Jakarta's 'Ghost' Office Count Soars as Vacancies Remain Rife

The Jakarta office market remains overshadowed by high vacancy rates even as leasing activity shows signs of recovery. Up to the second quarter of 2026, around 3 million square metres of office space remained unoccupied, intensifying competition between buildings and prompting developers to alter their business strategies. The sheer volume of empty space is creating opportunities for companies looking to move to better-quality buildings. The market conditions, which still favour tenants, have led many building owners to offer various incentives to keep their office space attractive without having to significantly cut rental prices. “We can see there is about 3 million square metres of vacant space. One of the market’s main concerns at present is the sheer amount of available empty space, which is around 3 million. About 1.76 million of that is in the CBD, while the remainder is outside the CBD,” said Ferry Salanto, Head of Research at Colliers Indonesia, during a press conference on Wednesday (8/7/2026). The majority of the vacant space in the Central Business District is actually located in premium-grade office buildings, with most of the empty space situated in Sudirman (39%), followed by Gatot Subroto (18%), Rasuna Said (16%), Mega Kuningan (12%), Thamrin (9%), and Satrio (5%). Outside the CBD, the vacant space is more concentrated in South Jakarta, which is dominated by Grade B buildings. The vacancy situation presents a golden moment for companies to relocate, especially to the CBD. “What is interesting is that most of the vacant space in the CBD is actually in Grade A buildings, especially those in the Sudirman corridor. For outside the CBD, the concentration is in South Jakarta and is mostly dominated by Grade B buildings,” Ferry said. Amid the high vacancy levels, developers are considered to be increasingly cautious about launching new projects. Their focus is no longer on increasing supply but on improving the quality of their existing assets to be more competitive amidst changing tenant needs. This strategy is expected to help the market absorb the empty space gradually while maintaining a balance between supply and demand in the coming years. On the other hand, tenant companies are taking advantage of this situation to secure more strategic locations at more efficient costs. “However, if we look at this condition, it is not solely a challenge for building owners; it is actually an opportunity for companies that will relocate to buildings with better quality. So, without having to significantly increase occupancy costs because this is a tenant’s market. Many companies are taking advantage of this situation to move to buildings that are more modern, more efficient, and also closer to public transport,” Ferry explained. Colliers also noted that there is almost no new speculative office building construction. Developers prefer to renovate and upgrade the quality of existing buildings rather than risk adding new supply when vacant space is still abundant. “Developers are also increasingly cautious. There is almost no speculative construction of new office buildings. Their focus is now more directed at renovating and improving the quality of existing assets. We believe this strategy will help the market absorb the empty space gradually while maintaining a balance between supply and demand in the next few years,” Ferry concluded.