Charlotte's office market quietly cleared a big hurdle this spring. The average signed lease footprint in the metro is now larger than it was before the pandemic, a shift powered by a run of headquarters moves and several 50,000 to 150,000 square foot commitments. The trend points to employers once again chasing full floor, contiguous blocks across the Queen City.
Fresh market analysis flagged the shift this week, finding that the typical lease size in Charlotte has now surpassed pre-pandemic norms. As reported by CoStar, that milestone is rare among major U.S. markets and underscores renewed demand for larger footprints.
Big-block leasing is back
Market research firms say the numbers back it up, and then some. Cushman & Wakefield found the average lease size across all deals jumped about 15.1% in 2025, landing around 10,044 square feet. The firm also counted roughly 50 leases larger than 20,000 square feet for the year.
Those big commitments clustered in newly delivered Class A towers and helped push annual leasing activity to a multi-year high, a clear sign that tenants looking for scale are gravitating to the newest, shiniest product on the market.
Who's taking the space
Industry trackers point to headquarters relocations and financial-services expansions as the engine behind the surge. CBRE notes recent moves by Scout Motors, Capital Group and SMBC that together are expected to bring roughly 3,800 jobs and more than 800,000 square feet of leasing to the region.
Market deal sheets spotlight some of the splashiest transactions. Scout Motors has lined up a roughly 144,000 square foot headquarters at Commonwealth, while American Express has committed to roughly 90,800 square feet Uptown. Hoodline earlier covered the Scout Motors HQ move, and Newmark confirms those entries on its deal list.
What developers and landlords are seeing
Developers and landlords are feeling the momentum in real time. Premium availability has thinned, and asking rents for trophy assets have moved higher as tenants compete for large, contiguous floorplates. Cushman & Wakefield and other market trackers point to tightening Class A availabilities across the metro.
The squeeze is even more pronounced in some hot submarkets. Local coverage shows areas such as South End running notably tighter than the metro average, a pattern Axios Charlotte documented late last year.
What to watch
Looking ahead, expect more pre-leasing in new towers and a sharper split between modern Class A buildings and older assets that could face conversion pressure. Key indicators for 2026 include whether upcoming payroll and headquarters announcements translate into additional 100,000-plus square foot requirements and whether landlords can hold on to their renewed pricing power as more inventory hits the market.
