As Big Tech Grows in the Pandemic, Seattle Grows With It

Despite an overall decline in office leasing in the United States, technology companies gobbled up more space in the Seattle area than they had the previous year.

The pandemic was a disaster for commercial real estate markets. In the Seattle area, it was a boon.

In 2020, U.S. office leasing activity fell 36 percent from the year before, according to the industry research group CBRE, as offices closed and employees were sent home to work remotely.

But in the Seattle region, technology companies gobbled up more space than they had the previous year.