By Brian Lyss and Joshua Allen, CBRE St. Louis is typical of Midwest markets in that most of its office product continues to age. In fact, 73 percent of existing office supply in St. Louis was constructed before the 1990s. In a post-pandemic environment, users are seeking out amenity-rich prime space. Out of 53 million square feet of office product in St. Louis, 2.6 million square feet is considered “prime” in nature. Prime assets are the newest assets in St. Louis, located in walkable urban areas with an abundance of amenities. In early 2021, during the early stages of the pandemic, prime office availability (21.7 percent) was on par with non-prime (20.5 percent) as the market became increasingly concerned about the future of office use. Over the past 36 months, this surplus of available office has quickly turned into a shortage of prime assets. There has been virtually no new office construction in St. Louis, hitting the lowest levels on record. This fact guarantees that prime office space will remain tight until we see new construction begin to come out of the ground. Even if new construction does commence, the construction and lending environment is such that rates are anticipated …
