Office space vacancies persist across the nation and in Bismarck-Mandan

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - Realtors across the country are having a tough time getting ahold of renters for commercial spaces.

Experts here say the problem persists but it’s not as bad as other places.

Commercial realtor Taylor Daniel with Daniel Companies said workers overbuilt commercial spaces during the oil boom, primarily office spaces.

The oil boom cooled off. Then pandemic layoffs, closures and the work-from-home shift brought in the perfect storm for high supply and low demand.

Daniel said North Dakota doesn’t track the commercial market, but he said that in Bismarck-Mandan, there are more than 1 million square feet of available office space.

“We over anticipated that growth that was coming here. Then, after the boom died off in ‘17 or ‘18, then you’re left with all this office space. It was pretty bad before COVID. Now, COVID really just pulled the reigns on a lot of the office users. There’s a lot of office space,” said Daniel.

Daniel said the good news is he’s seeing more business owners buy out their office space after renting for years.

He said retail and restaurant spaces, as opposed to office spaces, are still going strong, especially in rural markets.

Daniel said that’s because more people sought out the suburbs and rural areas following the pandemic.

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