Largest Central Business Districts in the US | Largest CBDs, Largest Office Markets, Largest CBDs US, Largest Downtowns

Largest Central Business Districts (CBDs) in the US

April 2022

**Energy Corridor, one of the fastest growing CBDs**

The largest central business districts (CBDs) remain in New York, Chicago and DC--and they're still growing. But non-core and suburban office markets are inching up on the Top 20 CBDs list. In fact nearly two thirds of all new office construction over the last 2 decades has been in the suburbs. The disparity was even more pronounced in the South, such as in Houston, whose suburban Energy Corridor nearly doubled its office stock, knocking off the list Charlotte Center City and Downtown Detroit.

Office construction growth continued in most of the largest CBDs despite COVID and increased teleworking. As a result, office and retail vacancy rates have climbed to record highs in most markets and office rents have begun declining. Nonetheless, asking rents in core CBDs maintained a hefty premium over suburban markets, with Midtown Manhattan and Downtown San Francisco leading the nation at over $80 per square foot.

	CBD	Office Stock (ft²)	Avg. Rent (/ft²)	Vacancy Rate	Metro Area
1.	Midtown Manhattan	298m	$80	14%	New York City
2.	Downtown Chicago	144m	$38	20%	Chicago
3.	Downtown DC	106m	$56	17%	Washington, DC
4.	Downtown Manhattan	95m	$60	21%	New York City
5.	Midtown South Manhattan	79m	$65	18%	New York City
6.	Downtown Boston	66m	$62	18%	Boston
7.	Downtown San Francisco	53m	$82	20%	San Francisco Bay
8.	Downtown Atlanta	49m	$28	16%	Atlanta
9.	Downtown Seattle	48m	$47	17%	Seattle
10.	Center City Philadelphia	41m	$34	18%	Philadelphia
11.	Downtown Houston	40m	$40	24%	Houston
12.	Downtown LA	37m	$40	22%	Los Angeles
13.	Downtown Pittsburgh	35m	$25	18%	Pittsburgh
14.	Downtown Dallas	30m	$30	25%	Dallas-Ft. Worth
15.	Downtown Denver	30m	$34	25%	Denver
16.	Tysons	28m	$37	15%	Washington, DC
17.	Downtown Minneapolis	27m	$30	23%	Minneapolis-St. Paul
18.	Galleria/West Loop	25m	$30	25%	Houston
19.	Buckhead	22m	$34	20%	Atlanta
20.	Energy Corridor	20m	$26	27%	Houston
	National Average	n/a	$38	16%

Figures are estimates based on the latest information compiled from numerous sources including but not limited to CBD BID organizations, Collins, CushmanWakefield, Transwestern, JLL, etc.