020. This is down 39.1% versus the previous quarter and 57.2% year over year. Second quarter leasing activity was significantly (46.4%) below the five-year average of 2.2 msf per quarter. Quarterly leasing previously peaked at 4.1 msf in the fourth quarter of 2016 and has bottomed at the current level. The largest leases of the quarter were signed by Amazon at 7400 166th Avenue NE (111,368 square feet (sf)) in Bellevue, Board of Regents, University of Washington (56,677 sf) at 1001 4th Avenue in Downtown, and Nvidia (47,158 sf) at 11611 Willows Road NE in Bellevue. Market conditions will continue to soften in 2020 due to the repercussions from the COVID-19 shutdown.