After Pandemic, Shrinking Need for Office Space Could Crush Landlords
Some big employers are giving up square footage as they juggle remote work. That could devastate building owners and cities.
An empty conference room in New York, which is among the cities with the lowest rate of workers returning to offices.Credit.George Etheredge for The New York Times
April 8, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
As office vacancies climb to their highest levels in decades with businesses giving up office space and embracing remote work, the real estate industry in many American cities faces a potentially grave threat.
Businesses have discovered during the pandemic that they could function with nearly all of their workers out of the office, an arrangement many intend to continue in some form. That could wallop the big property companies that build and own office buildings and lead to a sharp pullback in construction, steep drops in office rents, fewer people frequenting restaurants and stores, and potentia
Inman Connect
As President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan hangs in the balance, more than 160 of the nation’s most influential executives are advocating for its passage through a letter addressed to majority and minority leaders Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy.
Among the 160 signees are 27 residential and commercial real estate executives, including Zillow Co-Founder and CEO Rich Barton, The Corcoran Group President and CEO Pamela Liebman, and WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani.
“We write to urge immediate and large-scale federal legislation to address the health and economic crises brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the letter read. “More than a year after the first coronavirus case was reported in the United States, our nation is still struggling to combat the spread and reverse its economic fallout.”