Downtown Bellevue glass towers and a tower under construction with a crane, seen over evergreen and bare trees and a park lawn on an overcast day

Market outlook

Bellevue commercial real estate market outlook

Downtown Bellevue's office vacancy depends on whose report you read. In Kidder Mathews' 3Q 2026 report, direct vacancy in the Bellevue CBD is 19.5% and overall vacancy 23.7%.^† Cushman and Wakefield's Q3 2026 MarketBeat has overall vacancy in the same submarket at 25.5%. ^† Below, those numbers sit beside jobs, traffic counts and what the City says about each district, so you can test a lease or a price against dated figures.

Last updated October 31, 2026

Photo: Goldman60, Wikimedia Commons

Bellevue commercial real estate market report: the headline figures

This outlook is dated by its newest figures: September 2026 unemployment and the third quarter 2026 office reports. In September 2026, unemployment was 4.8% in the City of Bellevue and 4.8% in King County.^†^† Both rates are preliminary and not seasonally adjusted, and the city figure is a BLS modeled city estimate. ^†

The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages counts 1,421,311 jobs in King County in March 2026.^† The county had 82,524 establishments in the first quarter of 2026, and the average weekly wage was $2,739.^† ^† These numbers describe the people a tenant hires from, not any one building. If you quote one in a proposal or a lease file, put the source and the period next to it.

Bellevue CBD direct office vacancy, end of 3Q 2026 (Kidder Mathews): 19.5% ^†
Overall vacancy, Bellevue CBD submarket, Q3 2026 (Cushman & Wakefield): 25.5% ^†
Unemployment rate, City of Bellevue, September 2026 (preliminary, BLS modeled estimate): 4.8% ^†
Jobs, all industries and ownerships, King County, March 2026 (QCEW): 1,421,311 ^†

Which industries employ people in King County?

King County employment, March 2026 (QCEW), all industries and ownerships: 1,421,311. Each private supersector row carries its own record. ^†

All industries, all ownerships	Employment, March 2026
Professional and business services, private	299,185 ^†
Trade, transportation and utilities, private	215,091 ^†
Education and health services, private	196,320 ^†
Leisure and hospitality, private	131,817 ^†
Information, private	124,421 ^†
Manufacturing, private	91,251 ^†
Financial activities, private	68,923 ^†
Construction, private	65,444 ^†
Other services, private	45,199 ^†
Natural resources and mining, private	2,276 ^†

If you are pricing space for a tenant, read the row for its industry, not the county total.

In the first quarter of 2026, a private information job in King County paid $7,304 a week on average.^† Private leisure and hospitality paid $904.^† In between sat private professional and business services at $3,683,^† trade, transportation and utilities at $1,909^† and education and health services at $1,493. ^†

Bellevue office market: what Kidder Mathews and Cushman and Wakefield say

When someone quotes you a vacancy rate, ask which firm, which report, which quarter, and whether it is direct or overall.

Kidder Mathews

The 3Q 2026 Seattle Office Market Trends report has direct vacancy in the Bellevue CBD at 19.5% and overall vacancy at 23.7%.^† It also logs the sale of 85 106th Ave NE, West Main, in the Bellevue CBD for $340M, or $317 PSF. ^†

Cushman and Wakefield

The Q3 2026 MarketBeat has overall vacancy in the Bellevue CBD submarket at 25.5%, up 200 bps from a year earlier.^† Class A rents there reached $66.18 psf, up 3.3% year over year.^† Looking ahead, the report calls the 740,000-sf Kanon Towers the project "most likely to break ground next, with delivery slated for 2028."^† The 800,000-sf ONNI Bellevue is set for a Q4 2030 delivery. ^†

Each firm measures its own set of buildings. Their figures will not match, and neither one cancels the other. Office districts and code are on the office space guide.

Kidder Mathews, Seattle Office Market Trends, 3Q 2026: Bellevue CBD direct / overall vacancy: 19.5% / 23.7% ^†
Cushman & Wakefield, MarketBeat Puget Sound-Eastside Office, Q3 2026: overall vacancy, Bellevue CBD submarket: 25.5% ^†
Cushman & Wakefield, Q3 2026: Class A rents, Bellevue CBD submarket, psf: $66.18 ^†

What the King County Assessor says about Bellevue

The King County Department of Assessments says Area 80, which covers the city of Bellevue, "is considered one of the strongest markets" in the county.^† Its districts there include the Bellevue Commercial Business District, or CBD, and the Bel-Red District. ^†

The Spring District, in its account, is 36 acres, or 16 blocks, of the old Spring Industrial District.^† Its review of market income data for the January 1, 2024, valuation points to stable income. ^† The Assessor reads the market once a year, as of a fixed date. Use it to see how the county frames a district, then check your own parcel's notice before you lean on it.

How much traffic do I-405, I-90 and SR 520 carry in Bellevue?

WSDOT annual average daily traffic at count locations inside the City of Bellevue limit, both directions, 2025 counts. Each row carries its own record. ^†

Count location	Annual average daily traffic
I-405, AT MILEPOST 9.26: LAKE WASHINGTON BLVD SE UNDERCROSSING; PERMANENT RECORDER D1	143,000 ^†
I-405, NORTH OF MILEPOST 10.56: COAL CREEK PKWY OFF RAMP	167,000 ^†
I-405, NORTH OF MILEPOST 11.69: SR 90 OFF RAMP	193,000 ^†
I-405, AT MILEPOST 12.77: SE 8TH ST BRIDGE	176,000 ^†
I-405, AT MILEPOST 13.55: NE 4TH ST UNDERCROSSING	151,000 ^†
I-405, AT MILEPOST 13.95: NE 10TH ST UNDERCROSSING	178,000 ^†
I-405, NORTH OF MILEPOST 15.43: SR 520 OFF RAMP	180,000 ^†
I-90, EAST OF MILEPOST 9.63: BELLEVUE WAY SE OFF RAMP	94,000 ^†
I-90, WEST OF MILEPOST 10.42: 142ND PL SE-TRANSIT ONLY ON RAMP; PERMANENT RECORDER S203	145,000 ^†
I-90, AT MILEPOST 13.69: W LK SAMMAMISH PRKWY BRIDGE	113,000 ^†
SR 520, SOUTHEAST OF MILEPOST 6.52: 108TH AVE NE OFF RAMP	75,000 ^†
SR 520, AT MILEPOST 7.93: 130TH AVE NE BRIDGE; PERMANENT RECORDER S533	100,000 ^†

Freeway counts tell you about access to an office building, not foot traffic for a shop. On I-405, the Washington State Department of Transportation's 2025 counts show annual average daily traffic of 193,000, both directions, at its SR 90 OFF RAMP location.^† The NE 10TH ST UNDERCROSSING location reads 178,000,^† and the NE 4TH ST UNDERCROSSING reads 151,000. ^†

On I-90, WSDOT's count at the BELLEVUE WAY SE OFF RAMP is 94,000.^† On SR 520, the 130TH AVE NE BRIDGE location reads 100,000^† and the 108TH AVE NE OFF RAMP reads 75,000. ^† Each figure is a count at one point, labelled the way WSDOT labels it, not a number for a stretch of road. A storefront lives on the street out front. Count that street, not the freeway.

Retail space in Bellevue: Bellevue Square, Crossroads and Factoria

The City's Comprehensive Plan dates Bellevue Square to 1946.^† Crossroads Shopping Center sits at Northeast Eighth Street and 156th Avenue Northeast,^† and the City keeps a Mini City Hall inside the Crossroads Bellevue mall.^† The council adopted the Crossroads and Newport neighborhood area plans on Oct. 21, 2025. ^†

For Factoria and Eastgate, the City's planning process "is winding up."^† A final review public hearing on the Factoria Neighborhood Area Plan was on its September 23, 2026 agenda.^† Eastgate and Factoria together have 10,828 residents.^† In the Land Use Code, General Commercial is a mixed retail and commercial designation for "a wide variety of business activities". ^†

For a shop or restaurant, ask for signed leases nearby, with dates. A signed lease with a date can be checked. An asking rent on its own cannot.

A drone view of the flat white roofs of Bellevue Square mall and its surface parking lots, with downtown Bellevue towers and construction cranes behind — Photo: Spicypepper999, Wikimedia Commons

Bellevue medical office: Overlake and BelRed

Overlake Medical Center, a 349-bed nonprofit regional medical center, sits at 1035 116th Ave NE.^†^† BelRed is already known for Overlake Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, in the City's words.^† The Land Use Code has a Medical Institution District, designation MI. ^†

Clinic tenants care about the hospital nearby, parking and the zoning district. Check the district before you sign, because a medical use that fits one district may not fit the next.

Industrial and flex space in Bellevue

BelRed is being transformed from a light industrial area into a collection of mixed-use, transit-oriented neighborhoods.^† The Land Use Code still lists a Light Industrial district, designation LI.^† Cushman and Wakefield's Q3 2026 industrial MarketBeat says Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond "continued to command some of the region's highest rents". ^†

If you own a light industrial building in a district the City plans to change, read the plan before you sign a long lease or price a sale.

What this outlook could not verify

Our October 2026 research did not find a dated retail vacancy or rent survey for the City of Bellevue, a published medical office vacancy or rent figure for the City, a Bellevue industrial vacancy rate in either firm's report, a Kidder Mathews industrial figure for Bellevue, or a City document on Lincoln Square that this page could cite. If someone hands you one of those figures, ask for the publisher and the date before you use it.

Bellevue districts: Downtown, BelRed, the Spring District, Wilburton and Eastgate

Before you compare buildings in different districts, compare what each district lets the next owner build. Each one has its own code and its own plan.

Downtown

The City calls Downtown Bellevue "the primary economic and employment center for the city and the region".^† Downtown is also home to the Meydenbauer Convention Center and City Hall. ^†

BelRed and the Spring District

The City's plan update points growth mainly toward transit-oriented developments such as Wilburton and BelRed.^† In the City of Bellevue's words, the Spring District "is bringing new residential and office space." ^†

Wilburton

The City wants to turn the transit-oriented area on the west side of Wilburton into "a walkable, vibrant, sustainable, mixed-use community."^† In a Community Attributes Inc. analysis for the City, the preferred alternative accommodates an additional 12.0 million square feet of commercial development in the Wilburton study area. ^†

Eastgate

The Eastgate Park and Ride is a transportation hub for commuters.^† The Land Use Code has an Eastgate Transit Oriented Development district, designation EG-TOD. ^† Projects and plans by district are on the development tracker.

Two Link light rail trains side by side at an elevated Bellevue Downtown station platform, with people on both platforms waving and taking photos — Photo: SounderBruce, Wikimedia Commons

Questions about the Bellevue market

What is the office vacancy rate in Bellevue, WA?

It depends on whose report you read. Kidder Mathews' 3Q 2026 report has direct vacancy in the Bellevue CBD at 19.5% and overall vacancy at 23.7%. Cushman and Wakefield's Q3 2026 MarketBeat has overall vacancy in the Bellevue CBD submarket at 25.5%, up 200 bps from a year earlier. ^†^†

What are Class A office rents in downtown Bellevue?

$66.18 a square foot in Cushman and Wakefield's Q3 2026 MarketBeat, up 3.3% from a year earlier in the Bellevue CBD submarket. If a landlord quotes you a rent, ask which report and which quarter they are measuring against. ^†

What is the unemployment rate in Bellevue, WA?

4.8% in September 2026. That is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' preliminary, not seasonally adjusted, modeled estimate for the City of Bellevue. ^†

How much traffic does I-405 carry in Bellevue?

193,000 annual average daily traffic, both directions, at WSDOT's SR 90 OFF RAMP count location in the 2025 counts. The NE 10TH ST UNDERCROSSING location reads 178,000. Each is a count at one point, not a figure for the whole road. ^†^†

What is the Spring District in Bellevue?

It is 36 acres, or 16 blocks, of the old Spring Industrial District, as the King County Department of Assessments describes it. The City of Bellevue says the Spring District is bringing new residential and office space. ^†^†

Is there a retail or medical office vacancy rate for Bellevue?

Not one with a named source and a date, as of October 2026. The list of gaps on this page names what turned up missing. Treat any retail or medical office vacancy figure without a source and a date as an opinion.

Who publishes this site, and whether it names an agent, is answered on the FAQ page.

Next step

The figures above describe today. The development tracker shows what is coming, district by district, and at what stage.

See what is being built and approved

Sources

Every fact on this page carries a dagger that links to its record on the sources page, where the publisher, the date, the address of the document and an archive copy are listed for each one.