Owner services · Office
Office building management in Vancouver for small Class B and C buildings
We lease and run office buildings under about 40,000 sq ft for private owners: suites, strata lots, medical and professional space. Metro Vancouver office is asking a median of $35.03 per sq ft per year across 292 priced listings (updated 2026-09-17), with a wide spread between downtown and suburban suites; management fees run 3–8% of gross collected rent, and David quotes a flat structure per property.
Fee ranges: published rate cards from Metro Vancouver managers, 2025–26. Asking rates: Prospect OS scrape of live Craigslist and Kijiji listings. Vacancy picture: brokerage market reports.
Office asking base rent by city
$/sq ft/yr
All office, Metro Vancouver + Fraser Valley
$35 median
25th–75th: $22–$49 · n=292
Vancouver
$34 median
25th–75th: $21–$45 · n=162
North Vancouver
$29 median
25th–75th: $22–$44 · n=30
Burnaby
$44 median
25th–75th: $31–$73 · n=14
New Westminster
$48 median
25th–75th: $26–$54 · n=32
Langley
$41 median
25th–75th: $25–$54 · n=12
Asking base rent, CAD/sq ft/yr, from 292 priced office listings (612 office listings; 1,216 total) on Craigslist and Kijiji (Prospect OS), updated 2026-09-17. Asking ≠ achieved; additional rent (property tax, insurance, operating costs) is on top.
01
What kinds of office buildings do we manage?
Class B and C buildings
Two to six storeys, under about 40,000 sq ft, ten to forty tenants, often owned by one family for decades. The building is sound; the systems and the tenant experience need running.
Strata office lots
Individual lots in an office strata, common in North Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond. The strata runs the shell; you run the lot, the lease and the relationship with the strata council.
Medical and professional
Dental, physio, clinics, lawyers, accountants. After-hours HVAC, plumbing, biomedical waste, parking for patients, and long fit-out periods with correspondingly long terms.
This page is for owners. If you are a tenant looking for office space, see the commercial portfolio.
02
What does the Vancouver office market look like after 2020?
Brokerage market reports since 2020 describe the same split. Downtown Class B vacancy is elevated: older buildings without amenities, parking or updated systems have lost tenants to newer towers offering concessions, and to remote work. Suburban office and medical and professional space in neighbourhood locations have been steadier, because their tenants serve local clients who still come in person and because the suites are small enough for a business that has shrunk its footprint. We do not quote a vacancy percentage here because it changes quarterly and differs by submarket; ask us for the current brokerage figure for your building's node.
Elevated vacancy since 2020
Downtown Class B
- Older buildings without amenities or parking
- Competing with newer towers offering concessions
- Large open floors are the hardest to lease
- Tenant pool shrunk by remote work
Per brokerage market reports; ask for the current figure for your node
Steadier
Suburban, medical and professional
- Tenants serve local clients who still come in person
- Suites of 500–2,000 sq ft fit a business that shrank its footprint
- Parking and responsive management decide renewals
- Where most privately owned Metro Vancouver office sits
A well-run Class B building in this group leases and renews
For a private owner the practical read is this: a well-run Class B building with suites of 500–2,000 sq ft, parking and responsive management leases and renews. A tired building with large open floors and no capital plan does not, at any rent. The management job is to keep the building in the first group.
03
How do we keep office tenants through renewal?
Leasing a vacant suite in Metro Vancouver costs a commission, a fit-out contribution, free rent and 90–180 days of vacancy. Renewing the sitting tenant costs a fraction of that. So retention is the first job, and it is mostly operational: same-day acknowledgement on every service call, a named person, a monthly walk of the common areas, and a capital plan for the lobby, washrooms, elevator and HVAC that a tenant's clients actually see. Tenants forgive an old building; they do not forgive silence.
For 1–5 person tenants, coworking is the default alternative. We answer with shorter terms on small suites, turnkey or furnished options, gross rent for the smallest tenants, and a shared meeting room. The month-by-month version is in the commercial lease expiry playbook; the lease expiry planner turns your rent roll into a dated schedule.
01Renewal conversation opens
18–12 months out
Priced against current asking rates, not the last lease. The fallback marketing plan is ready so the negotiation is from choice, not need.02Condition and service review
12–9 months out
Outstanding service items closed; common-area and system upgrades scheduled where they support the renewal rent.03Renewal terms agreed
9–6 months out
Term, escalations, any refresh allowance and options documented with your lawyer. Small tenants get shorter terms and turnkey options.04If they leave: suite to market
6 months out
Marketing launches while the tenant is still paying, so the 90–180 day lease-up overlaps the remaining term instead of following it. See commercial leasing services.
04
What is office space asking across Metro Vancouver?
Asking base rent for office from 292 priced listings (612 office listings total), updated 2026-09-17. The office spread is wide because the sample runs from single furnished rooms downtown to whole suburban floors; the median size is only 887 sq ft. Because small office is often quoted gross or semi-gross, compare on net effective rent, not the headline: the net effective rent calculator nets out free rent and allowances, and the lease rate estimator gives a suite-level starting point.
| Office | Median asking | 25th–75th | Priced listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| All office, Metro Vancouver + Fraser Valley | $35.03 | $22.39–$48.86 | 292 |
| Vancouver | $33.59 | $20.75–$45.00 | 162 |
| North Vancouver | $28.50 | $21.50–$44.39 | 30 |
| Burnaby | $44.00 | $30.64–$72.75 | 14 |
| New Westminster | $47.77 | $25.74–$54.21 | 32 |
| Richmond | $20.49 | $14.42–$45.25 | 10 |
| Surrey | $36.60 | $28.68–$45.92 | 8 |
| Langley | $40.61 | $24.97–$54.03 | 12 |
| White Rock | $35.00 | $21.77–$56.26 | 10 |
Asking base rent, CAD/sq ft/yr, from 292 priced office listings (612 office listings; 1,216 total) on Craigslist and Kijiji (Prospect OS), updated 2026-09-17. Asking ≠ achieved; additional rent (property tax, insurance, operating costs) is on top. Where a city has fewer than 8 priced office listings we show the Metro-wide office figure and say so.
05
What do Vancouver office owners have to comply with?
Energize Vancouver and the Vancouver Building By-law
Inside the City of Vancouver, larger commercial buildings must report annual energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions under the Energize Vancouver program, and large existing office and retail buildings face greenhouse-gas intensity (GHGI) and heat-energy limits under the Vancouver Building By-law (VBBL), phased in from 2026. Thresholds are set by floor area and tighten over time. For an owner this means a reporting task every year, a possible retrofit plan for gas-fired heating, and a compliance file that a buyer or lender will ask to see. Outside the City of Vancouver the program does not apply, but the BC Energy Step Code and provincial rules do.
Read: Energize Vancouver GHG reporting deadline- Property tax. City of Vancouver Class 6 (business) property tax was roughly 1.05% of assessed value in 2025 at the general rate (check the current mill rate). Under a net lease it is billed to tenants by rentable area; under a gross lease it is yours.
- Strata. For strata office lots, the strata's bylaws, insurance deductibles and depreciation report govern the shell and common property; the lease has to align with them on HVAC hours, signage and alterations.
- Fire, elevator, accessibility. Annual fire and life-safety inspections, elevator licensing through Technical Safety BC, and accessibility upgrades triggered by permits.
- Lease terms. Commonly 3–5 years with 5-year renewal options. Medical tenants ask for 10 with options; small tenants now ask for 1–2. Term is a lever, not a rule.
06
What does office building management cost?
3–8%
management, of gross collected rent
multi-tenant office: upper half
4–6%
leasing, of total lease value
or ~1 month's rent per year of term
~50%
renewal fee vs new lease
why retention is the first job
90–180
days to lease a small suite, typical
longer for large floors
In Metro Vancouver, commercial property management fees typically run 3–8% of gross collected rent (published rate cards from Metro Vancouver managers, 2025–26). A multi-tenant office building sits in the upper half: common areas, HVAC scheduling, elevator, janitorial contracts, after-hours calls and regular turnover are real work. A single-tenant building or a strata lot sits near the bottom. Under a net lease the management fee is usually recoverable from tenants as additional rent. David's leasing fee is typically the first and last months' rent on the lease, and ongoing management is quoted per property. What is included, what is extra, and the agreement clauses to refuse are on commercial property management fees in Vancouver; lease structures are in commercial lease types in BC.
07
How long does it take to lease a suite or onboard a building?
90–180 days is typical for well-priced small office suites in Metro Vancouver, based on brokerage market reports and our portfolio; longer for large floor plates and downtown Class B, and longer again if the suite is raw. Turnkey suites move fastest because tenants under 2,000 sq ft rarely want to manage a fit-out. Onboarding an existing building into management, with leases, rent roll, operating history, vendor contracts and the Energize Vancouver file, takes two to four weeks.
If the honest question is whether to keep the building at all, the sell-versus-lease numbers are worked through at sell or lease your commercial property. Sale advisory is executed by Lawrence Siccia (Engel & Völkers); David Siccia handles leasing and management. Current examples of what we lease and manage are in the commercial portfolio.
Key takeaway
18
months before expiry: when the renewal work starts
08
Questions office building owners ask
Talk to David about your office building
Send the address and rent roll. You get a read on which suites are at risk at renewal, what vacant space should ask, and whether the building is in scope for Energize Vancouver, whether or not you hire us.
David Siccia Properties handles leasing and management. Property sales are executed by Lawrence Siccia, REALTOR®, Engel & Völkers Vancouver.
General information, not legal or tax advice
Commercial tenancies in BC are governed by the Commercial Tenancy Act (RSBC 1996, c. 57). Energize Vancouver and the Vancouver Building By-law are administered by the City of Vancouver; property tax rates by each municipality; GST by the CRA. Confirm your building's compliance thresholds with the City and lease terms with your lawyer.Related
Services
Tools
- What should my space lease for?Live asking rates by city and asset type
- Metro Vancouver commercial lease ratesMonthly asking rates by city and asset type
- Vacancy cost calculatorWhat an empty unit costs per month
- Net effective rent calculatorFree rent, TI, escalations, NNN
- Lease expiry plannerA dated plan from your lease end date
- Commercial listing auditWhy a listing gets no inquiries