Market Report: Q3 2025 Vancouver Office Top Highlights
What happened last quarter? Here is what you need to know!
- Suburban Markets Show Steady Strength
- Downtown Vacancy Remains Elevated but Plateauing
- Rental Rates Hold Steady
Big Transactions in Vancouver this Quarter – Lululemon / TELUS / Amazon / B6 / 725 Granville
Standout deal of the quarter: Lululemon’s 290,000–300,000 sf lease at 725 Granville Street, the largest downtown lease in recent years, taking a rare, large floorplate and accounting for roughly 44% of all downtown leasing activity.
- Microsoft, the previous tenant, will relocate from 725 Granville to B6.
- UCW is placing 90,000 sf from B6 on the sublease market. TELUS is placing 88,000 sf on the sublease market as well from TELUS Garden.
- A rumoured 160,000 sf sublease listing by Amazon could add further options next quarter.
Suburban Markets Show Steady Strength
“Two completely different stories are developing as activity in Downtown Vancouver and the rest of Metro Vancouver are diverging.”
- Colliers
Metro Vancouver’s suburban office markets demonstrated notable resilience in Q3 2025, outperforming the downtown core.
Colliers noted positive absorption in all seven Suburban markets, along with rising asking rates and declining vacancies. According to Colliers, “suburban markets have been on their own trajectory compared to downtown.”
NAI Commercial specifically noted the strength of the suburban market, indicating that the transit-oriented, mixed-use nodes are a major draw for new tenants.
Flurry of Activity in Surrey
The largest suburban transaction this quarter: Surrey, BC
- WorkSafe BC leased 29,000 SF at Benchmark Business Centre II, 5477 152nd St, Surrey.
Highest absorption of all the submarkets this quarter: Surrey, BC
- 145,400 SF.
City Centre 4 at 9686 137A Street, with 182,900 SF of office space, is now 82% pre-leased/sold upon reaching completion.
Downtown Vacancy Remains Elevated, but Plateauing
Downtown Vancouver’s office market remained a tenant’s market in Q3 2025, with vacancy elevated across all three major reports.
Colliers reports 12.2% vacancy with negative absorption of 41,000 sf, while Cushman & Wakefield notes 14.5% vacancy, up 30 basis points QoQ. Avison Young records 12.3% vacancy, reflecting a small quarter-over-quarter increase. NAI Commercial noted a small QoQ increase as well.
“Demand is steady, and space is being absorbed gradually but not fast enough to significantly reduce vacancy, sustaining a tenant’s market.”
- Cushman & Wakefield
NAI Commercial highlighted that downtown vacancies may be peaking and are expecting a gradual decline throughout 2026, as no new inventory is expected to come online. Colliers corroborated by noting that inventory will remain fixed for several years, which will tighten the market. Cushman & Wakefield also noted that the market appears to be “plateauing.”
Rental Rates Hold Steady as Premium Space Retains Pricing Power
“Landlords are increasingly offering incentives or flexible terms as they reposition space to attract tenants in a competitive leasing environment.”
- Cushman & Wakefield
According to all market watchers, asking rents softened downtown this quarter. According to Cushman & Wakefield, this reflects a normalization from 2023 peaks when newly built, higher-quality space temporarily pushed rents higher. Older or secondary buildings continue to face moderate pressure, particularly where vacancy and sublease availability are elevated.
Colliers reported YoY declines for downtown rental rate growth of 4%, contrasting with a 7% YoY increase for asking rates for the suburban market.
In the suburban market, asking rents rose 1.7% quarter over quarter to $28.87 psf, led by Class A and B buildings.
Downtown Core Sublease Space, Cushman & Wakefield Insight
“Lowest level since the pandemic.” - Cushman & Wakefield
- Sublease availability down to 16.2% of total vacant and available space this quarter.
- Lowest level since the start of the pandemic.
- Quarter-over-quarter decline of 4.7%.
- Significant improvement from the peak of 24.2% in Q4 2023.
- Steady downward trend indicates market rebalancing and reduced tenant turnover.
