Tech and defense industries lead office leasing activity in Northern Virginia

Over the past year, Northern Virginia has experienced an increase of tech companies inking office leases, despite an overall year-over-year decline in overall leasing activity in the market. This shift is largely due to the tech sector maintaining steady leasing levels while other industries contracted.

Between May 2023, and May 2024, the tech, aerospace and defense, banking/finance/insurance/real estate, consulting/research/accounting and engineering/architecture/construction industries accounted for 68.5% of total square footage (sf) leased. In the same period the following year, their combined share fell to 61.1%, as sectors like government, non-profits, and associations began capturing a larger portion of the market.

Looking at current TIMs, aerospace & defense tenants make up around 26% of sf requirements while tech only makes up 7%, indicating there is a chance that this increase in leasing market share by tech tenants could be short lived as other industries eye new leases.