Positive Absorption and New Construction Fuel Omaha Office Market
The Omaha office market is rebounding from the Covid-19 crisis and experienced almost 200,000 square feet of positive absorption in the second quarter of 2021. This marks three straight quarters of positive absorption after three straight quarters of negative absorption in 2020. The vacancy rate increased slightly from 10.4 percent in the first quarter to 10.6 percent in the second quarter as the newly constructed buildings, referenced below, collectively delivered 16.3 percent vacant. Average asking rents are increasing and now sit at $23.88 per square foot on a full-service gross basis, which is $1.86 higher than last quarter and $1.54 higher than one year ago. Over 250,000 square feet of newly constructed office space was delivered to the market in the second quarter bringing the year-to-date delivered space to 579,830 square feet. An additional 664,000 square feet of office space are currently under construction.