CHART OF THE MONTH: HOW OFFICE AVAILABILITY VARIES BY SPACE SIZE

Written by: Jake Lord

Jake specializes in research capabilities, providing support for the Colliers Columbus Office, Industrial, Retail and Capital Market groups. He is responsible for executing data reports, maintaining a commercial property database, reporting quarterly trends, performing data analysis, and utilizing statistical information to predict future behavior in the market. Keep reading for his analysis on office space availability across different suite size ranges.

Size range	Available SF	Total-Market Availability
0–2,499 SF	569,964	1.17%
2,500–4,999 SF	1,100,277	2.25%
5,000–9,999 SF	1,940,606	3.98%
10,000–19,999 SF	3,012,902	6.17%
10,000–49,999 SF	3,544,232	7.26%
50,000+ SF	1,222,798	2.51%
Total Market	11,390,779	23.34%

Office availability can look very different depending on the amount of space a tenant needs. While smaller suites account for most of the options currently being marketed across the Columbus office market, larger blocks represent a much greater amount of available square footage and serve a different segment of tenant demand.

This month’s chart examines marketed office listings across six suite-size ranges. Spaces below 5,000 square feet account for more than half of all offerings, including 455 listings below 2,500 square feet and 294 listings between 2,500 and 4,999 square feet. Together, however, these two categories represent only about 1.7 million square feet of marketed availability. By comparison, the 20,000-to-49,999-square-foot category contains only 121 offerings but accounts for approximately 3.5 million square feet, the largest amount among the size ranges analyzed. The 10,000-to-19,999-square-foot category contains another 3.0 million square feet of available space.

Measured against the entire Columbus office inventory, the 20,000-to-49,999-square-foot segment has the highest total availability rate at approximately 7.26%. The 10,000-to-19,999 square-foot segment follows at 6.17%. Smaller suites represent a lower percentage of total market inventory despite having substantially more individual listings. This contrast illustrates how listing volume and available square footage can present different views of the market. Small-suite users may encounter a greater number of individual options, while larger users can evaluate fewer but significantly larger blocks capable of accommodating more complex space requirements.

The distribution of availability may also create opportunities for both tenants and landlords. Many users continue to seek suites below 5,000 square feet, making the small-suite segment an active and important part of the market. Larger blocks, meanwhile, can provide companies with room to consolidate operations, accommodate future growth, establish a prominent office presence, or phase occupancy over time. Landlords marketing these spaces may be able to differentiate their properties through tenant improvement packages, flexible layouts, phased occupancy, building amenities, and other customized lease structures.

Smaller tenants may have more individual options to consider, but those listings represent a comparatively limited share of total available square footage. Large tenants, by contrast, face fewer individual offerings, yet the space available within those categories represents a more significant portion of the market. This gives users distinct sets of choices based on location, configuration, condition, amenities, and long-term business needs.

The broader takeaway is that office availability is not evenly distributed. Smaller suites dominate by listing count, while larger blocks account for a substantial share of the square footage currently being marketed. Understanding both measures provides a clearer view of tenant options and the range of opportunities available throughout the Columbus office market.

Methodology and Source: Data was sourced from CoStar. Marketed office listings were deduplicated and grouped by maximum advertised suite size. Because divisible spaces may appear in multiple configurations, listing counts and square footage may not represent unique physical vacancies.