Lots of these buildings are sitting empty. Photo: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Driven by sluggish demand and falling prices of on-the-market buildings, the Portland metro's office vacancy rate rose to a record-high of 27.3% in the last quarter of 2025, per a new CBRE report.
In downtown proper, the direct vacancy rate was much higher at 34.7%.
Leasing momentum has shifted to suburban markets, while downtown continues to see negative absorption (where more space becomes vacant than occupied) and not much interest in older, commodity office space.
Absent any new, large return-to-office pushes or efforts to convert unused office space into housing, Portland's urban core faces a prolonged drag on property values, tax revenues and street vitality in 2026, the report concluded.
