Mid-Atlantic Research Reflections 2022 - Nonprofits

Occupying nearly 13 million sq. ft., the nonprofit sector is the third largest occupier of office space in the District of Columbia, surpassed only by the federal government and law firms. Given that nonprofits account for nearly 12% of total employment in D.C., the sector has a significant impact on the office market. In fact, nonprofits contributed more than 700,000 sq. ft. of occupancy gain in D.C. 2015-2019.

While nonprofits remain active in the market, employment in this sector in Washington, D.C. is down 4.1% from pre-pandemic levels and nonprofit leasing has resulted in more than 300,000 sq. ft. of occupancy loss since the onset of the pandemic. Recovery remains slow and uneven across the sector, as tenants work to combat pandemic-induced challenges such as labor shortages or reduced funding with two strategies: an overall reduction of space, or a flight to quality.