There are a few things that are certain in the world outside of death and taxes: finance and insurance as well as technology companies accounting for the biggest chunks of office leasing in any given year.
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Tenants from these sectors accounted for half of 2025's large office leasing volume in the nation’s biggest markets, according to data provided to Bisnow by Colliers.
Financial services and insurance (a combined category) has led the large office tenant category for five consecutive years, peaking at 28% in 2025. Technology tenants have been second in each of those years, hitting 22% this year.
"Even though, as expected, finance and tech lead the charge, there's quite a big mix of industries that are taking these big chunks of space,” Colliers Director of National Office Research Marianne Skorupski said. “That's good for any market to have that diversity of industry."
While U.S. leasing activity has made significant strides since withering during 2020, CoStar stated that volume remained just shy of prepandemic levels in October. But in most of the nation’s biggest markets, large office leases are occurring at similar frequencies to those experienced before the pandemic, according to Skorupski.
Finance and insurance leases are also just as prominent as they were before 2020, she said.
New leases made up the majority of leasing volume in 2025, rising for the third straight year as tenants continue to reevaluate their office needs postpandemic. That could increase again next year, as Skorupski noted: Companies have become more comfortable with relocation than they were coming out of the pandemic.
Still, the biggest office leases of the year were mostly renewals with a couple of companies adding expansions of their existing spaces.
"Every company is reviewing their leases and figuring out what is the best opportunity for them, whether it's staying in place, relocating or some other opportunity," Skorupski said.
After reaching its postpandemic peak in 2024, overall leasing volume dropped by more than 17% this year as of early December. But the amount of expansion space leased in 2025 hit a five-year high of 1.2M SF.
The drop in overall leasing volume could prove to be an anomaly, as Skorupski doesn’t expect any major headwinds for large office leases in 2026.
“There is some momentum actually to help keep the level and maybe even see some increases,” she said. “I suspect that we're going to be about the same level as 2025, if not a little bit better.”
Here is a countdown, from smallest to largest, of the seven biggest U.S. office leases of the year and a brief insight into each.
7. Netflix
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Lease size: 548K SF
Market: Silicon Valley
Deal type: Renewal
The international streaming behemoth reupped its lease for its headquarters campus in Los Gatos, California, in July, extending the term by 10 years. The lease also gave Netflix voting membership in the campus owners' association.
6. Google
Lease size: 550K SF
Market: San Francisco
Deal type: Renewal/expansion
Google renewed its 416K SF at the Hills Plaza campus in San Francisco and added 134K SF in January. The renewal and expansion came as the global technology titan moved out of its 320K SF space at One Market Plaza in the city.
5. Bank of America
Lease size: 554K SF
Market: Dallas-Fort Worth
Deal type: Renewal
Bank of America will remain at Hallmark Center I in Addison, Texas, for the next decade after renewing its lease in August for the entire 554K SF building. Bank of America has been in the building since 2013, which was the same year the facility was acquired by The RMR Group.
4. Fidelity Investments
Lease size: 651K SF
Market: Boston
Deal type: Renewal
Fidelity Investments put its Boston headquarters on the market for sublease in April after lining up the new office space at the redevelopment of the World Trade Center on Seaport Boulevard. Fidelity is expected to move into its new office space next year.
3. Deloitte
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Lease size: 807K SF
Market: Manhattan
Deal type: New lease
Deloitte committed to take around three-quarters of the 1.1M SF 70 Hudson Yards building in Chelsea in April before developers broke ground. The 717-foot-tall building will be the fifth office tower in the Hudson Yards development from Related Cos. and Oxford Properties.
2. Jane Street Capital
Lease size: 984K SF
Market: Manhattan
Deal type: Renewal/expansion
Jane Street nearly doubled its office space at 250 Vesey St. in Brookfield Place with this February deal. The landlord’s parent company, Brookfield Asset Management, relocated its own offices within the complex to make room for Jane Street's expansion.
1. New York University
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Lease size: 1.1M SF
Market: Manhattan
Deal type: New lease
NYU struck an almost $1.6B deal in May to master-lease the office building at 770 Broadway near its Greenwich Village campus. The university made a $945M lease payment to building owner Vornado Realty Trust and agreed to pay $9.3M annually over its 70-year lease.
