WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE COLUMBUS OFFICE MARKET? Q3 2026
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 to delve into the key findings of each office report to gain a deeper understanding of the trends driving the Columbus office market.
Tenant Migration - Where are Tenants Moving?
Tenants are constantly relocating their office space to better fit their needs. Using a points system based on signed square feet, we can track where office users are coming and going throughout the city. Check out our tenant migration heat map, and click around for more information on the movement within each submarket.
Worthington Steel completed the largest move of the quarter as they occupied 135,485 SF at 3344 Morse Crossing in the Easton submarket. New leasing activity was concentrated in Dublin and the CBD, which accounted for 27% and 20% of total quarterly activity, respectively. Firms from a wide-range of industries occupied space throughout Columbus in Q3 2026, with manufacturing and business services firms accounting for 25% and 16% of absorption, respectively.
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High-Rise Report - What's Happening Downtown?
The Q3 2026 report highlights Columbus' evolving downtown office landscape. In the second quarter the Columbus office market had 209,262 square feet of positive absorption, and the vacancy rate was 18.72 percent. Asking rates increased for an overall full-service gross rate of $21.53. Vacancy in the CBD increased to 18.93 percent, which is higher than the overall market’s vacancy of 18.72 percent. The CBD currently has 48,626 square feet under construction, which includes the Merchant Building. Several projects have been completed in the CBD over the past few years, such as the first phase of Scioto Peninsula, the Front and Fulton development, the second half of the Gravity project in Franklinton and the renovation of the Municipal Light Building. While construction activity in the CBD has slowed, several projects are underway such as the Capital line project and Gay Street Corridor revitalization. Tenants are continuing to stay active in the CBD, with 32 users representing 323,500 square feet currently searching for space specifically in the urban Columbus area. Columbus can anticipate increased activity throughout 2026 as users become more comfortable entering the market and making decisions regarding their office space.
Comprehensive Office Availability Report
Our new Space Availability Report provides an in-depth look at available office space across the Columbus market. The report breaks down availability by submarket, building class, suite size and buildout status, while also highlighting the largest contiguous blocks of space and the breakdown between direct and sublease availability.
Approximately 27% and 23% of available space is concentrated in the CBD and Dublin submarkets, respectively. Class A space accounts for the majority of available inventory, particularly in the larger submarkets. However, some suburban submarkets, including Westerville and Gahanna/Airport, have a higher concentration of Class B availability, reflecting their older building inventory. The Columbus office market currently has more than 11 million square feet of available space, with the largest share of available square footage concentrated in the 20,000–49,999 square foot range. However, smaller suites dominate the market by number of listings, with 1,123 suites under 5,000 square feet. Larger availabilities exceeding 50,000 square feet are primarily driven by fully vacant buildings, such as 5100 Rings Road. Overall, the average available suite size is approximately 3,500 square feet, reflecting the market’s concentration of smaller space options.
Check out our Q3 2026 Tenant Migration Report, High-Rise Reports and Sublease Activity Report here!
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