Completions in the office sector in 2024 totaled 43.2 million square feet, the lowest annual total since 2013. The reduction in construction activity comes as a result of slow leasing, tougher to secure construction financing, increased interest rates and shifts involving remote and hybrid work. The amount of delivered office space in 2023 was at 71.1 million square feet of completed office space, while 2022 had recorded some 61 million square feet in incoming office inventory, totals that now seem very distant. However, the top 10 markets for office deliveries in the nation still saw solid performance, with a combined 29 million square of space added over the year prior.
New construction starts in 2024 totaled only 9.8 million square feet—a steep drop from the 83 million square feet recorded in 2019, while 54.7 million square feet of space was under development at the end of December 2024.
According to CommercialEdge data, the top ten metros on this list included 29.3 million square feet of completed office space. This accounted for 67.8 percent of the total square footage that came online last year in the nation. Here are the top markets for office deliveries in the country in 2024:
1. Boston
In 2024, developers in Boston completed 6.4 million square feet of office space across 22 properties. This marked a 21.5 percent increase from 2023, when the metro saw nearly 5.3 million square feet in completed projects across 13 properties.
Significant projects that came online last year in the life sciences hub include 10 Prospect St., a 205,000-square-foot building in Somerville, Mass. US2, the partnership between Magellan Development Group, RAS Development, Cypress Equity Investments and Affinius Capital, completed the LEED-Gold certified, life science property in early 2024.
Meanwhile, construction starts in the past year totaled 1.1 million square feet across four properties—a 64.1 percent decrease when compared to the previous year’s figures, when 3.1 million square feet across 10 properties broke ground. As of December last year, Boston had 8.7 million square feet under construction across 26 properties, ending the year as the nation’s most active pipelines. The figure represented 3.4 percent of existing stock, way above the national average of 0.8 percent.
Significant projects currently underway in the metro are generally life sciences-driven. One of them is Tishman Speyer’s Harvard Enterprise Research Campus in Allston, Mass., that had its first phase, a 440,000-square-foot lab component, topped out in August 2024. Meanwhile, one of the metro’s most active developers, BioMed Realty, topped out 585 Kendall, a life science project totaling 637,000 square feet in Cambridge, Mass.
2. Seattle
Another life sciences sector-driven market, Seattle recorded 4 million square feet of delivered space across 11 properties in 2024. The figure marks a 36.3 percent increase from the 2.9 million square feet that came online in 2023.
Notable completions of last year include Skanska’s The Eight, a 729,000-square-foot office building in Bellevue, Wash. The 26-story property was more than 80 percent preleased prior to its delivery and marked Bellevue’s first speculative office project to be developed in the last six years.
In terms of construction starts, The Emerald City saw only one project that broke ground in 2024, totaling 80,000 square feet. When compared to the previous year, when 691,700 square feet across 22 properties commenced construction, the metro saw a drastic 88.4 percent decrease in construction starts, on par with the year’s economic challenges. Despite this decrease for construction starts, at the end of last year there were 10 properties under development in Seattle, totaling approximately 5.2 million square feet.
3. Dallas-Fort Worth
The third metro on our list is The Metroplex, with 2.8 million square feet across 19 properties that came online in 2024—marking a 29.4 percent decrease from the year before last, when developers completed 4 million square feet across 26 properties.
Construction starts in Dallas also marked an impressive drop: the metro recorded only 884,365 square feet across 10 properties that broke ground in 2024, representing a 73.1 percent decrease from 2023. For context, the metro had nearly 3.3 million square feet across 22 properties that started construction at the time.
Meanwhile, the metro’s under construction pipeline included 4.1 million square feet of space across 24 properties as of December. One of the largest projects underway is 23Springs, a 642,000-square-foot mixed-use project in Uptown Dallas. The project topped out in October last year and includes a 26-story office tower and two restaurant buildings.
4. San Diego
Our list of top markets for office deliveries continues with San Diego, that had 2.7 million square feet across 19 office properties delivered in 2024. When compared to the year before last’s data, when developers completed only five properties totaling 748,807 square feet, San Diego’s last year inventory marked an impressive surge in completions, with a 266.5 percent increase.
However, on the construction starts front the numbers were reversed: 2024 recorded only 310,956 square feet across four properties that broke ground—representing an 85.8 percent decline from the 2.2 million square feet that started construction in 2023.
As of December, San Diego’s pipeline included 3.6 million square feet across 21 properties. One of the largest projects under development is a life science building totaling 426,927 square feet in the metro’s Torrey Pines submarket. Developed by Alexandria Real Estate Equities, the project at 4135 Campus Point Court is already fully preleased by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. The development is within the company’s 2 million-square-foot Alexandria Point campus.
5. San Francisco
Another top market for office deliveries that’s driven by the life sciences sector, San Francisco, saw 2.7 million square feet of completed space in 2024, across 13 properties. A notable delivered project was the 327,000-square-foot life science building at 651 Gateway Blvd. Boston Properties completed the 16-story project in March. The amount of last year’s completions was slightly larger when looking at the previous year: 2023 had recorded 2.2 million square feet of new space across 15 properties. This marks a 22.5 percent increase in 2024’s projects that came online.
In contrast, 2024 construction starts included only three properties totaling 316,000 square feet—marking an 89.7 percent drop when compared to the nearly 3.1 million square feet that broke ground in 2023. However, San Francisco’s completions may pick up in 2025: the metro ended last year with 4.5 million square feet across 20 projects under construction.
6. Washington, D.C.
The nation’s capital had 2.4 million square feet of completed office space across 11 properties, making it number six on our list of top markets for office deliveries. This reflects a 50 percent decline from 2023, when 14 projects reached completion, contributing with 4.9 million square feet.
D.C.’s developers opted for Class A and A+ assets, while one of the largest projects to reach completion in 2024 included 3901 Fairfax Drive, a 201,000-square-foot building in Arlington, Va., developed by Skanska. Construction activity remained sluggish: the capital city ended 2024 with one of the smallest pipelines across gateway markets: only 1.5 million square feet across seven projects were underway.
7. Austin
Austin’s 2024 deliveries mirrored the previous year’s, remaining on the same seventh place on our list. Developers completed 2.2 million square feet across 22 properties—representing a 21.1 percent drop when compared to 2023’s data, when 39 projects totaling 2.9 million square feet were added to its inventory.
However, developers broke ground on slightly more projects in 2024 than the year before last: Austin had 1.4 million square feet in construction starts that marked a 15.6 percent uptick compared with the 1.2 million square feet that broke ground in 2023.
The metro ended 2024 with one of the most active pipelines in the nation in terms of actual square footage: 33 projects were underway, totaling 4.2 million square feet.
8. Bay Area
The Bay Area added 2.1 million square feet of completed space across nine properties in 2024. This marked a significant decrease of 48.6 percent from the 4.2 million square feet completed in 2023.
A recent completion is The Landing’s first building, a 300,000-square-foot office property in Burlingame, Calif. The property is part of King Street Properties’ two-building life science campus on the San Francisco Peninsula. The Bay Area’s under development pipeline included 3.6 million square feet at the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, construction starts on the metro included only two projects totaling 202,631—marking a significant drop of 86.2 percent when compared to the 1.5 million square feet that broke ground in 2023.
9. Atlanta
Deliveries included 12 office projects totaling 2.1 million square feet, placing Atlanta among the lowest-performing markets in terms of added inventory. This marks a 27.6 percent increase from 2023, when 1.7 million square feet came online.
Among large completions was Science Square Labs, a 368,258-square-foot office building. The property is the first phase of Science Square, a life science district expected to include 1.8 million square feet of mixed-use space.
Atlanta also placed on the ninth spot on our list in terms of under-construction space, ending 2024 with 1.3 million square feet underway. Meanwhile, only one, 200,000-square-foot property started construction last year, representing a massive drop of 82.9 percent from 2023 construction starts, that included nearly 1.2 million square feet of space.
10. Raleigh-Durham
Raleigh-Durham landed on the last spot on our list of top markets for office deliveries, with completions totaling 1.7 million square feet across 14 properties. That marks a 29.4 percent increase from the previous year, when 10 properties totaling 1.3 million square feet came online.
Developers broke ground on four properties totaling 517,165 square feet, slightly below the previous year, when construction starts included 650,879 square feet—the difference represents a 20.5 percent decrease. Meanwhile, Raleigh-Durham ended last year with 1 million square feet of space underway across seven properties.