Office Employees Are Returning To the Office Slower Than Originally Projected
It was expected by many in the office industry that with the pandemic now in its 6th month occupancy levels would be in the 25-50% range, but a number of national landlords report occupancy much lower. “Oxford Properties U.S. Head Office Chris Mundy said his firm had initially expected buildings would reach around 25% occupancy soon after the reopening process began and then gradually increase. “The realty has been much different, he said, with Oxford’s U.S. office portfolio today still at less than 5% capacity.” ”Ivanhoe Cambridge Executive Vice President Jonathan Pearce, with a 130 million square foot portfolio, said “The longer-term implications of talent management, of loyalty of staff, of turnover, of feeling burnt out and feeding into the mental health issues, I think those things are immeasurable linked and are much more complex than just turn the lights on, everyone goes back to work, and pretend that nothing happened.” Doug Fleit, CEO with American Real Estate Partners, said “We need to figure how we’re going to come back to the office and have collaborative spaces, use the fitness, figure how were going to be fed in the office. All the things we’ve worked the last 20 years to develop to the level that we have, we shouldn’t lose over the next five years. We need to come up with better solutions than 6 feet apart and plexiglass cubicles. That’s not the right solution.” (iisnow July 24, 2020)
