Availability continues to increase with tepid demand; Bellevue shows stability
Quarterly leasing volume remained above one million square feet (msf) for the second quarter in a row, with close to 1.1 msf leased in Q2. Still, this remains 48% below the pre-pandemic quarterly average of 2.3 msf. Very few large leases were signed in the quarter, with any sizeable activity concentrated in Bellevue Central Business District (CBD) and Seattle CBD. Pokémon expanded into 65,768 square feet (sf) at Lincoln Square North and some sublease blocks were chipped away at as RBC took 31,109 sf at Amazon-leased Rainier Square in the Seattle CBD. With demand still lagging, overall availability increased by another 130 basis points to 19.4%. This reflects a 630-basis-point increase from a year ago, and a 760-basispoint increase from pre-pandemic level. Bellevue CBD however has shown notable strength with availability declining by 20 basis points to 13.9% - and it is one of the tightest submarkets in the region.