Financial Times (June 25)
“A long-anticipated reckoning is under way in the US commercial property industry…. Sharply rising rates, a regional banking crisis that curtailed credit and a trend towards remote work are all wreaking havoc. Older office buildings have borne the brunt of the downturn, but other real estate categories have not been spared.” In New York City, the value of office buildings is “estimated to have dropped by $76bn from their most recent sales price.”
Tags: Anticipated, Commercial property, Credit, Downturn, Havoc, Office buildings, Reckoning, Regional banking crisis, Remote work, Rising rates, U.S.
Fortune (April 4)
“After the banking crisis, could the next domino be all those empty office buildings in your downtown? Investors and economists are sounding the alarm about the commercial real estate market, seeing trouble ahead with refinancing. This sector has been hit hard for years now with the shift to remote work bringing about rising vacancy rates and falling property values.”
Tags: Alarm, Banking crisis, Commercial real estate, Domino, Downtown, Economists, Empty, Investors, Market, Office buildings, Refinancing, Remote work, Sector, Trouble, Vacancy rates
Washington Post (March 4)
“Cities across the nation face a dilemma: Downtown office buildings are empty as workers prefer to stay home.” Office-to-apartment conversion is an essential “part of the solution,” but “city leaders aren’t doing enough…. The longer cities wait to get conversions underway, the more tax values drop and crime goes up, and the more people see no value in living in the heart of the city — or even visiting.”
Tags: Apartment, Cities, Conversion, Dilemma, Downtown, Empty, Home, Leaders, Office buildings, Solution, Tax values, Workers
Boston Globe (April 27)
“A grand experiment is about to take place in office buildings across Greater Boston, as many businesses begin reopening their offices to employees with newfound expectations around working from home.” The results are unknown, “but a significant majority of office employers are poised to move away from mandating the five-day, in-person workweek.”
Tags: Boston, Employees, Employers, Expectations, Five-day, Grand experiment, In-person, Office buildings, Reopening, Working from home, Workweek
Washington Post (March 26)
The “psychological grip” of the coronavirus “on the United States has weakened. Pandemic fatigue, warmer weather and a surge in vaccinations have led to a spring fever palpable across much of the country.” The number of Americans flying surged last weekend and cellphone data shows “movement steadily increasing everywhere except in large cities, where office buildings remain empty.” The pandemic “won’t last forever. But even as people are on the move, so is the virus.” There may yet be “a spring bump, if not yet anything as significant as a surge.”
Tags: Cities, Coronavirus, Fatigue, Movement, Office buildings, Pandemic, Psychological grip, Spring fever, Surge, U.S., Vaccinations
