The D.C. Office Market Is in Trouble” via WSJ

“A Government Accountability Office review of 24 federal agencies last year estimated that 17 of them used on average one-quarter or less of the capacity of their headquarters buildings during a three-week sample period.

The district’s office vacancy rate rose to a new high of 22.4% in the second quarter from less than 14% in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to CBRE Group”

The amount of occupied space declined by more than 500,000 square feet in the second quarter, “with the federal government accounting for nearly half of the occupancy loss,” CBRE said in a recent report.

Bars, restaurants and other small businesses that depend on federal workers have struggled. Last year the district projected a budget gap of close to $500 million in its fiscal plan partly because of a drop in real-estate tax collection.