The Office Market Will Improve…But Maybe Not For Three to Five Years The New York Times recently published a lengthy article titled ‘After pandemic, office buildings are still in trouble”. “ The value of office buildings could plunge 39%, or $454 billion, in the comping years, according to a recent study by business professors at Columbia University and New York University…In a sign of how fast the market has turned down in some places, companies are giving up space that they leased only months earlier. Meta, the parent of Facebook, recently decided to sublet the space that it signed up for about 10 months earlier in Austin, Texas, Meta must still pay the rent on 589,000 square feet, but its decision to find somebody else to occupy the space could push rents down across Austin, which until recently was seen as a thriving and growing technology hub.” In discussions with senior office brokers during this past week I shared this story. Most were more optimistic, and brokers representing landlords felt the market would come back sooner than most expect. They believed corporate leaders would begin to mandate at least three days back in the office, just like Salesforce just announced for some employees, and this would require the same amount of office space as a five=day return. Other experts told me, yes, the office market will return, but it may take three to five years…
The New York Times recently published a lengthy article titled ‘After pandemic, office buildings are still in trouble”. “ The value of office buildings could plunge 39%, or $454 billion, in the comping years, according to a recent study by business professors at Columbia University and New York University…In a sign of how fast the market has turned down in some places, companies are giving up space that they leased only months earlier. Meta, the parent of Facebook, recently decided to sublet the space that it signed up for about 10 months earlier in Austin, Texas, Meta must still pay the rent on 589,000 square feet, but its decision to find somebody else to occupy the space could push rents down across Austin, which until recently was seen as a thriving and growing technology hub.” In discussions with senior office brokers during this past week I shared this story. Most were more optimistic, and brokers representing landlords felt the market would come back sooner than most expect. They believed corporate leaders would begin to mandate at least three days back in the office, just like Salesforce just announced for some employees, and this would require the same amount of office space as a five=day return. Other experts told me, yes, the office market will return, but it may take three to five years…
