Plano’s Office Vacancy Rate 4% Higher Than DFW

Plano’s office vacancy rate is head and shoulders above Dallas-Fort Worth’s.

With about 10 million square feet of available office space, the north Dallas suburb has a vacancy rate of 22.5 percent, compared to 18 percent in DFW, the Dallas Morning News reported, citing data from CoStar.

Plano has roughly 45 million square feet of office inventory. Despite almost a quarter of that space sitting empty, developers remain bullish on the fast-growing area, as 1.5 million square feet of office space is in the pipeline. However, some projects are being put on the back burner amid high interest rates and other market challenges.

Last year, six companies expanded their footprints in Plano, and 24 relocated to the city. Thus, demand is relatively strong, and developers are trying to stay ahead of the curb.

“We are still seeing strong leasing activity in Plano, which is driving the demand,” Doug McDonald, Plano’s director of economic development told the outlet.

Legacy and Granite Park, new buildings with tons of amenities, are in high demand, he said.

Two other major office buildings — the former PepsiCo campus and former SMU campus — are undergoing renovations to accommodate the influx of new companies.

Like most markets around the country, the pandemic delivered a blow to Plano’s office sector, as the remote-work era brought demand for office space down to a historic low. In 2022, however, the market bounced back, with more than 2 million square feet being leased.

Landlords have performed major overhauls of their holdings to lure employees back to the office and buck the work-from-home trend. According to a 2022 study, 33 percent of workers in Plano do their jobs remotely, but a more recent study could show a much lower figure.

“It used to be that your building was highly amenitized if it had a gym in it. Well now, every building has a gym in it,” McDonald told the outlet. “It’s highly amenitized if you have pickleball courts and a golf simulator and an outdoor patio and outdoor seating that’s covered.”

—Quinn Donoghue