The share of vacant offices in Moscow City has reached a historic low

The vacancy rate in Class A office buildings in the Moscow International Business Center "Moscow City" reached a historic low of 1.9% in the first quarter of 2025, excluding secondary supply from investors. According to the NF Group, which was reviewed by Izvestia on May 23, at the same time, the average office rental rate increased to a record 65.6 thousand rubles per 1 sq. m.

According to the results of the first quarter, the volume of vacant initial supply in Moscow City amounted to 30 thousand square meters, including 13 thousand, which developers are offering for sale. Weighted average cost of 1 sq.m. m — 752.5 thousand rubles. Buyers are increasingly showing interest in acquiring offices by floors.

"Moscow companies have been expanding their business over the past few years, occupying vacant market niches, which means they need additional office space. We are also observing the formation of a new price level with an almost complete lack of quality supply," said Kermen Mastiev, Director of Commercial Real Estate at Mr. Office.

Square footage: mini-offices are being bought up en masse in Russia

The demand for such commercial premises has more than doubled in a year.

Since 2022, despite the withdrawal of international tenant companies from the market, the share of vacant offices has remained minimal, and this trend continues, added Maria Zimina, partner at NF Group.

"In turn, rental rates have begun to grow steadily, which is primarily due to the shortage of offices available for rent in all key business districts of Moscow," she said.

The public sector had a significant impact on reducing the vacancy rate in Moscow City. So, in 2024, Russian Railways acquired 262.8 thousand square meters of offices in the Moscow Towers skyscraper, and in 2023, the Moscow government closed a deal to purchase 44.6 thousand square meters in iCITY.

Earlier, on March 21, it was reported that the office real estate market was experiencing a rapid increase in the share of transactions for the purchase of premises from 50 to 300 square meters. m. As analysts told Izvestia, the number of such purchases doubled over the year. Most often, mini-offices are acquired for the sake of renting. In addition, due to restrictions on the construction of apartments in Moscow, developers have changed their projects, deciding to open offices where it is impossible to implement residential complexes.