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This is a data report published by CBRE on March 31, 2026, presenting industrial sector figures for the first quarter of 2026 in the St. Louis market.
The Cushman & Wakefield Kansas City Industrial Q1 2026 report covers the commercial industrial real estate market, documenting a 5.9% vacancy rate, 1.8 million square feet of year-to-date net absorption, and an asking rent of $5.75 per square foot, with the overall market showing positive absorption and declining vacancy in the first quarter. The document notes that after the national industrial market cooled in 2024 and 2025, Kansas City saw leasing activity decline from a 2021 peak of 14.9 million square feet to 10.9 million square feet in 2025, though absorption rebounded to a record 11.8 million square feet in 2025, and indicates that increased vacancy in older Class B warehouse buildings alongside falling Modern Distribution vacancy may signal demand for new development.
The St. Louis industrial market closed Q1 2026 with a 4.6% vacancy rate and overall asking rents of $5.71 per square foot, with the vacancy increase driven primarily by large-scale vacancies including Royal Canin's departure from a 674,752-square-foot warehouse in the Metro East. The market recorded negative quarterly net absorption of 946,757 square feet in Q1 2026, marking the first consecutive quarters of negative absorption since 2023, though underlying demand remained healthy with over 1.1 million square feet of new leasing activity and just under 2.0 million square feet of renewal activity during the quarter.
The St. Louis industrial market experienced negative net absorption of 1.3 million SF in the first quarter of 2026, with vacancy rising 150 basis points year-over-year to 6.0%, driven primarily by major tenant relocations including Proctor & Gamble's 806,400-SF exit and Save-A-Lot's 420,000-SF departure. The region's December unemployment rate decreased to 4.0%, 40 basis points below the national average, though industrial employment in Manufacturing and Trade/Transportation/Utilities sectors declined by 1.9% and 2.4% respectively, with the construction pipeline dominated by 3.9 million SF of build-to-suit projects representing 89% of development.
The Kansas City office market recorded 171,000 square feet of year-to-date net absorption in Q1 2026, with an overall vacancy rate of 18.7% and asking rent of $23.19 per square foot across all property classes. The market showed strong performance driven by large tenant move-ins at Crown Center and expected major occupancy of approximately 425,000 square feet at Aspiria later in 2026, though speculative development remains limited despite continued flight-to-quality trends favoring top-tier space.
This Newmark Zimmer report examines the Kansas City industrial market in first quarter 2026, finding that the region recorded 1.9 million square feet of net absorption with vacancy declining 50 basis points to 4.5%, ranking third-lowest among the top 30 U.S. industrial markets. The document reports that industrial average asking rents increased 36.3% over the past seven years to $6.20/SF, with the combined construction pipeline totaling 6.9 million square feet split between build-to-suit and speculative projects, as developers shift toward spec development planned for 2Q26.
The St. Louis office market experienced a significant slowdown in the first quarter of 2026, with negative net absorption of 545,870 square feet and vacancy rising 140 basis points year-over-year to 15.0%, as tenants reassessed space needs amid hybrid work adoption and macroeconomic uncertainty. Average asking rental rates declined to $22.17 per square foot and are projected to remain flat throughout 2026, with limited new construction activity and only 231,870 square feet currently under development as landlords contend with liquidity constraints.
St. Louis investment sales volume reached 2.4 billion dollars in the past four quarters, up 6.1 percent year-over-year, with industrial and multifamily assets accounting for 67.1 percent of activity. Capitalization rates increased 39 basis points to 7.6 percent, while multifamily rental rates hit a record high of 1,363 dollars per unit, though industrial vacancy surged 150 basis points to 6.0 percent.
The 1Q26 Kansas City office market report by Newmark covers employment trends, leasing fundamentals, and transaction activity, finding that the region's unemployment rate stood at 3.9% in December 2025 (50 basis points below the national average) while nonfarm payroll employment remained flat at -0.3%, with construction and education-health sectors leading job growth while business and professional services posted the largest losses. The report documents strong leasing momentum with 463,336 SF of net absorption in the quarter and 1.1 MSF over the past four quarters marking the seventh consecutive quarter of positive absorption, vacancy declining to 15.2% (down 130 basis points year-over-year), and average asking rents at $22.87/SF projected to grow 2.50% to 3.25% by year-end 2026.
The St. Louis Retail Report for 1Q26, published by Newmark Zimmer, examines retail market conditions in the St. Louis region, documenting net absorption of negative 179,870 square feet over the past four quarters driven by tariff-driven uncertainty and cautious tenant behavior, alongside select transaction sales including a 50,000 SF Dick's Sporting Goods property for $13.3 million and other retail assets across multiple submarkets. The report presents market overview data showing the metro vacancy rate increased 30 basis points year-over-year to 4.0%, while the National Retail Federation projects U.S. retail sales growth of 4.4% in 2026, and local market news highlights expansion by chains such as Checkers & Rally's and adaptive reuse projects including Slick City Action Park.
Cushman & Wakefield's Q1 2026 Kansas City multifamily market report shows a 4.5% vacancy rate, $1.49 effective rent per square foot, and 0.9K net absorption across 190,759 total inventory units, with approximately 7,000 units under construction. The market experienced 3.2% year-over-year rent growth, outpacing national averages, while unemployment held at 4.1% and absorption outpaced deliveries by 200 units in the quarter, indicating steady sustainable growth.
Investment activity in the Kansas City market reached $4.2 billion in total sales volume over the past year, representing a 20.6% increase compared to the prior five-year average, with multifamily and retail assets accounting for 66.1% of activity and the metro area ranking fourth among the 13 largest Midwest markets. Capitalization rates compressed by 98 basis points year-over-year to 6.1% in first quarter 2026, rental rates reached record highs in industrial ($6.23 per square foot) and multifamily ($1,430 per unit) sectors, and vacancy rates declined year-over-year in office, multifamily, and industrial property types.
This is a market report published by JLL in March 2026 covering office sector dynamics in the St. Louis market during the first quarter of 2026.
Kansas City's retail market outperformed regional and national benchmarks in early 2026, with leasing activity exceeding new deliveries by six-to-one over the past four quarters, occupancy at 95.4%, and investment volume reaching $725 million in the preceding 12 months—a 55.5% year-over-year increase. The National Retail Federation projects U.S. retail sales to grow 4.4% year-over-year in 2026 to approximately $5.6 trillion, supported by stable employment, wage growth, and healthy household balance sheets, though risks including inflationary pressures and geopolitical uncertainty remain.
This is a Q1 2026 office sector data report for St. Louis published by CBRE on March 31, 2026. The report presents figures and market data for the St. Louis office market within a national context.
Cushman & Wakefield's Q1 2026 MarketBeat report on St. Louis office markets finds that overall vacancy closed at 18.2% with 27,130 square feet of positive net absorption, while average asking rents declined to $21.90 per square foot year-over-year. Class A properties drove leasing activity, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the market's 526,232 square feet in new leasing during the quarter, with West County and Clayton submarkets recording the strongest demand despite continued pressure on rents across all property classes.
Kansas City's industrial real estate market achieved 11.8 million square feet of net absorption in 2025, the highest total since 2007, with a year-end vacancy rate of 6.2% and asking rents at $5.73 per square foot. The market was characterized by a shift toward build-to-suit projects (8.3 million square feet, or 84.5% of total deliveries), including Panasonic's 2.7-million-square-foot battery manufacturing facility in De Soto, Kansas, though sustained growth will likely depend on increased leasing activity in smaller speculative buildings of 200,000 to 500,000 square feet.
The document analyzes the St. Louis retail real estate market in Q4 2025, reporting a 5.5% vacancy rate, asking rents of $13.36 per square foot, and negative annual net absorption of 278,000 square feet driven primarily by the Neighborhood & Community property type and the Illinois submarket. New construction activity reached its heaviest quarterly level since Q2 2020 with 302,000 square feet underway in Mid County (59.4% pre-leased), while the region's unemployment rate stood at 4.0% as of Q3 2025 amid broader economic indicators showing 1.7% GDP growth and 0.5% retail sales growth.
This is a quarterly industrial market report published by CBRE on March 31, 2026, presenting figures and data for the Kansas City market in the first quarter of 2026.
This is a quarterly data and figures report on the Kansas City office market published by CBRE in the first quarter of 2026.