At the very least, Baltimore's office sector seems stable. Maybe it's not booming as well as Miami or New York — but steadiness certainly isn't the worst thing.
What stood out the most was the leasing activity, which reached 861,000 square feet in the fourth quarter, according to a market report from CBRE. This marks the highest quarterly total in all of 2025 and an 18 percent increase from the typical average in the post-pandemic world. DAP signed the largest lease in the fourth quarter, thanks to its 60,017 square foot renewal in the Baltimore East submarket.
PNC Bank and Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz were the runners up, with their 58,797 square foot and 54,237 square foot renewals. Rounding out the top five were Maryland Department of Budget & Management and MedStar Health, for 43,728 square feet and 42,358 square feet in their lease deals, respectively.
Business services drove 25 percent of the leasing activity, the most in the market.
While it was a strong quarter for leasing, demand was negative. Net absorption was nearly -20,000 square feet, mainly driven by move-outs and downsizes from technology firm Ciena, PNC and Baker Donelson.
That led to the vacancy rate inching up by 10 basis points quarter-over-quarter to 20.8 percent. Baltimore West had the highest amount, averaging 30.8 percent.
Average gross asking rates came in at $26.78 per square foot, an amount that was flat from the third quarter.
And lastly — the supply trends are favorable for office in Baltimore.
"The development pipeline in Baltimore is depleted, with no office projects currently under construction," CBRE said.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.