Focus

**Memo: Office Vacancy Analysis – Shawnee County, Kansas**

**Date:** December 22, 2025  

**Subject:** Technical Overview of Office Market Vacancy Metrics in Shawnee County, KS (Primary Market: Topeka MSA)

Shawnee County, Kansas (county seat: Topeka), encompasses the Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), a tertiary commercial real estate market characterized by limited inventory tracking in national datasets from major brokerages (e.g., CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, JLL, Colliers). These firms primarily aggregate statistics for larger metros such as Kansas City (cross-state MO/KS), where office vacancy rates ranged from 16.2%–18.2% across Q3–Q4 2025 reports, with direct vacancy often differentiated from sublet availability contributing to total availability rates exceeding 20% in select submarkets.

No granular, publicly available vacancy rate data specific to Shawnee County's office stock was identified in 2024–2025 commercial market reports or county-level economic indicators. This absence reflects the market's scale: Topeka's office inventory is predominantly Class B/C properties supporting government, healthcare, education, and administrative sectors, with minimal speculative development or institutional investment activity tracked in broader Kansas datasets.

Proxy indicators suggest elevated vacancy relative to primary markets:

- Heavy reliance on state government leasing (e.g., Kansas Judicial Center, departmental offices) buffers absorption but exposes the market to fiscal policy shifts and hybrid work trends.

- County appraiser narratives (2025 valuation cycle) note flat-to-modest (0%–4%) inflationary adjustments in commercial parcels, implying stabilized but low-cap-rate investment appeal and limited net absorption.

- Regional analogs (Kansas City metro) exhibit persistent negative absorption in non-prime assets post-2020, with national office vacancy peaking near 18.5%–21% (full-service equivalent) amid flight-to-quality dynamics.

In the absence of direct metrics, estimated direct vacancy in Shawnee County's office subsector likely aligns above national tertiary market averages (15%–20%), driven by structural remote/hybrid adoption in public-sector tenants and negligible new supply deliveries. Sublet availability may further elevate total availability rates.

Recommendations for precise quantification include engagement with local brokerage (e.g., Colliers Kansas City–Topeka affiliates) or proprietary CoStar/LoopNet inventory queries, as public sources yield insufficient resolution for sub-metro analysis.

Evidence basis: Aggregated from BLS county employment data, Shawnee County Appraiser reports, and extrapolated from proximate Kansas City MarketBeat/Newmark Q3–Q4 2025 publications. No dedicated Topeka/Shawnee office vacancy series located.

Henry McClure  
785.383.9994
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