Des Moines Office Vacancy Hits 13.9% Low Amid Tech, Leasing Surge

Des Moines' office market posted a vacancy rate of 13.9% at the end of Q1 2026, down 170 basis points from the prior quarter and 290 basis points from a year earlier, according to CBRE data. This marks the fourth consecutive quarter of positive net absorption at 346,892 square feet—over 150,000 square feet more than all of 2025 combined—driven by leasing activity in the central business district and suburbs.[1] Average asking rents rose to $20.52 per square foot annually, up 0.6% from last quarter, while sublease space shrank to just 0.7% of total inventory.[1] Cybersecurity startups and major tenants have fueled the uptick, building on 2025's positive absorption of 204,147 square feet—the first full year since 2017, per JLL.[5] Firms like Holmes Murphy, Athene, RSM, Mission Cancer and Veenstra & Kimm signed leases totaling 860,000 square feet for spaces over 10,000 square feet last year.[5] Limited construction—just one 71,000-square-foot project underway and no new deliveries since Q2 2024—has tightened supply, pushing the 2025 vacancy rate to 16.2% before the recent drop.[1][5] The rebound counters earlier pressures, including Wells Fargo's 2024 relocation of downtown workers to its West Des Moines campus off Jordan Creek Parkway, which spiked central business district vacancies to 16.8%.[2] Recent transactions, including deals at 801 Grand and Westridge Office Park (5,000 to 17,000 square feet), plus an unnamed buyer's pending purchase of the former Wells Fargo downtown campus, underscore momentum into 2026.[3] With national vacancies at 20.4%, Des Moines outperforms the U.S. average.[3]