Washington, DC Trophy class offices command longer term lengths with Class A catching up
Average lease term by lease sign date
As many tenants strive to occupy best-in-class office space in Washington, DC, term lengths give an indication of the level of commitment to their space they are willing to give landlords. Trophy-class office space has historically demanded the longest term-length commitment, but the lack of new office construction has limited Trophy space availability, shifting demand to the next-best-in-class, class A.
Over the period of Q1 2017-Q3 2025, the average increase in term length for both Trophy over class A and class A over class B was 11%, showing that each step of class improvement results in a 11% average increase in lease term. Over the last two years, however, Trophy offices have commanded a 16% increase in term over class A, while class A only had a 10% term-length premium over class B; demonstrating the effect of the flight-to-quality demand.
Despite this recent term length growth, the increasingly limited Trophy availability host limited large-block options for premium space-seeking tenants. The first three quarters of the year have seen the Trophy term lengths shrink and class A lengthen, but they have not yet surpassed best-in-class averages.
