Austin is leading all U.S. cities in office-using employment growth, even though its office vacancy rate remains well above the national average.

The Sun Belt filled the top five spots in office-use employment, which included Raleigh, North Carolina, Nashville, Dallas and Charlotte, according to a recent Avison Young report. Between 2019 and 2025, Austin’s office-using employment grew by roughly 34%. Raleigh saw the second-highest growth at approximately 23%. 

Avison Young attributed the trend to healthier demand and elevated leasing activity.

But despite job growth, Austin posted a 22.4% office vacancy rate in the first quarter, according to Colliers. This rate has remained flat year-over-year, with Q1 2025 reporting a 22.5% vacancy rate. The national average was 18.6% during the first quarter of 2026, CBRE reported.

However, there is hope on the horizon. With Austin leading the nation in office-use growth, the metro area’s vacancy rate is likely to gradually decline, Avison Young’s Regional Manager of Market Intelligence Ariel Guerrero told Bisnow. 

“With Austin’s office development pipeline now slowing significantly and the metro still leading the nation in office-using job growth, vacancy has likely peaked and should gradually trend downward over the next year,” he said.

Since 2020, nearly 14M SF of new office space has been delivered, causing a sharp oversupply, as noted by Cushman & Wakefield.

New office construction has slowed significantly as the market works through that oversupply. The pipeline had only 756K SF expected to be fully delivered by the end of the third quarter, according to a separate CBRE report. 

Additionally, Austin is reported to have positive net absorption in Q1, with 110 tenants seeking 4.4M SF of space, CBRE stated. The metro’s improving office demand mirrors the broader national trend, which CBRE reported as the eighth straight quarter of positive demand.

Guerrero said the expected decline in the vacancy rate likely won’t be uniform across all office building classes, at least not in the near term. Trophy and Class-A assets will see rates decline before what he described as “older vintage buildings.”

“In the meantime, it remains a tenant-favorable market, presenting a window for occupiers to secure long-term leases before conditions tighten and pricing power begins to shift back toward landlords,” he said.

What do a multifamily community in Florida, a Class-A retail center in Alexandria, Virginia, and a large mixed-use parcel outside of Austin have in common?

Those three developments are representative of the diverse investment opportunities in the top commercial real estate markets in the United States, as identified by Avison Young’s new U.S. Investment Sales platform, known as USIS, which it established earlier this year.

James Nelson, head of U.S. investment sales for the global real estate advisory firm, said USIS is focused on multifamily, office, retail and other development projects in 12 CRE markets that generate roughly 40% of the average annual sales volume for the entire country. 

“If you really want to move the needle as a company or as an investor, you need to focus on these dozen markets,” Nelson said. “Our investment sales group is well positioned to expand our client relationships and identify new business opportunities in these metropolitan areas, leveraging our uniquely integrated teams.”

Nelson said Avison Young’s goal is to drive its sales volume in these markets for transactions worth $25M or more through dedicated research and business development efforts. Opportunities outside these markets are also presenting themselves as Avison Young professionals in other markets seek to leverage the national USIS presence. 

“Multifamily is the most desirable asset class right now, accounting for over a third of the dollar volume year to date,” Nelson said. “As for office, once you start getting more billion-dollar sales, like 590 Madison in New York, that’s really going to start pushing up the numbers.”

USIS partner and principal Erik Edeen added that there were 10 transactions worth more than $100M in Manhattan in the third quarter, at least one in each of the asset classes. It was the first time this has happened in five years.

“This highlights the availability of capital chasing larger deals across the sector spectrum and presents as a vote of confidence for the market in general,” Edeen said.

Despite their impressive performances so far in 2025, USIS’ 12 target markets aren’t even reaching their full potential, Nelson said. On average, these markets are performing at only about half the level they were in 2021 due to the CRE disruptions of recent years, such as higher interest rates.

“You look at these cities and you start to ask, for example, if Dallas is currently a $24B market, does that mean it could be close to a $50B market?” he said. “Or I can tell you that the 10-year average in New York was around $30B and right now it’s two-thirds that. These are big markets with a lot of growth potential.”

Nelson said Avison Young’s approach will appeal to investors who are looking for diversification across asset classes, geography or both. With its local expertise and 60 offices across the country, USIS can locate deals that meet clients’ unique needs and risk profiles, he said. This is particularly important for out-of-town investors who might be interested in growth cities such as Dallas or Charlotte. 

“With all the capital flowing to these major markets, we can help make introductions with our local boots on the ground to win more large-scale business,” he said. “Likewise, if you’re looking to sell, you certainly want someone who has expertise in the local market but who can also put it on a national or even global stage, and that’s what we’re really good at.”

Nelson said the representative developments — the Florida multifamily community, Northern Virginia retail center and suburban Austin mixed-use parcel — exemplify Avison Young’s ability to find and bring local opportunities to the attention of global investors. 

In Florida, 2211 Grand Isle is a 390-unit multifamily community on about 25 acres. Less than a 15-mile drive from Tampa, its garden-style apartments provide much-needed housing.

“There’s always going to be demand for this type of housing and occupancy numbers at 2211 Grand Isle are in the high 90s,” he said. “It’s a really solid investment for someone who’s looking for cash flow with upside potential.”

In Alexandria, 5900 Kingstowne Village Parkway features 88K SF of 100% occupied Class-A retail. As a key component of a much larger mixed-use property, the center also presents significant cash flow with further potential.

“Real estate investors like that theme,” he said.

Meanwhile, Revelry, a master-planned community near Austin, offers more than 200 acres of multifamily, mixed residential and commercial development parcels for sale.

Nelson said the USIS platform gives clients the opportunity to easily invest in projects like these in any of its principal 12 markets, with Avison Young providing seamless support across the country.

“In the brokerage world, especially at a lot of the big shops, there are a lot of silos where, if you want to invest in a dozen markets, you have to meet with a dozen different teams,” he said.

“The nice thing about Avison Young is we’re a principal-owned company with 750 owners and one database. If an investor wants to invest in particular markets, we all have access to that information here. That’s what we’re solving for, and with the traction we’ve already seen out of the gate, I couldn’t be more excited for the future.”

This article was produced in collaboration between Avison Young and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com. 

Realty Link plans to build a Marriott Studio Res hotel and a Main Event entertainment center next to the recently opened Top Golf.

The Triad Business Journal reports Topgolf’s new $10.5 million Greensboro facility is 50,000 square feet and located on a 30-acre site at 609 Guilford College Road, near the intersection with Bridford Road.

Plans call for the Marriott StudioRes hotel to be four stories located at 605 Guilford College. It is set to include 124 rooms and 136 parking spaces. Rosemont Holdings is developing the hotel. Marriott StudioRes, a midscale, extended-stay hotel, first launched in 2023.

Main Event, an entertainment concept that includes a restaurant, games and activities, will be located at 515 Guilford College Road. It will be one story, approximately 48,800 square feet, and include 294 parking spaces. A convenience store is also planned for the site.

The U.S. will set a record for new apartment deliveries for the third year in a row, with developers on track to complete more than 518,000 new rental units in 2024, according to a recent report by RentCafe. 2024 is the first year in the history of U.S. apartment construction in which the number of completions will surpass the 500,000-unit threshold, with the D.C. region among top metros with a steady pipeline of new apartments coming to market.

According to RentCafe, the D.C. metro ranks No. 7, with 15,079 new units to be delivered by the end of 2024. In the past five years, developers have completed 72,709 new apartment units in the area, ranking No. 6 for five-year growth.

Looking ahead, the report highlights 2024-2028 projections including that Bethesda could gain momentum, doubling its units by 2028 (up 163.5%). RentCafe’s nationwide report shows the New York City metro is leading new apartment unit delivery for the third year in a row, followed by Dallas and Austin.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. said Tuesday that a top 20 pharmaceutical company and longstanding credit tenant has increased its San Diego footprint by nearly 53%. The tenant has signed a 10-year lease for 127,382 square feet, with significant expansion options, for a new R&D center at 10075 Barnes Canyon Rd. on the SD Tech by Alexandria mega campus in the Sorrento Mesa submarket of San Diego. 

With this anchor lease, the 253,079-square-foot development, which is targeting LEED Gold Core & Shell and Fitwel certifications, is now 70% leased ahead of its anticipated initial delivery in 2025. The lease also brings Alexandria’s 1.2-million-square-foot pipeline of under-construction mega campus development projects in San Diego to 94% leased.

Having entered the San Diego market in June 1994, Alexandria has been a key player in the development, expansion and transformation of the region into one of the nation’s top life science clusters. As of this past March, its operational San Diego portfolio was 95.2% occupied.

Trammell Crow Company (TCC) and Beacon Capital Partners have topped out at Hyde Park Labs in Chicago. Located at 5207 Harper Court, the building will span more than 300,000 square feet.

Hyde Park Labs will feature nine floors of Class A lab and office space, as well as ground-level retail and lobby. The first tenants are anticipated to move in early 2025, and the University of Chicago has already pre-leased 55,000 square feet of the building for early-stage science research. Hyde Park Labs is the second phase of development at Harper Court, which currently includes a hotel, an office building that houses UChicago administrative offices, and retail space.

Dan Lyne and Brandon Green of CBRE are the exclusive marketing and leasing agents for the project. Additional partners include Elkus Manfredi Architects, Interactive Design Architects, Power Construction, Ujamaa, and Trinal, the development’s diversity and inclusion consulting company.

Connect Industrial Midwest 2024 will take place on March 5, 2024, at Joe’s Live in Rosemont, Illinois. Click here for more information and to register.

While some of the tax-deferred “goodies” offered by Opportunity Zone investments have long expired, the interest in these vehicles has not. According to a report by Novogradac, Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs) tracked by the company raised $3.53 billion in equity during 2023. This increased the total amount of Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) equity raised to $37.6 billion.

Because Novogradac’s figures don’t include private funds owned and operated by their principal investors, the actual QOZ investment is likely higher than the Novogradac total.

Novogradac reported that during Q4 2023, QOFs raised $414 million in equity, which followed strong second and third quarters. But the annual amount raised was lower than the totals of the three previous years, which surpassed $9 billion.

“At least part of the reason for the slowdown was the general state of the economy, specifically a decrease in multifamily housing construction, which ended December 2023 with the lowest annualized figure for permits since 2017,” the report noted.

QOFs are the investment vehicle used by taxpayers to defer capital gains. Novogradic obtains numbers on a rolling basis from QOFs that provide information and data from public sources, including Security and Exchange Commission filings and press releases.

Approximately 80% of known QOF investment is focused on developments that include multifamily housing. In quoting RealPage, Novogradac said the number of apartments built in QOZs tripled from 2016 through 2022, then doubled again in 2023. The RealPage data also indicated that 20% of all delivered apartments in 2023 were in a QOZ. However, Novogradac anticipated the slowdown in multifamily permits in 2023 will be felt in late 2024 or 2025.

Novogradac also reported that:

• QOFs with at least some focus on housing raised $30.93 billion, $8.10 billion of that focused solely on residential property

• QOFs with some focus on commercial investment raised $24.93 billion; $2.20 billion was raised by funds focused only on commercial activity

2023 was a challenging year in commercial real estate, yet the industry’s leading dealmakers got it done. Do you know a leasing or investment sales broker or team who made a big impact in 2023 amid the year’s hurdles? Here’s an opportunity to acknowledge them. For the seventh year in a row, Connect Commercial Real Estate will be spotlighting the industry’s top dealmakers, and we’re inviting you to help us make our selections.  

Based on your nominations, we’ll recognize 110 leading brokers or teams of brokers for our 2024 Top Broker Awards, including both brokers who specialize in property sales and brokers who specialize in leasing. That includes:  

• Ten California winners  

• Ten Seattle/Pacific Northwest winners  

• Ten Phoenix/Southwest winners  

• Ten Texas winners  

• Ten Chicago/Midwest winners  

• Ten Boston/New England winners  

• Ten New York/Tri-State winners  

• Ten Washington, DC winners  

• Ten Atlanta/Southeast winners  

• Ten Florida/Gulf Coast winners  

• Ten National winners  

We’ll consider the deals completed by the brokers in 2023, based on the total dollar volume of deals for investment sales brokers, and the total square footage of deals for leasing brokers. The deadline for nominations is Feb. 9. Click here to submit your nominations.

Luxury centre Bond Street has felt the impact of no tax-free shopping.

UK luxury industry body Walpole has once again called on the government to reinstate a tax-free shopping scheme for international tourists following the UK’s departure from the European Union.

In its inaugural State of London Luxury report, in partnership with landlord Cadogan, it claimed that the loss is “a drag on both London’s and the UK’s economic performance”, costing the country £4.1B annually.

“Every passing year without the scheme entrenches the view of London as a costlier place to visit and a less competitive place to do business,” the report says.

The tax break was removed after the UK left the EU. It was brought back and then swiftly removed during successive government budgets, leaving critics to claim that London has been left at a huge disadvantage to luxury city rivals such as Paris and Milan. 

Citing the impact on visitor spending, Walpole said that in 2022, U.S. visitors spent at 101% of 2019 levels in London, but at 226%, 206% and 190% in France, Spain and Italy, respectively.

“If a next-generation tax-free shopping scheme could be introduced, London’s status as the world’s number-one luxury city would be guaranteed,” Walpole CEO Helen Brocklebank said.

The return of the policy would “be a windfall for the whole UK, including London”, and would add £4.1B to the UK economy and create an additional 78,000 jobs, according to Walpole’s research.

High-end tourists in London are estimated by Walpole to outspend mass tourists by 14 times per trip and double that of high-end visitors to other European cities, and the opening of 12 new five-star hotels between 2022 and 2025 should continue to attract more high-end visitors.

Beyond Bond Street — which has seen some high-profile retail departures — and Mayfair, Walpole said that affluent villages such as Connaught Village, Marylebone Village, Little Venice and Shoreditch offer hyperlocalisation and trend-led retail that have positioned London “as a global leader in growth and investment”.

Walpole and Cadogan also called on the government to extend the Electronic Visa Waiver to other high-spending markets beyond Gulf countries, particularly the Far East. Likewise, it said a joint UK-Schengen visa would significantly reduce the complexity for international visitors.

The report was launched on 15 May as part of Walpole’s annual conference, where Director Charlotte Keesing described the UK’s position outside the European visa system and the lack of tax-free shopping as a “significant drag on recovery”.

Meanwhile, Heathrow Airport Retail Director Fraser Brown warned of examples of wealthy visitors staying in London but travelling to city rivals Paris and Milan to shop.

In a sign that there may be some government movement, Trade Minister Nigel Huddleston has reportedly asked for more “information and data” on the impact of the decision to remove tax-free shopping.