WASHINGTON, DC–Since 2011 the co-working and creative tech space have been driving growth in the office sector. Now, a new JLL research note concludes that they will continue to do so over the next few years as the traditional engines of office growth remain in flux.
It wasn't until recently that metro DC's traditional engines of office demand stop generating significant growth. Indeed between 2000 to 2010 they drove a majority of the 50 million square feet of occupancy gains. During this time period, JLL writes, federal government spending increased consistently post 9/11 and during the financial crisis; defense contractors' contract award levels rose 286% to $28.5 billion, and legal revenues rose more than 5% — often into the double-digits — on an annual basis pre-recession.
Since 2010, growth has been stymied by reduce-the-footprint mandates, budget cuts, fee compression and rightsizing, JLL said. As a result, since 2010 the federal government has reduced its footprint by 3 million square feet, contractors by 2.5 million square feet and law firms by 1.6 million square feet.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
