The Denver office market has struggled through the pandemic. The latest stats from Savills' third quarter report show that leasing activity has fallen by 1 million square feet, the lowest point in a decade, and 1 million square feet of sublease space has come to the market, bringing the total to 4.6 million square feet. In addition, the office vacancy rate in the market has increased to 21.6%, the highest in eight years.

"We see the availability rate as a more useful metric, that includes all sublease space and new buildings that are under construction," Rick Schuham, director at the Denver office at Savills, tells GlobeSt.com. "That number for downtown Denver is 27.5% and that is what tenants care about. What are my choices? What can I negotiate a lease on? The vacancy number is relevant for both landlords and investors and that is why our competitors are tied to that metric."

In many cases, this is good news for tenants, who have ample options and room for negotiation on lease terms. "I had an out-of-town client that recently came to Denver to look at options that would provide space for 200-500 jobs," says Schuham. "This specific client only wanted to look at sublease space and we had 19 unique locations to view. In many cases, it was suggested that we could write our deal as we saw fit. This availability puts pressure on all categories of space owners both direct to landlord and sublease."