Fort Worth\u2019s office market is going west.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the JLL report, several new office projects are shifting Class A and \u201ctrophy\u201d class office market properties west of downtown Fort Worth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The growth of so-called \u201ctrophy\u201d properties that command premium rates has helped drive up the rents, according to\u00a0 a new report from JLL.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the JLL report, the average asking rent was $29.92 per square foot in the second quarter, up from $29.51 in the first quarter and $28.79 a year earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The \u201ctrophy\u201d office projects currently under construction include Crescent Real Estate\u2019s Crescent Offices West, which has JPMorganChase as an anchor tenant; Westside Village\u2019s Jewel Box, Fort Worth\u2019s first mass timber office building; and the Van Zandt from Goldenrod Companies, a mixed-use development on West 7th Street that includes 100,000 square feet of new high-end office space. Already open is The Offices at Clearfork, which has added 75,800 square feet of trophy space, with Wells Fargo anchoring the building, shifting its operations from downtown.<\/p>\n
The Jewel Box project is the largest single office development that Fort Worth has seen in 40 years, according to Carl Anderson, president of Dallas-based Larkspur Capital. Larkspur, along with Robert Bass\u2019s Keystone Group, are developing the $1.7 billion mixed-use project that will also have residential and retail components.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Class A office market in Fort Worth is virtually full, so there\u2019s really not a lot of availability,\u201d Anderson said on March 5 at the project\u2019s groundbreaking. \u201cWe\u2019re already trading term sheets on a lot of office space.\u201d The Fort Worth office market is showing strength just as new projects are expected to add high-end options, particularly on the city\u2019s west side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The JLL report indicates that, halfway through 2026, the Fort Worth office market has now had four consecutive quarters of positive net absorption \u2014 that is, periods when the amount of newly leased square footage exceeds the space vacated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New research from real estate firm JLL shows that vacancy rates across both Class A and Class B properties are steadily declining. No surprise then that rental rates are also showing strength. According to the report, the local office market is outpacing the national average for rental rates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Email him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.\u00a0<\/p>\n