Due to a limited supply and a steady demand, Atlanta’s office market continued to see overall growth in the first quarter of 2020. Vacancy in Atlanta remained below the metro’s historical average, ending Q1 at 15%. The metro’s core submarkets continued to drive Atlanta growth, which has fueled a rapidly growing development pipeline. Five developments, each over 100,000 SF and totaled 1.7M SF, delivered in the first quarter. Among these developments were State Farm’s 670,000 SF Phase II office tower, Trammell Crow Company’s speculative development Twelve24, which was 72% preleased upon completion and Anthem Technology’s 352,000 SF build-to-suit.

While the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in correlation with commercial real estate remains unknown, the outbreak is expected to cause some economic disruption in Atlanta. The path of Atlanta’s economy and its office sector will depend on how widely the virus spreads and how long containment policies will be in effect. It’s likely that leasing activity, supply, rent growth, and office space restructure such as working from home, coworking and open concept spaces will all be affected by the outbreak, though the full scope of its impact is unknown.