JLL’s Jacob Rowden Sees New Expansionary Phase for U.S. Office Leasing

Nareit's REIT Report Podcast · Oct 29, 2026 · 19m

Jacob Rowden, research director at JLL, told the REIT Report podcast that a 6.4% increase in U.S. office leasing during the last 12 months reflects an ongoing post-pandemic structural shift as companies realign space requirements with actual headcount.

By mid-2025, companies had expanded headcounts by more than 5% from 2019 levels. At the same time, they had cut almost 10% of their office portfolios, Rowden noted. This gap between workforce size and available office space has fueled the current surge in leasing.

Rowden said that while certain geographic markets have been more advanced within…