Over 1,200 Vacated Call Centers: 20% of Inventory for Lease / Sublease

27% increase in vacated call center space since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic 

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of call center space has increased by about 27 percent. There were approximately 982 vacant call center facilities or 47 million square feet available in mid-2020. Since then, an additional 254 call center facilities have become available and an additional 12.5 million square feet of vacant space was added to the market.

Call center real estate availability rate of 20% is 3.6% higher than the U.S. office market 

Prior to the pandemic, Site Selection Group estimates there were approximately 2.5 million U.S. call center workers employed in brick-and-mortar call center facilities with 50 employees or more. This equates to approximately 250 to 300 million square feet of call center space occupied by call center users. Based on these metrics, the call center real estate market has an availability rate that includes direct and sublease space of approximately 20%. According to CoStar, the U.S. office availability rate is 16.4% for all office real estate types which is 3.6% lower than call center availability indicating it is generally in similar condition as the rest of the market.  

Availability by vacated call center facility size

The condition of these call center facilities varies significantly. Many of these sites have furniture and generators in place while others have been stripped down to basically open office space. Some are available for short-term subleases whiles others will require a longer lease. Call centers of 60,000 square feet or more had the biggest jump in vacancy compared to the beginning of the pandemic. The following graph summarizes site availability by square footage:   

Regional trends

The Southeast and Southwest regions have the largest amount of vacated call center space available. These regions also are the most locationally active for new call center projects due to their lower labor costs and more attractive business climates. The following graph summarizes availability by region: 

Availability by state

Texas and Florida have the greatest availability. States with a higher population and more metro areas will typically have a larger amount of vacated call centers. Other notable states include Arizona, which has historically had one of the highest concentrations of call centers in Phoenix. The following table identifies which states have the greatest number of call center buildings and capacity available: 

Vacated Call Center Facilities by State, Ranked by Total Square Feet

Conclusions

There will continue to be uncertainty in the U.S. call center industry until labor conditions soften and the looming recession comes to an end. Until then, companies will continue to keep call center employees working from home and shift call volume to lower-cost nearshore and offshore geographies. There are several challenges ahead that will influence the need for call center real estate in the future. At 20% vacancy in the call center real estate, it is clearly going to take a long time for this office space to be leased or converted to alternative use. For additional information on available vacated call center facilities, please contact Site Selection Group.

Source: Site Selection Group, LLC