Historical market commentary: November 2020. This article preserves the Tampa office market figures discussed in the original post. These figures do not represent current vacancy rates, rents, or market conditions.

Tampa Office Leasing Update: November 2020

The original November 2020 commentary described the Tampa office market as holding up relatively well during the pandemic, citing an approximately 7.5% average vacancy rate over the preceding 24 months and approximately 1.8% year-over-year rent growth.

Reported vacancy differed by property rating. The update listed approximately 6.9% vacancy for 1- and 2-star office properties, compared with approximately 9.6% for 4- and 5-star properties.

Historical Office Market Snapshot

Vacancy Varied by Property Rating

The reported vacancy rate for 1- and 2-star office properties was 2.7 percentage points lower than the rate for 4- and 5-star properties.

That difference illustrates why an overall market average can conceal meaningful variation between property groups. These star ratings are retained from the original update; their methodology was not identified in the supplied material.

The 7.5% overall figure was described as a 24-month average, while the property-rating figures were presented as market snapshot figures. They should not be treated as identical measurement periods.

Rent Growth During a Disrupted Market

The original commentary characterized Tampa’s approximately 1.8% annual rent growth as among the stronger results nationally. The supplied material did not include a national comparison table or ranking, so that characterization should be understood as the author’s assessment at the time.

Positive reported rent growth does not, by itself, establish the economics of an individual lease. Concessions, improvement allowances, operating expenses, lease length, and downtime also affect an owner’s return.

What Office Owners Can Take From This Update

The original conclusion was that Tampa’s office market remained in relatively good shape despite the pandemic. This was a historical market assessment, rather than a current forecast or a statement about every property.

For an individual building, the most useful analysis compares nearby competing properties with similar size, condition, amenities, and tenant needs. Market-wide vacancy and rent growth provide context, but they do not establish a specific property’s achievable rent or value.

Source: John Milsaps’s original Tampa Office Leasing Update, published November 2, 2020. The supplied post and infographic did not identify the underlying data provider, exact market boundaries, rent methodology, or star-rating methodology. Figures are preserved as historical reporting and have not been independently reverified.