WILMINGTON — In the early months of 2025, the Wilmington office market saw a solid rebound as 60,000 square feet of leases were signed and vacancies fell another 40 basis points, according to real estate brokerage Newmark.
In the first quarter of 2025, the 60,777 square feet of leases marks the third consecutive quarter where office space has come off the market since a lease was signed and it’s the largest amount of space signed for since the end of 2023.
It’s also an indicator of how times have changed. In 2019, Newmark reported that there was 443,000 square feet of leasable space signed. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the motto seemed to be “survive until 2025,” Newmark Senior Managing Director Wills Elliman wrote in his quarterly report.
In the first quarter of 2025, Newmark reported Wilmington’s vacancy rate at 19%. The decline is primarily attributed to the northern segment with 53,000 square feet of space newly occupied.
Newmark, which tracks the Wilmington office market closely, reports there are signs of stabilization after the blockbuster deal Incyte struck for the Bracebridge buildings that tower over Rodney Square.
Still, there were notable gains in smaller office spaces. Bounce Pickleball of Malvern, Pa. signed a lease for 24,841 square feet inside 500 Justison St. at the Riverfront. PNC Bank renewed its lease for the PNC Bank Center on the heels of a $10 million renovation that attracted four new law firms late last year.
United Medical, a private ambulatory health care company, has also subleased out 15,703 square feet of space at 800 Delaware Ave. That tracks with CBRE reports of seeing more medical uses in the northern New Castle County market earlier this year.
Most deals in the past year were for spaces under 10,000 square feet. But still, Eillman hopes that Wilmington’s office market could benefit from the renewed shift from work-from-home.
“With return-to-office trends gaining momentum and modern offices leading pre-leasing activity, the Delaware office market is poised for continued growth in 2025,” he wrote in his quarterly email.
